It has not been an easy weekend so far for the World Championship leader
Francesco Bagnaia has earnt a precious spot in Q2 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana but it was a nervous conclusion to FP3 for the MotoGP™ World Championship leader. Fellow Ducati Lenovo Team rider Jack Miller was the fast man on a 1:29.921 but Bagnaia had been pushed back to ninth after the chequered flag came out at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Fortunately for him, that was as far as he would slip, although he was only 0.064 seconds quicker than P11. Pecco’s only remaining rival for the title, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), finished the session in P5 – after a late front-end scare.
Chilly weather causes several spills
Somewhat low track temperature seemed to catch out several riders in the opening half of the session although, ironically, it was heat being generated less than two minutes in when Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) crashed at Turn 7 and his Ducati caught fire – thankfully, the Italian was clear of the flames. That incident triggered a brief red flag period before a close call between Bagnaia and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) when both ran wide at Turn 2, then separate crashes for Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing), Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), Brad Binder, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).
RED FLAG: Bezzecchi’s GP21 explodes into ball of flames
Miller was among the first to go for a time attack when he went out with new soft Michelin slicks and rose from P3 on combined times to P1 for the weekend to date with a 1:30.095 just inside the final quarter of an hour. That was the benchmark until Ducati stablemate Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) set a 1:30.026 in the final couple of minutes before the chequered flag, but Miller quickly responded with the only 1:29 of the morning. Brad Binder moved up to third with a late 1:30.188 and Luca Marini…