Francesco Bagnaia became a 'record-breaker' in Germany when he set a 1min19s765 and again set the best time at the Sachsenring circuit - and of course led TL3
The third MotoGP free practice for the German GP was a busy one, with a new track record set at Sachsenring. Francesco Bagnaia was once again responsible for this, as he flew to 1min19s765, confirming the good pace of the Ducati at the circuit.
Aleix Espargaró even tried to take the lead from the Italian, but was 0s064s behind. Jack Miller rounded out the top three. The Pramac duo, Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín, were fourth and fifth, respectively.
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Rounding out the top ten positions in TL3 are Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami, Maverick Viñales, and Miguel Oliveira. Of these names, only Oliveira did not get a direct place in Q2. Besides him, names such as Enea Bastianini, Pol Espargaró, and Álex Rins, for example, will go to Q1 to fight for the last two spots.
MotoGP qualifying for the German GP at Sachsenring takes place this Saturday (18) at 9:10 a.m. (ET).GRANDE PRÊMIO follows all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.
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Check out how the MotoGP TL3 went at Sachsenring:
The third MotoGP free practice started hot once again. The temperature was as high as 27°C, with the track reaching 33°C. As soon as the green light came on, the riders took to the track.
Francesco Bagnaia had the fastest time of the day, the one he set in TL2 last Friday: 1min20s018. The first to set a time was Fabio Di Giannantonio, with 1min21s868. When the other riders were completing their laps, Aleix Espargaró set 1min21s094 and took the lead.
The times were still a long way off for the Ducati rider. Bagnaia himself came a little closer with a lap of 1min20s690. Behind him came Miguel Oliveira and Espargaró. Pecco and the KTM rider were the only ones within 1min20s. Who pushed Aleix down was Jack Miller, who occupied the third position with 1min20s841.
With 20 minutes to go in the session, things didn't change much. Who appeared at the top of the chart was Maverick Viñales, with 1min20s798, still in third position. It was then that Miguel Oliveira took the lead with a lap of 1min20s554, already booking a spot in the top-10 to go straight to Q2. Bagnaia was 0s136 behind.
But Oliveira couldn't hold on to his position for long. That was because Joan Mir put in an excellent lap of 1min20s549 for the lead, and also secured a provisional spot in Q2, pushing Miguel out of the top-10 in the combined times - all by just 0s005.
Second fastest, Aleix Espargaró returned to the lead with 1min20s013, already beating Pecco's time from last Friday. And it was from this point on that the times started to drop a lot. Bagania set a new track record of 1min19s765, once again beaten by the Ducati rider, with Jorge Martín 0s204 behind. Espargaró also lowered his pace, but was still 0s242 behind the Italian.
Aleix tried to steal the lead from Bagnaia, but was still 0s064 behind. Jack Miller appeared in third position. Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo was unable to open a final lap due to problems with his helmet visor, which came loose. End of practice, Bagnaia in the lead.
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