Marquez tops weather-hit third practice for Indonesian GP
Marquez tops weather-hit third practice for Indonesian GP
Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez topped a damp third practice on Saturday for the Indonesian Grand Prix as title-holder Fabio Quartararo suffered more technical problems.
Quartararo's Yamaha cut out, just like it did in practice on Friday, but the Frenchman roared back on that occasion to power to a leading time of 1 min 31.608sec.
Quartararo's time was never threatened on Saturday in third and final practice because of the tricky conditions, after heavy downpours earlier in the day left the Mandalika circuit on the island of Lombok damp in places.
Spain's Marquez, of the Repsol Honda team, suffered a high-speed crash on Friday in second practice.
He emerged largely unscathed and topped third practice, but he failed to improve on his best time and was left well outside the top 10 overall so will need to negotiate the first qualifying session later Saturday.
Motorbike-mad Indonesia is hosting its first grand prix in 25 years.
It staged races in 1996 and 1997 near the capital Jakarta, but its ambitions of becoming a mainstay of the sport were torpedoed by the Asian financial crisis.
There have been teething problems for Indonesia's return to world-class motorcycling, with the Mandalika track requiring substantial resurfacing for this week's action.
Leading combined practice times:
1. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 1:31.608, 2. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Yamaha) at 0.030 sec, 3. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati) 0.285, 4. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati) 0.296, 5. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) 0.313, Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) 0.357, 7. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.400, 8. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 0.409, 9. Miguel Oliveria (POR/KTM) 0.441, 10. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 0.498.
(V.Blanchet--LPdF)
