PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
Today at the MotoGP season opener in Qatar it was more of the same—Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was fastest. Although he only improved his time from FP2 by .006 of a second, it was enough to hold off the rest of the pack. And as the reigning champ predicted at the pre-season test, the battle for position in that pack was hotly contested, with less than a second separating the top 18.
Most of the action took place at the end of the session, such as CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow moving up to second with under three minutes remaining in the session.
Ducati’s Iannone set his time much earlier in the session and was unable to have a shot at improving it after crashing in turn two with eight minutes remaining. (Forward Racing Yamaha’s Loris Baz and Aprilia’s Marco Melandri also fell victim to the same turn earlier in the session). Fortunately Iannone’s time was good enough to hold onto the third spot.
In fourth was Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro, who suffered technical issues earlier in the evening at the end of FP2.
Marquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa was fifth, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso on the other factory Ducati. Pramac Ducati’s Yonny Hernandez improved to sixth on last year’s machinery—the Desmosedici GP14.2.
Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished a disappointing eighth and ninth, respectively. However, the pair are not far off the pace with Lorenzo trailing Marquez by .286 of a second; Rossi by .370 of a second.
Making the final cut for tomorrow’s Qualifying 2 session was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro.
American Nicky Hayden ended the session 18th, trailing Marquez by .967 of a second.
2015 MotoGP Qatar FP3 Combined Results
1. Marc Marquez (Honda)
2. Cal Crutchlow (Honda)
3. Andrea Iannone (Ducati)
4. Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki)
5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
6. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati)
7. Yonny Hernandez (Ducati)
8. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
9. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
10. Pol Espargaro (Yamaha)
