Austrian GP | Marquez rules in FP3 as Rossi does not make it to Q2
Marc Marquez dominated FP3 at Spielberg, beating Smith and Redding by nearly two seconds. Valentino Rossi, on the contrary, struggled to find the speed and failed to make it to Q2.
The Austrian GP’s FP3 session has been characterized by utterly damp conditions, as the asphalt was yet to dry at the start. Hence, most of the riders started working on wet tyres and later made the switch. Marc Marquez dominated the practice with a mighty 1’26’’496, which made him untouchable by Bradley Smith, who finished in 2nd, detached by over 1.7s.t 2
Scott Redding managed to take Aprilia to the high spots, as he closed in P3 and almost 2 seconds off the pace set by Marquez. Cal Crutchlow followed in fourth, exceeding the 2-second wall (+2.159s) ahead of Tom Luthi and Jack Miller. The Australian was the fastest Ducati-powered rider to appear in the top 10 chart, beating Andrea Dovizioso by 0.041s.
Alex Rins and Hafizh Syahrin impressively entered the fastest riders’ group in FP3 with Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales rounding up the top 10. Valentino Rossi did not make it straight to Q2, having clocked a 1’31’’375 which was valid for P15. Therefore, the Italian will have to battle it out in Q1 before making good use of a potential shot to pole position.
Advancing to Q2 are Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Petrucci, Honda's own Marquez, Pedrosa and Crutchlow, Zarco and Vinales, Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone and Tito Rabat from Avintia Ducati.
Here are FP3's combined times. Owing to this morning's conditions, Ducati keeps the leadership on the timesheets and Marquez stays in fourth.
