With rain forecast for today (a few drops fell this morning before the Moto3 session) and finally dry for the races tomorrow, this FP3 is of capital importance for all the tenors who found themselves in difficulty during a first unusual day where a cat did not find her kittens...
We think in particular of Valentino Rossi but also to Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Johann Zarco who, at the end of the first two practice sessions of this Argentine Grand Prix, ne are not in the top 10.
We can bet that in this context, the latter will make the most of every minute of dry track to try to escape the repechage by going through Q1. And precisely, if the sky is gray today, the track at 22° is dry and the air at 19°, i.e. much cooler temperatures than yesterday.
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#ArgentinaGP MotoGP |
2016 |
2017 |
| FP1 | 1'43.684 Andrea Dovizioso | 1'40.356 Maverick Vinales |
| FP2 | 1'41.579 Marc Marquez | 1'39.477 Maverick Vinales |
| FP3 | 1'40.368 Marc Marquez | |
| FP4 | 1'39.882 Marc Marquez | |
| Q1 | 1'40.552 Bradley Smith | |
| Q2 | 1'39.411 Marc Marquez | |
| Warm Up | 1'49.177 Andrea Iannone | |
| Course | Marquez Rossi Pedrosa | |
| All time lap record | 1'37.683 Marquez 2014 |
Indeed, from the first minutes, the pilots attack and the sector improvements are numerous, like those of Alex Rins, Loris Baz, Jonas Folger, Jack Miller and Scott Redding. At the back the ranking, Jack Miller and Alex Rins improve their position while Dani Pedrosa gained two places, now in 11th place.
That final turn… at full speed… is something else!😳@lorisbaz wrestling the beast to 7th place! #ArgentinaGP pic.twitter.com/c16xbzQl2r
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 8, 2017
With a 1'39.772, Cal Crutchlow achieved the best provisional time of the session and thus moved from seventh place to second just before the end of the first run.
The passage to the box is then unusually long for most drivers, a sign that we are changing the settings to try something in the last part of the session.
On resumption, Valentino Rossi, in medium/medium runs in 1'40.9 or 4 tenths slower than yesterday before quickly returning to his box. This is indeed the moment when a few drops of rain begin to appear and almost all of the drivers also return to the garage with 16 minutes remaining before the checkered flag drops.
Waiting for the rain to pass… 😴 pic.twitter.com/6ikILYL8c8
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 8, 2017
The minutes pass and this session, having not allowed any of the tenors in difficulty to catch up, ends in silence only blurred by the noise of the engines of Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez who go out on rain tires.
Dani Pedrosa, Johann Zarco, Andrea Dovizioso, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo will therefore appear on the program for a Q1 that is unusual to say the least which will take place at 19:10 p.m.
Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net:
1. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 39.772s [Lap 7/11]
2. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 39.867s +0.095s [9/11]
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 40.292s +0.520s [6/8]
4. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 40.321s +0.549s [4/10]
5. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 40.394s +0.622s [6/10]
6. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 40.397s +0.625s [5/10]
7. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 40.514s +0.742s [5/11]
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 40.551s +0.779s [5/9]
9. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
1m 40.590s +0.818s [6/10]
10. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 40.624s +0.852s [7/9]
11. Alvaro Bautista ESP Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 40.638s +0.866s [6/8]
12. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 40.690s +0.918s [6/12]
13. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 40.700s +0.928s [7/11]
14. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17)
1m 40.718s +0.946s [8/10]
15. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
1m 40.734s +0.962s [4/7]
16. Karel Abraham CZE Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 40.742s +0.970s [6/9]
17. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
1m 40.943s +1.171s [4/10]
18. alex rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 41.019s +1.247s [6/10]
19. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 41.082s +1.310s [7/10]
20. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 41.350s +1.578s [8/11]
21. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)*
1m 41.616s +1.844s [7/9]
22. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 41.669s +1.897s [6/10]
23. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 42.008s +2.236s [9/11]
Drivers moving directly to Q2:
1. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1)
2. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V)
3. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V)
4. Karel Abraham CZE Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP15)
5. Alvaro Bautista ESP Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP16)
6. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17)
7. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15)
8. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
9. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)
10. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
