MotoGP Argentina FP3: Still Marquez but also Zarco!

The rain that fell overnight left a drying track for the Moto3 and Moto2 riders this morning, but since then, an almost permanent drizzle is far from accelerating the process: rain tires mandatory!

Under these conditions, it seems impossible for those who are not part of it to enter the top 10, starting with the 2 official Ducati riders.

The objective would be to beat the 1'40.715 achieved by Jack Miller, 10th in the top 10.

Conversely, the Honda Márquez–Crutchlow–Pedrosa trio seemed calm, dominating the combined rankings for the first day.

The temperatures are 18° and 20° for the air and the track, and the sky does not seem to be about to clear...

#ArgentinaGP MotoGP	2017	2018
FP1	1'40.356 Maverick Vinales	1'40.303 Dani Pedrosa (See here)
FP2	1'39.477 Maverick Vinales	1'39.395 Marc Marquez (See here)
FP3	1'39.772 Cal Crutchlow	1'48.896 Marc Marquez
FP4	1'50.042 Marc Marquez
Qualification 1	1'49.235 Dani Pedrosa
Qualification 2	1'47.512 Marc Marquez
Warm Up	1'39.620 Maverick Vinales
Course	Vinales, Rossi, Crutchlow
All time lap record	1'37.683 Marc Marquez 2014

 

It's this time Karel Abraham who sets off first when the red lights go out.

All the drivers chose a medium rain rear tire while for the front Marquez, Pedrosa, Rabat, Vinales, Aleix Espargaro, Nakagami et Simeon opted for a soft, the others also preferring the medium.

From the first round launched, Marc Márquez gains the upper hand over his little comrades and maintains a lead of half a second.

We see it with Johann zarco which undergoes small slips, the coating is not at all homogeneous, alternating almost dry parts and plates that are still completely wet. However, this did not prevent the Tech3 driver from taking 2nd position after 10 minutes.

However, he must grant it to Andrea Iannone, then to Valentino Rossi, before Andrea Dovizioso does not take command in 1'51.598.

At the end of the first run, the hierarchy consists of Andrea Dovizioso, Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Karel Abraham, Johann Zarco, Andrea Iannone, Álvaro Bautista, Alex Rins, Jorge Lorenzo et Dani Pedrosa, the first 7 being in the same second.
Bradley Smith et Jack Miller, they did not consider it useful to take the track.

No doubt judging the conditions to be unprofitable, many pilots do not leave immediately. This is not the caseHafizh “Pescao” Syahrin who goes to the top of the ranking sheet before his Johann zarco teammate did not dislodge him, 16 minutes from the checkered flag and while the drivers were informed of an intensification of the rain.

Marc Márquez then comes the crown of the 2 Tech3 drivers in 1'50.877.

At the start of the last quarter of an hour, Alvaro Bautista rises to 1/10 of Marc Márquez wheras'alex rins joins the top 5.

5 minutes later, the ranking changes significantly with the return ofAndrea Dovizioso in mind, the arrival of Cal Crutchlow in 3rd position as well as those of Scott Redding et Espargaro Pol in the top 8.

Johann zarco resists well and dethrones Cal Crutchlow from the virtual podium before grabbing another position.

With only half a dozen minutes left, Maverick Vinales appears in 13th position, Jorge Lorenzo in 15st.

The final rush sees first Danilo Petrucci jump from 15th to first position, in 1'49.948.

Johann Zarco, Marc Marquez et Hafizh Syahrin also light the partials in red and it is ultimately the Spanish driver who is ahead of the Frenchman, the Malaysian once again temporarily moving to 2nd position before having to drop back under the attacks of Álvaro Bautista then Karel Abraham, Cal Crutchlow et Pol Espargaro.

As expected, no changes took place regarding the passage to Q2 and Marc Márquez, Cal Crutchlow, Dani Pedrosa, Esteve Rabat, Andrea Iannone, Maverick Vinales, Valentino Rossi, Alex Rins, Johann Zarco and Jack Miller will escape Q1.

Combined FP1-FP2-FP3: