2011 MotoGP

The reigning MotoGP Champion, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, began on top Saturday in Sachsenring, Germany, the Spaniard leading the third and final free practice session before qualifying.

But it didn’t appear as if Lorenzo would set the pace on Saturday. Earlier in the FP3 session, the Italian who lead the first two practices, Marco Simoncelli, was leading the 17-rider grid.

But the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider had a crash in the fast turn 11 with 15 minutes remaining. Simoncelli was able to rejoin, but couldn’t catch Lorenzo or the second fastest rider in FP3, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa, who won last year’s Germany MotoGP round, would finish FP3 0.041 of a second behind Lorenzo, with Simoncelli posting a 1:22.159, 0.047 behind Lorenzo.

The current MotoGP leader, Casey Stoner, placed his Repsol Honda RC212V in the fourth fastest position, 0.274 of a second behind Lorenzo. Stoner’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso was 0.055 of a second further back.

As for nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, the Italian piloted his Ducati Team GP11.1 to a 12th-fastest pace in FP3. Also, Loris Capirossi, who continues to recover from his crash at Assen, didn’t participate in FP3; World Superbike rider Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati) substituted for Capirossi aboard the Pramac Racing Ducati GP11.

Next up is qualifying before Sunday’s MotoGP at Sachsenring, Germany.

2011 Sachsenring MotoGP: Free Practice 3 Results:

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1. 1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 280.7 1’22.112  
2. 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 283.9 1’22.153 0.041 / 0.041
3. 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 279.4 1’22.159 0.047 / 0.006
4. 27 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 283.9 1’22.386 0.274 / 0.227
5. 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 281.6 1’22.441 0.329 / 0.055
6. 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 277.3 1’22.500 0.388 / 0.059
7. 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 280.4 1’22.594 0.482 / 0.094
8. 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 275.2 1’22.772 0.660 / 0.178
9. 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 274.2 1’22.841 0.729 / 0.069
10. 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 275.5 1’23.118 1.006 / 0.277
11. 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 274.0 1’23.268 1.156 / 0.150
12. 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 279.2 1’23.279 1.167 / 0.011
13. 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 275.0 1’23.296 1.184 / 0.017
14. 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 281.5 1’23.362 1.250 / 0.066
15. 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 277.8 1’23.393 1.281 / 0.031
16. 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 279.6 1’24.246 2.134 / 0.853
17. 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 272.6 1’25.975 3.863 / 1.729

 

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