#FrenchGP Le Mans MotoGP FP3: Scott Redding creates a surprise

On a track where many traces of humidity remained, the Briton on slicks managed to beat Cal Crutchlow, Jack Miller, Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Karel Abraham, Polo Espargaro, Maverick Vinales, Loris Baz and Bradley Smith, all qualified for Q2.

#FrenchGP MotoGP	2016	2017
FP1	1'34.042 Dani Pedrosa	1'37.467 Jack Miller
FP2	1'32.830 Jorge Lorenzo	1'41.673 Andrea Dovizioso
FP3	1'32.528 Andrea Iannone	1'35.674 Scott Redding
FP4	1'32.801 Jorge Lorenzo
Q1	1'33.139 Aleix Espargaro
Q2	1'31.975 Jorge Lorenzo
Warm up	1'33.009 Andrea Iannone
Course	Lorenzo, Rossi, Vinales
All time lap record	1'31.975 Jorge Lorenzo 2016

The track was still wet for the start of this third session, but the sun was shining. The Moto3s who were riding just before were 8 seconds behind the lap record, on wet tires. The air temperature was 10° and that of the track 12°. It was the first time since the start of these tests that the MotoGP competitors could ride (at the end of the session) in the dry on the new Bugatti surface, although half of them (the officials) had already ridden for a day of testing, invited by Michelin.

Jack Miller had achieved the fastest lap on Friday in 1'37.467. The drivers during this FP3 were on rain tires while waiting for the trajectory to dry before switching to slicks. The time had come to try to place in the top 10 to qualify directly for Q2. Danilo Petrucci was crossing the gravel trap of the Dunlop speed bump.

Half an hour from the checkered flag, the 10 provisional qualifiers were Miller, Marquez, Zarco, Crutchlow, Baz, Abraham, Smith, Rossi, Bautista and Vinales. According to Loris Baz, the “esses Bleus” portion was the only one really still wet. Jorge Lorenzo completed a lap in 1'41. He moved into fourteenth position. 26 minutes from the checkered flag, alone Alvaro Bautista was running, in 1'42 on wet tires.

All the drivers were putting on slicks with around twenty minutes to go. Bradley Smith ran in 1'43, then Johann zarco in 1'42. We were 5 seconds off the previous day's times. Sylvain Guintoli fell without gravity. alex rins, whom he replaced, confirmed his return to competition for Barcelona, a week after the Italian GP.

Guintoli slides out as he looks for grip on the drying track #RiderOK #FrenchGP pic.twitter.com/SRODRbUxW0

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 20, 2017

With 15 minutes remaining, the 10 qualifiers had not changed. Valentino Rossi was the first to go down in 1'41 on slicks. Scott Redding passed in 1'39.6, fifth in the classification combined for the three free sessions. The sprint was on.

Redding climbed into third position, while Jack Miller fell without seriousness. Redding went second (overall), Petrucci fourth and Baz fifth. Johann Zarco fell without gravity. Scott Redding took the lead in 1'36.340, while Vinales moved up to fifth and Rossi to sixth. Zarco after his fall was in sixteenth position, Dani Pedrosa in nineteenth and Jorge Lorenzo in twenty-first.

Under the checkered flag, Scott Redding preceded Cal Crutchlow, Jack Miller, Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Karel Abraham, Polo Espargaro, Maverick Vinales, Loris Baz and Bradley Smith, all qualified for Q2. Johann Zarco had to go through Q1, just like Andrea Dovizioso, Sylvain Guintoli, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

Results of the third free practice session:

1. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 35.674s
2. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 36.035s +0.361s
3. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 36.122s +0.448s
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 36.185s +0.511s
5. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 36.354s +0.680sh
6. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 36.497s +0.823s
7. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 36.612s +0.938s
8. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 36.616s +0.942s
9. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 36.752s +1.078s
10. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 36.805s +1.131s
11. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 36.821s +1.147s
12. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 36.823s +1.149s
13. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 36.839s +1.165s
14. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 36.873s +1.199s
15. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 37.464s +1.790s
16. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 37.610s +1.936s
17. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 37.772s +2.098s
18. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 38.888s +3.214s
19. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 38.931s +3.257s
20. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 39.730s +4.056s/h
21. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 40.373s +4.699s
22. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 41.354s +5.680s
23. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 41.608s +5.934s

Reference times:

Test record: 1'31.975 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in 2016

Lap record: 1'32.879 by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in 2015

Best top speed: 316,6 km/h for Andrea Iannone (Ducati) in 2015

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

1 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 62 points

2 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 60

3 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 58

4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 52

5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 41

6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 35

7 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 29

8 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 29

9 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 28

10 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 26

11 Scott REDDING-Ducati 26

12 Jack MILLER-Honda 21

13 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 17

14 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 14

15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 12

16 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 12

17 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 9

18 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 9

19 Tito RABAT-Honda 8

20 Alex RINS-Suzuki 7

21 Bradley SMITH-KTM 3

22 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 2

23 Sam LOWES-Aprilia 0

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