Catalan Grand Prix, Barcelona, ​​MotoGP, FP3: Rins ahead of Quartararo in an eventful session…

If, at the end of the first day of the MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalonia Fabio Quartararo, Andrea Dovizioso, Takaaki Nakagami, Pol Espargaró, Francesco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Valentino Rossi, Danilo Petrucci, Marc Márquez and Cal Crutchlow pre-qualified for direct passage to Q2, we will notice that apart from the almost 3/10 of a second that the still convalescing French rookie saved, the times are extremely tight, with no less than 19 contenders in the same second.

Another element to take into consideration, yesterday we drove at least a second slower than in 2018, the fault of a very precarious grip of the track despite a resurfacing between the 2017 and 2018 editions. The rain which fell on Wednesday Catalan circuit and the few drops that occurred yesterday while depositing their share of sand are perhaps responsible...

In any case, with 4 more manufacturers in the top 5 and much faster Moto3s this morning than yesterday, everything remains open for this last 45-minute MotoGP pre-qualifying session which promises to be excellent. conditions, with a much clearer sky than Friday and temperatures of 24° in the air and 30° on the ground.

Here are some references available:

Barcelona MotoGP™	2018	2019
FP1	1'39.456 Valentino Rossi (see here)	1'40.692 Marc Márquez (see here)
FP2	1'38.930 Jorge Lorenzo (see here)	1'40.079 Fabio Quartararo (see here)
FP3	1'38.923 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)	1'39.547 Alex Rins
FP4	1'39.708 Andrea Iannone (see here)
QP1	1'39.217 Marc Márquez (see here)
QP2	1'38.680 Jorge Lorenzo (see here)
warm up	1'39.571 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)
Course	Lorenzo, Marquez, Rossi (see here)
All time lap record	1'38.680 Jorge Lorenzo (2018)

It is now almost a tradition, Jorge Lorenzo sets off first at the opening of the track so as not to be hampered by his opponents, this time in front Maverick Vinales.

This morning, the system which displays the drivers' tire choices is not working.

From the first lap launched, led by Alex Rins in 1'41.266, we see that the track is not bad since the entry ticket for Q2 is currently in 1'40.727, a time corresponding to the 10th cumulative position and carried out by the same driver...

In the next passage, Marc Márquez, behind yesterday, took command in 1'40.324 before achieving 1'40.014, a time already 6/10 faster than Friday... And, so far, the best time of the weekend!

Franco Morbidelli also improves his time from the day before and places himself in 2nd position in this session, in 3rd overall for the 3 sessions.

At the end of the first run, the hierarchy is composed of Marc Márquez, Franco Morbidelli, Álex Rins, Andrea Dovizioso, Aleix Espargaró, Valentino Rossi, Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller, Takaaki Nakagami (little heat) and Francesco Bagnaia. All these drivers are within 6 tenths.

After around fifteen minutes, the system indicating the drivers' tire choices works again, which allows us to observe a notable preference for medium and soft tires. Michelin also expects the same choice for the race…

Note that at this point in the session, the 2 test drivers Bradley Smith et Sylvain Guintoli previous John Zarco who nevertheless seemed confident last night.

On resumption, Cal Crutchlow hoists his Honda into 10th position while Maverick Vinales now uses the same hard rear tire as Franco Morbidelli. They are the only 2 drivers to do so.

Conversely, and with a good quarter of an hour remaining before the end of the session, fabio quartararo equipped with soft/soft lights up the 2nd and 3rd sectors in red before leaving his 7th position to take provisional pole in 1'39.609!

The Devil don't stop there and light up the next 3 sectors again before wasting time in the last section.

Never mind, and unlike Valentino Rossi who generally only does one fast lap, the French driver maintains his effort, once again lights the first 3 sectors in red and this time concludes with an impressive 1'39.583, once again the best time of the weekend!

10 minutes from the checkered flag, Alex Rins et Cal Crutchlow are starting to show some inclination and are moving up in the rankings, just like the Valentino Rossi in 3rd position. But it is the Suzuki driver who impresses by taking the provisional pole fabio quartararo, for 36/1000.

It is rare for attacks on the clock to take place so early in the session and we wonder if the drivers are trying to ensure their passage to Q2... Or if the pace will increase again at the very end of the session!

At any rate Franco Morbidelli suffers a huge crash at turn 13 while trying to follow Valentino Rossi. The Italian driver fortunately appears safe and sound but is evacuated to the medical center to finally be declared fit to continue his weekend.

Maverick Vinales then takes 4th position and at this moment we find 3 Yamaha in the top 5, which means that hasty judgments should always be put into perspective...

While the drivers only have 3 laps left, Marc Márquez et Andrea Dovizioso light the first sector in red then the following ones in orange (personal best time).

fabio quartararo then experienced his first fall in his MotoGP career, in turn 2 and without seriousness.

Joan mir oust Jorge Lorenzo of the top 10 before leaving it himself with Cal Crutchlow.

The answer to our previous question then appears clear with the improvements of Valentino Rossi, 3rd, Andrea Dovizioso 4th and Jorge Lorenzo 7e.

In extremis, there are 5 of them who could improve in the last round: Andrea Dovizioso, Joan Mir, Pol Espargaró, Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi.

Finally, it is Cal Crutchlow who benefits the most by positioning themselves 3rd in front Valentino Rossi, but we also remain impressed by the time of Pol Espargaro.
Obviously, the Briton is happy…

The session ends with a disagreement between the two official Honda drivers, which provokes the wrath of Marc Marquez towards the new Bad Boy.

FP3 standings for the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com