The track was dry but the wind was up as the MotoGP class took to the Termas de Rio Hondo for Free Practice 3 ahead of the Argentinian GP. Keen to secure fast, dry track times the track was busy should they experience a repeat of the conditions in Qatar during the opening round.
Busy track led to many battles as riders fought to secure top 10 finish
A busy track meant a lot of track, and all over, several riders were seen battling their way through the twists and turns. IN particular, Loris Baz (Reale and Avintia Racing) was making things difficult on his Ducati for five times world champion, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), out-accelerating him and competing for the fine race line that was still developing on what was a dirty track.
At the beginning of the Free Practice session, it was once again Maverick Vinales on his new Movistar Yamaha that was leading the timesheets with his time of 1:39.477 from day one. Conditions were cooler but despite that riders were beginning to improve. Cal Crutchlow was the only one able to bring his LCR Honda up to second with 32 minutes remaining.
Honda struggling on exit of final turn of the track
All the Honda riders, including the likes of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) appeared to be struggling with the final turn, turn 14. Many riders appeared to be struggling as they emerged from that turn and made their way down the start-finish straight. Many were seen running wide over the rumble strip ; the Honda appeared the most agitated as it did so.
Rain hit the Termas de Rio Hondo
All of a sudden with approximately 17 minutes to go, the riders all returned to the pits. This usually occurs when the track conditions change and sure enough the flag came out to signal rain at certain corners. The pit lane became very busy as riders and their teams wanted to see how things would develop. The fans in the crowd were seen covering up in rain coats as it appeared to become much cooler quicker.
The clock kept ticking as the riders waited in the pits, frustrated that their momentum had been ruined. No-one seemed keen to take any risks, resorting to wait instead of gaining wet track time. The track would not have been wet enough for them to make such a change to the set-up of the bike with 10 minutes to go, but flags continued to be waved around the track.
No tyre issues so far this year; Intermediate tyres unavailable
There appeared to be none of the concerns with the Michelin tyres as experienced during the year previous. With a year of race and testing experience and knowledge under their leathers, it appeared to be a normal day at the office, despite the weather, with the Michelins. There were no intermediate tyres available to the riders any more.
Some riders took the risk on the wet track
The riders remained in the pits and began to remove their protective gear, all bar injured Alex Rins who ventured out on his Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR. The Spaniard had broken his ankle after a training incident since the opening round. He was soon joined by Pol Espargaro on the new Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. As soon as he left the pits he ran wide and ended up on the paint work, but did not fall. Marquez also ventured out with less than 30 seconds to go to complete a practice start.
Vinales leads the top 10 into Qualifying 2
The session came to an end with no further improvements. It meant that the only change from the top 10 the day previous was that of Crutchlow’s earlier in the session, which meant he had moved up from seventh. It meant that Vinales remained the quickest man with his time from day one. Crutchlow was second fastest ahead of Marquez who was pushed down from second to third.
Returning to the MotoGP class, Karel Abraham was the fourth quickest on combined times, as the highest independent team rider on his Pull & Bear Aspar Ducati. His new teammate, Alvaro Bautista was fifth making it both independent Ducatis above the 2017 evolution of the Desmosedici GP 17.
In fact, Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) was sixth on his 2017 evolution, ahead of Baz in seventh. The highest placed rookie was once again Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in eighth ahead of Aleix Espargaro in ninth who seems to have settled in well on his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini RS-GP.
Pedrosa and Redding favourites to progress so far
Italian rider, Andrea Iannone, who has moved to the Team Suzuki Ecstar camp completed the list of the top 10 riders who will automatically progress through to Qualifying 2 after they have all completed the final Free Practice session. Just outside the top 10, and the favourites to join those in Qualifying 2 should they finish fastest during Qualifying 1, Pedrosa and British rider, Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing) completed the top 12.
Zarco, who got a stunning start in Qatar and led the race initially for several laps, was 13th quickest ahead of Andrea Dovizioso who is hoping to make up for a podium that was stolen from him by his former teammate, Iannone, on the Ducati.
Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing) was 15th ahead of Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and nine times world champion, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) who is down in 17th. He is ahead of his former teammate, Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) down in 18th, who was ahead of Rabat in 19th and Rins who completed the top 20.
He was followed by Pol Espargaro, rookie Sam Lowes (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Bradley Smith who completed the timesheets in 23rd on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team machine; both of the riders on the new machinery were over two seconds off the pace.