Like the day before, the third and final day began under the sun with starting tests. The weather was generally very favorable for these Australian tests, with only a little strong wind at times. After a discreet performance since Wednesday, Jorge Lorenzo put his Ducati in the lead with a time of 1'29.679. Then Maverick Vinales responded with an excellent time of 1'28.549, best performance since the start of these tests, and only four tenths of Marc Marquez's lap record.
This same Marquez occupied second position at the start of the session in 1'28.844, 0.295 behind his compatriot Vinales. Marc celebrated his twenty-fourth birthday today, born February 17, 1993 in Cervera. At this age, he already has 55 Grand Prix victories, including 10 in 125, 16 in Moto2 and 29 in MotoGP, and 5 world titles obtained in 125 in 2010, Moto2 in 2012, and MotoGP in 2013, '14 and '16.
The big surprise at the start of the session was the third time obtained by Jonas Folger in 1'29.042, 0.493 behind Vinales. Many see this young German driver from the Tech 3 team as a very fast boy, and Tech 3 has a quality recruit with him, even if he does not have the precocity of Marquez, being 23 years old. years old because born on August 12, 1993 in Muhldorf. But we will hear about him in MotoGP, and the organizer of the German Grand Prix can already rub his hands.
The day at Phillip Island for the tests is generally divided into two, with a first fast sprint in the morning, then another in the evening, separated by a period that was too hot at midday to achieve the best times. In the first period, 14 drivers went under 1'30, including Vinales and Marquez in 1'28 and the twelve others in 1'29. It was a nice improvement compared to the first day when only three drivers were in 1'29 and all the others were in 1'30 and above.
As midday approached, everyone watched with a smile as the mechanics brought the new, unused rain tires back to Michelin to store them in the containers intended for return transport. In terms of weather, February 2017 will go down as a great vintage on the island. In the area of timing, we would have the answer at the end of the day, “in the fresh air” because it was already time for mid-session and lunch.
Results of the third day at mid-session
Reference times:
Test record: 1'27.899 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) on October 5, 2013
Lap record: 1'28.108 by Marc Marquez (Honda) on October 6, 2013
Best top speed: 348,0 km/h by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) in 2015 (FP3)
