Fabio Quartararo fastest in crash heavy FP3 session

MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo secures top spot in FP3, while turn 1 catches out several riders including team-mate Maverick Vinales.
Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP, German MotoGP 18 June 2021
Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP, German MotoGP 18 June 2021
© Gold and Goose

FP3 for the German MotoGP was all action as Fabio Quartararo pipped the Ducatis of Jack Miller and Johann Zarco. 

Quartararo’s time of 1:20.348s was set on his penultimate run as the Yamaha rider claimed first place by just +0.056s.

Quartararo was particularly strong in sectors three and four which is where he gained back the time advantage from Miller, who was stronger in sectors 1-2. 

Like Quartararo, Zarco’s best time came on his penultimate run, while day-one pacesetter Miguel Oliveira was fourth quickest overall. 

With automatic Q2 places at a premium in Sachsenring due to the track’s tight and difficult to overtake nature - as demonstrated by Zarco thanks to an onboard view whilst behind Lorenzo Savadori, it meant the intense pressure produced a substantial amount of falls throughout the session. 

Turns 1 and 3 have been the hot spots for crashes for far this weekend as Enea Bastianini, Iker Lecuona and Maverick Vinales all went down at turn one, while Joan Mir also ran wide at the same corner but managed to remain aboard his Suzuki Ecstar machine. 

At turn three Marc Marquez had an early moment on the front end, while team-mate Pol Espargaro suffered yet another crash. 

Espargaro’s previous falls came at turn 3, however, it was turn seven that caught the Spaniard out this morning - a corner that saw Miller run wide and test out his motocross skills. 

Aleix Espargaro’s strong weekend of running around the top five continued as he finished in fifth position exactly, while it was a return to the top ten for Jorge Martin - the first time that’s happened in a session since finishing second in race two at Qatar, as he finished sixth fastest. 

Takaaki Nakagami was the top Honda in seventh place. Francesco Bagnaia made it four Ducatis inside the top ten with eighth, ahead of Marc and Alex Marquez. 

Marc Marquez went fourth quickest on his final flying lap before having it cancelled due to exceeding track limits, but fortunately for the eight-time world champion it didn’t cost him a spot in the top ten.

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