Quartararo tops Portimao FP3, Marquez and Mir to contest for Q1

Fabio Quartararo led the way in FP3 for the Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao, while Marc Marquez will have to contest Q1 after only managing the 15th quickest time.

Quartararo came out swinging late on in the session as the MotoGP field headed out for a final set of flyers to try and secure themselves an automatic berth to the pole shootout on Saturday afternoon, the Frenchman having ended Friday second overall just over three-tenths down on Francesco Bagnaia.

Aleix Espargaro fired to the head of the times with the fastest time of the weekend-a 1:39.690s-just past the half-way point of the test, though his tenure at the head of the timing pylon wouldn’t last long as others began to improve.

Jack Miller shaved three-tenths from Espargaro’s benchmark to takeover at the top before Quartararo posted a stunning final sector more than three-tenths quicker than anyone else to record a 1:39.044.

This would ultimately prove to be the best any rider would manage across the rest of FP3, with the final flurry of attacking times progressing.

The session was brought to a temporary halt with just over four minutes remaining though due to a crash for Pramac rookie Jorge Martin, the Doha GP rostrum finisher going down heavily at Turn 7.

The Spaniard was unable to walk away from the incident, but remained conscious and lay in the gravel surrounded by marshals following the incident, the red flags brought out so he could be extracted as carefully as possible and be taken to the medical centre for checks.

Several riders were able to improve once the session finally got back underway around ten minutes later, Franco Morbidelli recovering from an average Friday to set the second fastest time on his Petronas SRT Yamaha, while FP2 pacesetter Bagnaia moved to third late on.

Johann Zarco completed the session fourth overall ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins, while Miller slipped to sixth by the time the clock ticked down to zero.

Luca Marini was an excellent seventh as he secures his first ever direct-to-Q2 opportunity as the top rookie, while Aleix ended up eighth on his Aprilia.

Defending Portuguese GP winner Miguel Oliviera was KTM’s sole representative in the top ten in ninth, while Maverick Vinales just squeaked into the final Q2 spot at the death.

Alex Marquez ended up as the fastest Honda rider in FP2, the ’19 Moto2 world champion missing out by just 0.054, while Joan Mir once again struggled for one lap performance on his way to 12th.

Marc meanwhile failed to replicate his strong Friday form and fell to 15th, meaning he will have to dice for the final two pole shootout spots in Q1 on Saturday afternoon.

Takaaki Nakagami found himself unable to preserve the tenth position he held overnight as he struggled to get comfortable on his RC213-V following his heavy FP2 crash, the LCR man having to head off for a pain killer injection mid-way through FP3 in order to get back on track.