At the end of the first day of free practice, Andrea Dovizioso finished first in the combined times, just ahead of Maverick Vinales and Cal Crutchlow. Marc Márquez is fourth and Danilo Petrucci fifth. Dani Pedrosa is eighth, Valentino Rossi ninth and Johann Zarco tenth. Finally, Jorge Lorenzo is sixteenth. The Majorcan, already injured since the Aragon Grand Prix, was the victim of a violent fall in FP2 and does not yet know if he will continue to ride this weekend. He will make an announcement just before FP3.
This third free practice session will be fundamental to see if these results will be confirmed or not, and especially to establish the list of ten automatically qualified for Q2. Session begins at 4:55 a.m. French time.
Here is a summary table of all the MotoGP results in Buriram:
|
Buriram MotoGP™ |
Chronos |
|
Jonathan Rea 2017 (WSBK SP2) |
1'32.957 |
|
D.1 tests (mid-day) |
1'30.912 Marc Marquez |
|
J.1 tests |
1'30.797 Cal Crutchlow |
|
J.2 tests |
1'29.969 Marc Marquez |
|
J.3 tests |
1'29.781 Dani Pedrosa |
|
FP1 |
1'31.220 Maverick Vinales |
|
FP2 |
1'31.090 Andrea Dovizioso |
|
FP3 |
1'30.399 Andrea Dovizioso |
|
FP4 |
|
|
Q1 |
|
|
Q2 |
|
|
Warm Up |
|
|
Course |
|
|
All time lap record |
1'29.781 Dani Pedrosa |
It's time for the all important #MotoGP FP3 session here at the #ThaiGP ?? pic.twitter.com/chTStydFyo
- MotoGP ™ ??? (@MotoGP) 6th October, 2018
The announcement comes a few minutes before the start of the session: Jorge Lorenzo has made the decision not to take part in the Thai Grand Prix following his fall yesterday.
It's as hot as yesterday when the FP3 starts: 28 degrees in the air and 45 degrees on the track. Andrea Dovizioso sets the reference time in 1'32.338. From his next lap, he improves by more than a second. For his part, Alex Rins attacked the session hard and went, in four laps, from fifteenth to seventh place.
After ten minutes, Dovizioso always leads Maverick Vinales, Cal Crutchlow, Marc Marquez et Danilo Petrucci. Then Andrea Iannone, Alex Rins, Alvaro Bautista, Dani Pedrosa et Valentino Rossi complete the top 10. Johann zarco is eleventh.
He's at it again?
Yet another @marcmarquez93 wonder save?#ThaiGP ?? pic.twitter.com/QUbOIdQ5Vu
- MotoGP ™ ??? (@MotoGP) 6th October, 2018
Márquez comes to take the best time, a few minutes after having had a scare and passes Dovizioso for only eleven thousandths.
The session is very calm, and no driver in the top 10 improves. Behind, on the other hand, several drivers are progressing, but the most significant improvement comes from Jordi Torres, replacing Tito Rabat. He passes Tom Luthi et Xavier Simeon for twenty-second place and is placed one tenth behind Karel Abraham.
Are we charged?@jackmilleraus ups the pace in FP3 as he jumps up to P1 ✊#ThaiGP ?? pic.twitter.com/LclKT3I5JE
- MotoGP ™ ??? (@MotoGP) 6th October, 2018
Ten minutes from the end, Jack Miller drives hard and goes from eleventh to first place. Other drivers are starting to improve their times, like Crutchlow, Casa Particular in Viñales, Petrucci et Red who pass second, third, fourth and fifth, relaying Márquez in sixth place.
Dovizioso et Pedrosa enter the top 5 in turn, Márquez is therefore only eighth. He also makes another mistake when braking. He returns to the box.
Bradley Smith, Franco Morbidelli et Pol Espargaro come to rank ninth, tenth and eleventh, bringing out Johann zarco et Andrea Iannone of the top 10. The two men enter again, followed byAlvaro Bautista. Márquez is outside the top ten, and therefore Q2. He comes out of the boxes and has only one round to qualify. He gives everything but makes mistakes. He will therefore go to the repechage in Q1, which doesn't happen often!
In front of, Andrea Dovizioso retains first place ahead Jack Miller et Maverick Vinales.
There was no saving this one?
The crash that cost @marcmarquez93 a spot in Q2!#ThaiGP ?? pic.twitter.com/Kx4iz2W2iS
- MotoGP ™ ??? (@MotoGP) 6th October, 2018
FP3 ranking:
1 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 329.0 1'30.399
2 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 324.9 1'30.566 0.167 / 0.167
3 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 326.7 1'30.647 0.248 / 0.081
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda 328.3 1'30.719 0.320 / 0.072
5 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 327.7 1'30.727 0.328 / 0.008
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 326.8 1'30.818 0.419 / 0.091
7 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 324.2 1'30.859 0.460 / 0.041
8 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 323.7 1'30.881 0.482 / 0.022
9 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 324.1 1'30.979 0.580 / 0.098
10 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati 326.8 1'31.015 0.616 / 0.036
11 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 326.4 1'31.079 0.680 / 0.064
12 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 320.9 1'31.117 0.718 / 0.038
13 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 319.7 1'31.118 0.719 / 0.001
14 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 324.1 1'31.169 0.770 / 0.051
15 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 322.7 1'31.187 0.788 / 0.018
16 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 322.6 1'31.209 0.810 / 0.022
17 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 320.5 1'31.385 0.986 / 0.176
18 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 321.9 1'31.728 1.329 / 0.343
19 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 321.7 1'31.816 1.417 / 0.088
20 10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 324.7 1'31.867 1.468 / 0.051
21 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 321.4 1'32.028 1.629 / 0.161
22 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team Ducati 323.4 1'32.148 1.749 / 0.120
23 81 Jordi TORRES SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 325.5 1'32.272 1.873 / 0.124
99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati
