Local hero Valentino Rossi shocked fans as he set the fastest time in FP3 at his home race in Misano, the Italian denying FP2 pace-setter Quartararo the top spot of the session.
Most of the action came in the closing stages when Australian Ducati man Jack Miller embarked on a strong lap to put himself quickest with a time of 1.32.129 and just 11 minutes of the session remaining.
Miller’s time was 0.777 of a second quicker than that of Fabio Quartararo who had set of 1.32.189 in FP2 yesterday afternoon.
As the clock reached the seven minute-mark, it looked as though Miller would be the fastest man of the morning, but local legend Valentino Rossi, in the knockout zone, surprised the Ducati rider by sniping him with a 1.31.861 in the final few seconds much to the delight of his home fans.
Previous time-topper Miller suffered a crash at Turn 16 with just two minutes left on the clock, resulting in the fourth fastest time, putting him just behind Yamaha SRT pilot Franco Morbidelli at that point in the session.
Brit Cal Crutchlow had to sit out of FP3 after medical advice declared the rider unfit for duty following ‘secondary side effects after surgery on his forearm’.
Crutchlow fractured his left wrist during warm-up for the Spanish GP earlier in the season, meaning his right arm had to be operated on after suffering severe arm pump due to having to make up for the lack of strength in his left.
Tech 3 man Iker Lecuona also hit the deck when, with just 15 minutes left, he low-sided at Turn 15, putting an end to his hopes of improving his lap times.
Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo bagged the second and third quickest efforts, resulting in a promising afternoon for both Yamaha factory and independent teams.
Behind Miller came the factory Suzuki’s of Alex Rins and Joan Mir, whilst returning Pramac Ducati pilot Francesco Bagnaia impressed by setting the seventh fastest time of the morning to go through to Q2.
Johann Zarco once again achieved a Q2 berth for his private Avintia Ducati outfit, while Franco Morbidelli and Andrea Dovizioso completed the riders that progress automatically to the pole shootout this afternoon.
Aleix Espargaro narrowly missed out on the top ten by just 0.149, while KTM’s Pol Espargaro could muster up only 12th on the timesheets-Czech GP winning team-mate Brad Binder a lowly 17th just behind Styrian victor Miguel Oliveira.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Gap / Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’31.861 | |
| 2 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’31.936 | 0.075 / 0.075 |
| 3 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’31.961 | 0.100 / 0.025 |
| 4 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’32.129 | 0.268 / 0.168 |
| 5 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’32.206 | 0.345 / 0.077 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’32.238 | 0.377 / 0.032 |
| 7 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’32.248 | 0.387 / 0.010 |
| 8 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’32.268 | 0.407 / 0.020 |
| 9 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’32.281 | 0.420 / 0.013 |
| 10 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’32.418 | 0.557 / 0.137 |
| 11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’32.567 | 0.706 / 0.149 |
| 12 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’32.613 | 0.752 / 0.046 |
| 13 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’32.630 | 0.769 / 0.017 |
| 14 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’32.695 | 0.834 / 0.065 |
| 15 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’32.702 | 0.841 / 0.007 |
| 16 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’32.791 | 0.930 / 0.089 |
| 17 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’33.000 | 1.139 / 0.209 |
| 18 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’33.251 | 1.390 / 0.251 |
| 19 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’33.270 | 1.409 / 0.019 |
| 20 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’33.336 | 1.475 / 0.066 |
| 21 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’33.523 | 1.662 / 0.187 |
| Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL |
