Maverick Viñales and rookie Fabio Quartararo have given Yamaha a one-two at the conclusion of the final MotoGP pre-season test in Qatar.
Marc Marquez ended the day third-fastest from big improvers Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, although Alex Rins remained in third on combined times.
Viñales completed 50 laps aboard his factory Monster Energy Yamaha, of which the 25th which he logged late in the fourth of six hours was the fastest of the session at 1:54.208s.
Quartararo was 0.233s slower in second place on a satellite Petronas SRT entry, with the other two Yamahas making it into the top six.
Rossi jumped from 19th on Day 2 to fourth on Day 3, while Franco Morbidelli was 0.452s away from Viñales on the other SRT bike.
The Iwata factory’s quartet was broken up only by the Repsol Hondas as Marquez put in a personal best 1:54.613s and Jorge Lorenzo hauled himself from near the bottom for two days to go fifth-fastest.
Both went down during the session but were reportedly not injured.
Pol Espargaro was seventh-fastest for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, from Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda), Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati), and Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati).
Day 2 pace-setter Rins was 11th-quickest, a spot ahead of Suzuki Ecstar team-mate Joan Mir.
Miller’s rookie team-mate Francesco Bagnaia was the last rider within a second of Viñales in 13th on a GP18, while factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso was 15th as he focused on longer runs.
Gresini Aprilia’s best was Andrea Iannone in 16th.
The countdown is now on to Round 1 of the season back at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on March 8-10 (local time).
Pre-season testing: Losail: Day 3
Pos | Num | Rider | Nat | Team | Bike | Time | Gap 1st/Prev | Laps |
1 | 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | ESP | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1:54.208 | 25/50 | |
2 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 1:54.441 | 0.233/0.233 | 28/48 |
3 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1:54.613 | 0.405/0.172 | 30/53 |
4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1:54.651 | 0.443/0.038 | 35/38 |
5 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1:54.653 | 0.445/0.002 | 26/33 |
6 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 1:54.660 | 0.452/0.007 | 42/61 |
7 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | ESP | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1:54.770 | 0.562/0.110 | 27/37 |
8 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | 1:54.789 | 0.581/0.019 | 48/50 |
9 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Mission Winnow Ducati | Ducati | 1:54.818 | 0.610/0.029 | 19/43 |
10 | 43 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1:54.851 | 0.643/0.033 | 47/47 |
11 | 42 | Alex RINS | ESP | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 1:54.852 | 0.644/0.001 | 28/41 |
12 | 36 | Joan MIR | ESP | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 1:54.997 | 0.789/0.145 | 37/38 |
13 | 63 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1:55.074 | 0.866/0.077 | 30/47 |
14 | 53 | Tito RABAT | ESP | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1:55.229 | 1.021/0.155 | 52/66 |
15 | 04 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Mission Winnow Ducati | Ducati | 1:55.233 | 1.025/0.004 | 32/50 |
16 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1:55.343 | 1.135/0.110 | 21/39 |
17 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | LCR Honda CASTROL | Honda | 1:55.690 | 1.482/0.347 | 25/39 |
18 | 88 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 1:55.773 | 1.565/0.083 | 28/28 |
19 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | ESP | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1:55.814 | 1.606/0.041 | 28/54 |
20 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Aprilia Factory Racing | Aprilia | 1:56.072 | 1.864/0.258 | 37/38 |
21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1:56.121 | 1.913/0.049 | 26/50 |
22 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1:56.162 | 1.954/0.041 | 32/42 |
23 | 55 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | MAS | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 1:56.371 | 2.163/0.209 | 25/42 |