We witnessed a curious day yesterday in Aragon…
On a sporting level, it was dominated by a
Dani Pedrosa who declared himself completely helpless to understand the ups and downs of his bike's performance. This time, unlike Misano, it was going in the right direction, but this inconsistency is far from reassuring him.
The same effect gave the opposite results in Maverick Vinales et Andrea Iannone : here too, we admit ourselves powerless to understand, and we are content to endure.
Between these two extremes, whether for Marc Marquez ou Andrea Dovizioso, we declared to wait for the second day and a dry track to produce our effort. We should therefore have a very competitive FP3 this morning…
On a non-sporting level, we are surrounded by conspiracy theories concerning Valentino Rossi (the Italian driver had to show his knee to prove the truth of his injury!) to a possible rebound of Loris Baz at Ten Kate in Superbike 2018…
Take all these elements, add a dry and sunny track, but temperatures of 15° in the air and 19° on the track still cool due to morning fog, shake it all up, and the last MotoGP qualifying session for Q2 can get started!
Here are the references available before the start of this session:
|
#AragonGP MotoGP™ |
2016 |
2017 |
|
FP1 |
1'48.830 Marc Marquez (see here) |
2'01.243 Marc Marquez |
|
FP2 |
1'48.429 Dani Pedrosa (see here) |
1'59.858 Dani Pedrosa |
|
FP3 |
1'47.810 Marc Marquez (see here) |
1'48.252 Marc Marquez |
|
FP4 |
1'48.060 Marc Marquez (see here) |
|
|
Qualification 1 |
1'48.596 Danilo Petrucci (see here) |
|
|
Qualification 2 |
1'47.117 Marc Marquez (see here) |
|
|
Warm Up |
1'48.928 Marc Marquez (see here) |
|
|
Course |
Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi (see here) |
|
|
All time lap record |
1'46.635 Marquez 2015 |
When the track opens, it is logically a festival of sectors lit in red that we witness, after the two sessions carried out in the wet yesterday...
For the record, Maverick Vinales sports his favorite wild boar on his helmet and Jorge Lorenzo loses his left slider when braking at the end of the straight.
Whoops! Gives you an idea of the forces involved when braking from 200mph💨#AragonGP pic.twitter.com/sBqGwaI6g4
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2017
We turn very quickly in 1'50 and, surprise, it's Mika Kallio who is the first to break the 1'50 mark in 1'49.926.
Less surprising, Sam Lowes makes a mistake at turn #13, which also happens John Zarco at turn #3 after 10 minutes.
Marc Márquez (soft front/mid rear) took command in 1'49.411 before the end of a first run where the hierarchy of the top 10 was established as follows: Marquez, Crutchlow, Kallio, Aleix Espargaro, Vinales, Zarco, Miller, Pedrosa, Pol Espargaro and Ianonne.
Valentino Rossi is then thirteenth at 1,5 seconds, Jonas Folger 16th at 1,8 seconds, and above all, Andrea Dovizioso 17th at 1,9 seconds and Jorge Lorenzo 22nd at 2,2 seconds!
The drivers then take their time before starting a second run which firstly sees Mika Kallio (tender/tender) climb to second position and Loris Baz to the fourth! The KTM rider is only 3/100 behind Marc Márquez's best time: impressive!
Jack Miller minor fall 18 minutes from the checkered flag in turn #1, a few moments before Jonas Folger does not get thrown from his reluctant M1 at turn #2. The German pilot gets up while holding his collarbone following his handling...
Yikes!😨
Definitely one of the most bizarre crashes you're likely to see!@JonasFolger94 up & walking away #AragonGP pic.twitter.com/mQGWgVnkdb
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2017
A quarter of an hour from the checkered flag,
Andrea Dovizioso appears in eighth position, 8/10 from provisional pole, and, when the drivers return to the box to fit a new soft rear tire, the pre-qualified for Q2 are: Marquez, Vinales, Kallio, Crutchlow, Pedrosa, base, Pol Espargaro, Dovizioso, Aleix Espargaro and Rabat.
Johann zarco is 11th, Iannone
15th, Folger 16th, Red 18th and
Lorenzo still 22nd!
There are now 10 minutes left when Alvaro Bautista is positioned in fifth place, and this is also the moment when Andrea Dovizioso makes his effort and lights up the first three sectors in red before seizing provisional pole position in 1'48.881.
Three minutes later, Valentino Rossi is in eighth position, 8/10 behind his compatriot. Andrea Iannone appears in good form, climbing onto the provisional podium just 2/10 from pole before falling.
Five minutes from the end of the session, Valentino Rossi stops to remount a second new rear tire while Marc Márquez launched into a fast lap which put him back in command in 1'48.252, just ahead of a Maverick Vinales invigorated.
Surreal spectacle, the three contenders for the title are then in the first three places… in front Mika Kallio !
The KTM rider even allows himself, in the last minute, to get back in front Andrea Dovizioso. A last minute skillfully exploited by Dani Pedrosa which goes from 15th to third position, just ahead Alvaro Bautista.
In extremis, Valentino Rossi enters the top 10, which they do not have the chance to do Jorge Lorenzo, Johann Zarco et Jonas Folger.
🏁 #MotoGP FP3 Results
The riders who go straight through to Q2!
There are two more spots left, they'll be fought for in Q1! #AragonGP pic.twitter.com/ZJ82dQjx0w
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2017
#AragonGP MotoGP Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net:
