MotoGP: Andrea Iannone Steals Top Spot In Final Moments

Things really heated up in today’s MotoGP FP3 session at Losail Circuit in Qatar. It was a tight race for the top of the time sheets with the top 12 within a second of leader Andrea Iannone on the factory Ducati.

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was the first to drop into the 1:54s, but it didn’t take others long to follow, including Iannone who displaced the World champ by .137 of a second, with just a minute and a half left of the session.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was also right there in third, .059 of a second shy of Lorenzo and .196 of a second off of Iannone. For Marquez, it had to be a sigh of relief to be back in the thick of things after struggling yesterday in FP1.

Iannone’s teammate was fourth, ahead of Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Vinales, who once again was fifth in the time sheets and the last rider to make it into the 1:54s.

Marquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa also improved to end the session sixth, besting Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi.

Behind Rossi was a pair of satellite Ducatis: Avintia Ducati’s Hector Barbera and Octo Pramac Yakhnich Ducati's Scott Redding, both of whom continue to impress. And the last one to make the cutoff for the Q2 session tomorrow was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro.

2016 MotoGP Qatar Combined Practice Results: