Melandri remains top in weather-hit FP3

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Marco Melandri held on to top spot during the final Friday free practice session as rain swept across the Motorland Aragon circuit to curtail running midway through FP3.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider topped the second free practice session with a 1m 50.652s which also handed him the best lap on the combined times as the majority of riders were unable to better their times in the final session as light rain dampened the circuit for the final 20 minutes of the session.

With an unchanged order for the top four to see Melandri lead from Kawasaki pair Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes plus factory Ducati rider Chaz Davies, Jordi Torres was the biggest winner in FP3 by jumping up to fifth place with a 1m 51.212s for MV Agusta.

Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes was another to improve his best lap time in the final session to match his teammate Michael van der Mark with a 1m 51.347s to see the pair take sixth and seventh place respectively.

Xavi Fores held on to his automatic Superpole 2 spot for Barni Ducati while Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda) both improved in FP3 to book their top ten spots which saw World Superbike debutant Michael Ruben Rinaldi shuffled down to 11^th. It means the Aruba.it Racing Ducati junior rider, who will compete at every European round this year, will need to progress through Superpole 1.

Davide Giugliano impressed on his Milwaukee Aprilia debut as stand-in for the injured Eugene Laverty by taking 12^th place on the combined times ahead of Althea BMW’s Loris Baz in 13^th as Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda) and Roman Ramos (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) completed the top 15.