Yamaha factory rider Fabio Quartararo once again shook up the Ducati armada at the front in FP3. World Championship runner-up Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia), on the other hand, has problems at the Red Bull Ring.
FP3 took place on a dry track, so Aleix Espargaró, who missed out on a provisional Q2 ticket in 11th place on Friday, was still hoping for a top 10 finish.
In memory of: Pramac ace Johann Zarco’s best time on Friday was 1:29.837 minutes. A comparison with the lap times from previous years is no longer necessary due to the new MotoGP layout with the Munzer chicane at turn 2.
With an air temperature of 18 degrees and a track temperature of 22 degrees, the FP3 session started with Luca Marini slipping in the third corner of his out-lap. After ten minutes, Aprilia wildcard driver Lorenzo Savadori fell in the new chicane and held his hand. Aleix Espargaró on the other hand struggled to stop the RS-GP at Turn 4 and went through the gravel trap.
With less than fifteen minutes to go, Zarco was about to improve his own target time, but went wide at Turn 9. Tech3 KTM rookie Remy Gardner went off the same corner a little later but was unhurt. Young Pramac star Jorge Martin was then the next MotoGP rider to go straight at Turn 4.
After 20 minutes, Miguel Oliveira made the first notable change on the combined timesheets: the factory Red Bull KTM rider, who crashed at the end of FP2 on Friday, moved up to intermediate 2nd. He was only 0.006 seconds short of the Zarco best time, which was beaten shortly afterwards by Suzuki ace Joan Mir: The 2020 world champion took the lead in 1:29.811 min.
Jack Miller – in contrast to Oliveira, Mir and Co. still on medium rear tires – set a new best time of 1:29.787 minutes with 18 minutes left on the clock. It was close, the top 10 were within a quarter of an hour of less than three tenths of a second.
LCR Honda driver Takaaki Nakagami then jumped up to third place before Enea Bastianini set the new target time of 1:29.508 minutes. Aleix Espargaró crashed at the new Turn 2b while his teammate Maverick Viñales was 0.184s behind Bastianini in second.
With the final ten minutes approaching, Miller reclaimed the lead in 1:29.280. His team-mate from the Ducati Lenovo factory team, Pecco Bagnaia, was 0.097 seconds behind before Yamaha star Fabio Quartararo clocked a 1:29.268 min.
Aleix Espargaró returned to the track with his second RS-GP seven minutes before the end, but was initially unable to improve. On a fast lap he also came dangerously close to Zarco between turns 1 and 2.
Quartararo reduced his own best time to a 1:29.117 with two minutes to go, but Zarco went even further in the finish and showed the first 1:28 time on the new MotoGP layout.
In addition to Zarco, a total of five Ducati ended up in the top 6: Miller, Martin, Bagnaia and Bastianini. To KTM’s delight, Brad Binder also cleared this hurdle in eighth at the home GP, with the two Suzuki works riders and Maverick Viñales completing the top 10.
Aleix Espargaró only appeared on the Q2 places for a short time, but ultimately had to make a detour via Q1 (start: 2.10 p.m.) in eleventh place. This also applies to Márquez replacement Stefan Bradl (21st).
MotoGP combined times post FP3, Spielberg (20th August):
1. Zarco, Ducati, 1: 28.964 min
2. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 0.153 sec
3. Miller, Ducati, +0.316
4. Martin, Ducati, +0.360
5. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 0.413
6. Bastianini, Ducati, + 0.493
7. Rins, Suzuki, + 0,509
8. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0,557
9. Viñales, Aprilia, + 0.559
10. Mir, Suzuki, + 0,574
11. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.576
12. Nakagami, Honda, +0.621
13. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.659
14. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 0.677
15. Marini, Ducati, +0.720
16. Pol Espargaro, Honda, +0.746
17. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +0.791
18. Oliveira, KTM, + 0.857
19. Dovizioso, Yamaha, +0.881
20. Alex Marquez, Honda, +1,053
21. Bradl, Honda, +1.062
22. Darryn Binder, Yamaha, + 1,508
23. Gardner, KTM, + 1,590
24. Savadori, Aprilia, + 1,910
25. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 2,240
Moto3, combined times after FP3, Spielberg:
1. Deniz Öncü, KTM, 1:41,285 min
2. Sasaki, Husqvarna, + 0,026 sec
3. Guevara, GASGAS, +0.157
4. Foggia, Honda, + 0.352
5. Garcia, GASGAS, +0.432
6. Moreira, KTM, + 0,435
7. McPhee, Husqvarna, + 0,438
8. Nepa, KTM, + 0,442
9. Baggy, KTM, +0.538
10. Toba, KTM, + 0.596
11. Masia, KTM, + 0,649
12. Riccardo Rossi, Honda, + 0.683
13. Muñoz, KTM, + 0.706
14. Ogden, Honda, +0.713
15. Yamanaka, KTM, + 0,728