Bagnaia bites back at Quartararo as Jerez duel heats up

It's the head-to-head we've been accustomed to seeing over the past 12 months in MotoGP™ and it has returned this weekend at the Red Bull Spanish Grand Prix: Francesco Bagnaia vs Fabio Quartararo. After the Monster Energy Yamaha man held the overnight lead, the Ducati Lenovo rider responded in some style on Saturday morning in Jerez by setting the fastest lap of the weekend so far. The pair are split by only 0.006 seconds heading into qualifying, with all eyes on the 63 and the 20.

MILLER TAXI 2.0

After a handful of improving laptimes in the early running of FP3 coming from Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and most notably Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), who jumped up to second behind Quartararo with 15 minutes remaining, the first domino fell thanks to Francesco Bagnaia. The Ducati man was flying, looking imperious through the final sector in particular, to set the fastest lap of the weekend so far: a 1:36.782.

Meanwhile, further behind, Marc Marquez was struggling. The Repsol Honda man was outside of the Q2 places and in need of a helping hand as the final flying laps began; along comes Jack Miller. Marquez latched himself onto the rear wheelie of the Ducati Lenovo Team rider, who was also in need of a laptime to promote himself into the top ten, and the pair were able to improve considerably. Miller jumped to 10th and Marquez to fourth, with the Spaniard offering a hand of thanks to Miller on the cool-down lap.

Marquez wasn't the top Honda, however, with Takaaki Nakagami again impressing to take third overall and sit just a tenth adrift of Bagnaia and Quartararo. Aprilia Racing's Maverick Viñales, whilst donning a super-cool Top Gun replica helmet, put in a massively important lap in the final seconds of FP3 by taking the final spot inside the top five to confirm a place in Q2 for only the third time in his Aprilia career. There was an equally important late lap from Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing) as well, as the Italian made use of a tow from Pramac Racing's Johann Zarco to go sixth fastest.

Early improvers Aleix Espargaro and Joan Mir both clung on to Q2 spots in seventh and eighth, ahead of Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin in ninth.

BLOCKBUSTER Q1

Bastianini's lap came at the expense of Zarco, who ended up 12th overall. He'll be joined there by the frustrated figures of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha). Pol Espargaro's frustrations were also clear to see after he chucked his Repsol Honda at the scenery at the final corner late on to keep him 17th on the timesheets.

All of the above will be wary of rookie Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing), who missed out on Q2 by only 0.077 seconds and has been showing explosive pace in Jerez. Can the Italian cause an upset and ditch one of the big hitters out of Q2 later? Find out at 14:10 when MotoGP™ qualifying gets underway.

MotoGP™ Top 10 after Free Practice:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1:36.782
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.006
3. Takaaki Nakagam (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) + 0.117
4. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.143
5. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.193
6. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.194
7. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.277
8. Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) + 0.278
9. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 0.292
10. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.342