Marc Marquez Mighty In Third Practice Session Of French Grand Prix

Marc Marquez (Twitter @MotoGP)

JAKARTA - Repsol Honda team rider Marc Marquez was fastest in the third practice session (FP3) of the French Grand Prix when rain drenched the track of the Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, Saturday.

Marquez, who is still recovering from a humerus bone injury, clocked a time of 1:40.736 ahead of Aprilia rider Lorenzo Savadori by a margin of 0.613 seconds.

Interim leader Francesco Bagnaia finished P3 with a margin of 0.716 seconds.

With unfriendly track conditions, no rider was able to improve his time record in the third practice session.

That means the top ten riders in the combined time record after FP2 are eligible to qualify directly for the second qualifying round (Q2), according to the official MotoGP website reported through Antara, Saturday, May 15.

While Q1 will be enlivened by a number of big names such as Suzuki team duo Alex Rins and Joan Mir, alongside Bagnaia, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), and Alex Marquez (LRC Honda) who will contest two tickets to Q2.

Wet track conditions made it difficult for riders this morning such as Spanish GP champion Jack Miller (Ducati) who slipped at Turn 6, as well as Iker Lecuona (KTM) who crashed in the last 15 minutes.

Time-record finisher Johann Zarco is back competitive in his home race after finishing P6 on a wet track.

Meanwhile, another French rider, Fabio Quartararo, who was racing for the first time after undergoing arm pump surgery, was unable to break into the top 15, as were three other Yamaha riders.

Nevertheless, the four Yamaha riders have secured Q2 tickets thanks to their quick performances on dry tracks during FP2.

Pramac Racing rookie Jorge Martin is still not fit after the accident at Portimao and was replaced by Tito Rabat.

Top ten record combinations after FP3

1 J. ZARCO 1:31,747

2 F. QUARTARARO +0.095

3 M. VIÑALES +0.389

4 P. ESPARGARO +0.390

5 F. MORBIDELLI +0.532

6 M. OLIVEIRA +0.549

7 J. MILLER +0.614

8 M. MARQUEZ +0.885

9 V. ROSSI +0.922

10 T. NAKAGAMI +0.964