Marc Marquez ended the third practice session fastest despite crashing out in the closing stages at Phillip Island ahead of tomorrow’s Australian MotoGP.
The Honda rider was comfortably quickest in wet conditions with a 1:38.522s before low-siding out of proceedings at Siberia in the closing moments of the 45-minute session.
Johann Zarco set the early running, the Tech 3 rider banking a time before conditions closed.
He became the first man to fall in the slippery conditions, the Yamaha rider bucked off as the rear stepped out as he looked to wind on the throttle exiting MG corner.
Despite the rain getting heavier, Jorge Lorenzo set a time within touching distance of Zarco’s early best, the Ducati rider just a tenth adrift of the session’s best lap.
Two laps later, Lorenzo went fastest with a 1:40.079s effort, half a second faster than anyone else could manage at the time.
Danilo Petrucci then dipped into the 1:39s barrier, a 1:39.356s lap set just seconds before Andrea Iannone dropped his Suzuki at Turn 4.
Conditions began to ease in the latter part of the session, allowing Marquez the opportunity to set a 1:38.522s lap to shoot to the top of the timing screens before he fell at Siberia.
A crash also ended Lorenzo’s session at the Hayshed after clipping the painted kerb, which quickly threw him to the floor and saw him skate across the circuit and into the gravel.
The Spaniard climbed to his feet before limping away.
Among the top runners early in the session, Jack Miller fell to tenth by the end of the session while fellow Australian Broc Parkes was 20th.
A final practice 30-minute practice session at 14:30 AEDT proceeds qualifying, with Valentino Rossi and Lorenzo out in Qualifying 1 before the full grid is set in Qualifying 2.
Discussion about this post