Spielberg (Austria) (AFP)

Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda) was still fastest in the third qualifying session of the Austrian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of his compatriot Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) and Italy's Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati).

The five-time world champion has confirmed his speed on the Austrian track which has however seen the Ducati triumph in the last three editions.

In addition to Dovizioso, the Italian machines placed 4th with Danilo Petrucci, who achieved the same time as his teammate, and 7th with Jack Miller.

The Yamaha have mixed up with Vinales but also Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (5th) and Italian veteran Valentino Rossi (6th).

Note the good performance of the Spaniard Pol Espargaro who managed to qualify in the top 10 with his KTM, the Austrian team being at home this weekend.

His teammate in the KTM factory team, the Frenchman Johann Zarco, did not achieve the same success with only 14th place.

MotoGP qualifying starts on Saturday from 14:35 (12:35 GMT), with the start of the race scheduled for Sunday at 14:00 (12:00 GMT).

According to the current MotoGP system, drivers who have achieved the top ten times in the first three free practice sessions are directly involved in Saturday's qualifying session, which determines the order of the first 12 places on the starting grid. . The slowest drivers to participate in a preliminary qualifying session allowing the two fastest times to be drafted among the best.

. Combined ranking of the three free practice sessions of the Austrian Grand Prix, 11th round of the MotoGP World Championship, played Friday and Saturday on the Spielberg circuit (4,318 km):

1. Marc Marquez (ESP / Honda): 1: 23.251

2. Maverick Vinales (ESP / Yamaha) at 0.340

3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA / Ducati) at 0.342

4. Danilo Petrucci (ITA / Ducati) at 0.342

5. Fabio Quartararo (FRA / Yamaha-SRT) at 0.386

6. Valentino Rossi (ITA / Yamaha) at 0.451

7. Jack Miller (AUS / Ducati) at 0.498

8. Takaaki Nakagami (Honda-LCR) at 0.513

9. Alex Rins (ESP / Yamaha) at 0.723

10.Pol Espargaro (ESP / KTM) at 0.765

© 2019 AFP