#GermanGP MotoGP FP3: Marquez regains his possession, Folger and Espargaro shine, Zarco falls

Yesterday morning we were wondering if the new official Yamaha chassis was going to be as brilliant in Germany as it is in the Netherlands. At the end of a first day disrupted by rain, it seems difficult to be able to answer absolutely categorically.

Indeed, if Maverick Vinales finishes just 3/100 behind Andrea Dovizioso in the only dry session, Valentino Rossi is only in 16th position, having only covered half the distance covered by his opponents following a mechanical problem.

We are therefore counting on this FP3 extended by 10 minutes to confirm a response which, for the moment, would appear rather positive, thus giving Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi good weapons to fight for the title.

This morning, it is 18° in the air, 22° on the track, and the track is dry, which will undoubtedly allow us to upset a provisional hierarchy established yesterday with Dovizioso, Vinales, Pedrosa, Aleix Espargaro, Bautista, Marquez, Zarco, Petrucci, Miller and Redding, for the greatest joy of Folger, Lorenzo, Crutchlow and Rossi, even a Andrea Iannone which is currently in last position in the ranking.

Pilots now have a dashboard receiving orders and indications from the boxes.

#GermanGP MotoGP	2016	2017
FP1	1'23.702 Andrea Iannone (see here)	1'21.599 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)
FP2	1'22.161 Maverick Vinales (see here)	1'28.115 Hector Barbera (see here)
FP3	1'21.552 Marc Marquez (see here)	1'20.745 Marc Marquez
FP4	1'22.005 Andrea Iannone (see here)
Q1	1'21.712 Danilo Petrucci (see here)
Q2	1'21.160 Marc Marquez (see here)
Warm up	1'33.883 Dani Pedrosa (see here)
Course	Marquez, Crutchlow, Dovizioso (see here)
All time lap record	1'20.336 Marquez 2015

When the red lights go out, the sky is very busy, so we expect that Folger, Lorenzo, Crutchlow, Rossi, even Iannone, use the first minutes of the session to try to enter the top 10 which would give them direct access to Q2.

But, twist of events, Valentino Rossi breaks down again in his first flying lap following, like yesterday in FP1, his engine (fuel pump) cutting out.

After 10 minutes, we witness a Sam Lowes' minor fall at turn number #13.
Five minutes later, Valentino Rossi returns to the track with the second motorcycle, this probably indicating that it is not the one equipped with the new chassis.

At this point in the session, the only notable (but very slight) improvement is to be credited to Marc Marquez which grabs 2 hundredths of a second, when Jonas Folger (soft/soft) takes provisional pole position at home in 1'21.502 then 1'21.403.

30 minutes from the checkered flag, Dani Pedrosa minor fall at turn number 1 while many of them lit the partials in red, starting with Marc Marquez who took second provisional position while stringing together a long series of laps in 1'21.

10 minutes later, Valentino Rossi produces his effort in tender/tender and jumped from 14th to 2nd place. Danilo Petrucci is positioned 5th.

Many drivers improve in the first sectors but lose time in the last part of the circuit.

Karel Abraham gets trapped without gravity at the famous turn number #11 while Maverick Vinales takes command in 1'21.376 ahead of a flamboyant Alex Espargaro, less than 2/100 of a second behind.

In the following lap, the Aprilia rider (medium/soft) took the lead in 1'21.209 while Jorge Lorenzo enters the top five.

Danilo Petrucci falls without gravity at turn #13, a few seconds before Johann Zarco at #11.

Four minutes from the checkered flag, Marc Marquez stunned the session with a 1'20.745 relegating the rest of the field after half a second before Maverick Vinales does not come closer than 2 tenths.

The 10 drivers going directly to Q2 are therefore named Márquez, Vinales, Folger, Aleix Espargaro, Crutchlow, Rossi, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Pedrosa and Bautista.

Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 20.745s [Lap 30/33] 291km/h (Top Speed)
2. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 20.915s +0.170s [27/28] 295km/h
3. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 21.198s +0.453s [25/25] 291km/h
4. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 21.209s +0.464s [22/25] 290km/h
5. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 21.275s +0.530s [26/28] 291km/h
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 21.311s +0.566s [22/22] 292km/h
7. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 21.373s +0.628s [25/26] 294km/h
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 21.422s +0.677s [22/23] 293km/h
9. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 21.480s +0.735s [28/28] 293km/h
10. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 21.497s +0.752s [26/27] 294km/h
11. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 21.608s +0.863s [25/28] 288km/h
12. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 21.623s +0.878s [19/25] 293km/h
13. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 21.658s +0.913s [22/28] 294km/h
14. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 21.835s +1.090s [18/28] 289km/h
15. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 21.897s +1.152s [20/23] 291km/h
16. alex rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 21.925s +1.180s [26/29] 291km/h
17. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 21.934s +1.189s [27/27] 291km/h
18. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 21.945s +1.200s [18/27] 292km/h
19. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 22.018s +1.273s [27/28] 294km/h
20. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 22.089s +1.344s [21/24] 291km/h
21. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 22.350s +1.605s [23/23] 289km/h
22. Mika Kallio END Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 22.380s +1.635s [24/30] 289km/h
23. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 22.569s +1.824s [4/17] 289km/h
24. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 22.724s +1.979s [19/24] 290km/h

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