MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The final practice session for the premier class offered a familiar picture, with an all-Ducati top 5 on the timesheets, although the order was slightly different to one day ago. Keen to make up for the three-place grid penalty for getting in Pecco Bagnaia’s way yesterday, Franco Morbidelli sampled some fresh rubber in the final few minutes of FP2 and promoted himself to the top of the timing screens by seven hundredths of a second. Marc Marquez’s session got off to a slower start, while the Spaniard got tasked with testing some new aero, but he was soon back at the sharp end and showing off with his strong pace on 17-lap old tyres. Although unlucky on Friday, Bagnaia rejoined his teammate in the top three on Saturday morning, two tenths of a second off Marquez’s best time. 

Some new rubber at the end of the session helped Fermin Aldeguer jump into 4^th position, narrowly ahead of teammate and Friday leader Alex Marquez, while fellow rookie Ai Ogura was best of the non-Ducati rest, in 6^th place. Johann Zarco flew the flag for Honda in 7^th position, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio and home hero Somkiat Chantra. Fabio Quartararo completed the top 10 as the top Yamaha rider, four hundredths of a second quicker than Joan Mir and with similarly minuscule gaps behind them. Raul Fernandez, Luca Marini, Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi completed the top 15, although the latter struggled with some technical issues halfway through proceedings.

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