Iannone remains the man to beat at Mugello

Free Practice 3 for the premier class began with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) revealing his custom Mugello helmet. The one for 2016 featured even more yellow than usual and paid tribute to the great Mugello circuit, combing the track's name with 'giallo' which is Italian for yellow. Both Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) also debuted special helmets for their home round.

Saturday got off to a disastrous start for Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) who lost the front at Turn 13 early in the session. He went to the medical center holding his left arm and was later diagnosed with a broken left collarbone, ruling him out of the weekend.

Turn 13 proved a tricky corner for a number of riders, Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) suffering a similar crash to Rabat but able to walk away. Espargaro was almost immediately back on track

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) shot to the top of the time sheets on his sixth lap of the session, he and Maverick Vinales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) some of the first to improve their times from Friday. Free Practice 3 is the last session MotoGP™ riders can improve their times and gain access to Q2 by ending in the top ten.

Their times wouldn’t last the session as the battle for Q2 passage began. Once again it was Andrea Iannone who put it all on the line to clock the fastest time, setting a 1’46.991 right at the end of the session. Mugello clearly brings out the best in the Italian and he no doubt heads into Q2 as the favorite for pole position.

Try as he might, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was unable to get ahead of Iannone, ending 0.089s back on the Italian. Once more Marquez was the leading Honda, the only Honda rider inside the top eight.

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) managed a 1’47.170 to end 0.189s behind Iannone, the time coming even with a big moment out of Biondetti 2. Suzuki’s biggest issue in 2015 was top end engine performance, their dedication and tireless work paying off as Viñales is now able to challenge both the Yamaha and Honda machines down the straight.

Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP) set the fourth fastest time to end not only as the fastest Independent Team rider, but also the second fastest Ducati. This put the Colombian ahead of Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who was fifth fastest, 0.402s off Iannone’s time.

Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) were all inside the top ten on combined times and head into Q2 without issue. Under a second separated the top 13 riders.

While they may have secured a critical spot in Q2, both Rossi and Pedrosa need to improve their pace if they hope to battle for the podium on Sunday. Rossi himself has admitted he needs to start on the front two rows in order to be in with a chance.

Andrea Dovizioso’s (Ducati Team) neck pain continued to harm his performance as he finished the session in 12th, joining the likes of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Pol Espargaro in Q1. With so many big names in Q1, there are sure to be some big disappointments and surprises in the first shootout session.

Q1 begins at 14:10 Local Time, just after Free Practice 4 at 13:30 Local Time.

Practice 3 Results

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'46.991 0.000 / 0.000
2 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'47.080 0.089 / 0.089
3 25 Maverick VIÃ'ALES SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1'47.180 0.189 / 0.100
4 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 1'47.327 0.336 / 0.147
5 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'47.393 0.402 / 0.066
6 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA OCTO Pramac Yakhnich Ducati 1'47.408 0.417 / 0.015
7 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'47.504 0.513 / 0.096
8 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'47.540 0.549 / 0.036
9 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'47.583 0.592 / 0.043
10 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'47.619 0.628 / 0.036
11 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda Honda 1'47.625 0.634 / 0.006
12 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'47.859 0.868 / 0.234
13 45 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Yakhnich Ducati 1'47.939 0.948 / 0.080
14 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'48.003 1.012 / 0.064
15 43 Jack MILLER AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'48.015 1.024 / 0.012
16 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1'48.046 1.055 / 0.031
17 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'48.048 1.057 / 0.002
18 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'48.305 1.314 / 0.257
19 6 Stefan BRADL GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'48.592 1.601 / 0.287
20 76 Loris BAZ FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'48.725 1.734 / 0.133
21 50 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 1'49.285 2.294 / 0.560
53 Tito RABAT SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda

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