Casey Stoner will head into this evening's qualifying session as the favourite but wouldn't appear to be having things his own way after another tight battle with Ben Spies in the final practice session.
The times tumbled as expected with Stoner clocking a 1:39.538, over a second quicker than he managed yesterday, but Spies continued to be a major threat with the gap between the two finishing at just over a tenth of a second.
Dani Pedrosa completed the top three ahead of the other two factory Hondas of Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso also in the mix. With both coming into this event on the back of podium finishes, the Italian duo will fancy their chances of sneaking onto the front row when qualifying takes place at 6:55pm this evening (UK time).
The top six was rounded out by a Yamaha but not the one everybody would have predicted. Colin Edwards continued his stellar weekend so far with a 1:0.438, a tenth of a second quicker than the factory machine ridden by Jorge Lorenzo. The world champion admitted on Friday that he needed to work hard to catch his teammate and the gap doesn't appear to be closing with qualifying just over an hour away.
Valentino Rossi was hot on the heels of his former teammate in eighth on the works Ducati while the fully-fit Randy de Puniet dragged the Pramac machine up to ninth. Alvaro Bautista took a trip through the grass on his way to tenth while Cal Crutchlow finished a solid 12th.
Meanwhile, Karel Abraham's miserable weekend continued as the Cardion AB Ducati stopped for the third time this weekend, only this time, because of an accident. The Czech rookie ended up over two seconds off the pace in 16th with only Hiroshi Aoyama behind him.
Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix: Free Practice 3 Result
Pos | Rider | Nat | Bike | Team | Time/Gap |
1 | Casey Stoner | AUS | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | 1:39.538 |
2 | Ben Spies | USA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | +0.132 |
3 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | +0.358 |
4 | Marco Simoncelli | ITA | Honda | San Carlo Honda Gresini | +0.763 |
5 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | +0.788 |
6 | Colin Edwards | USA | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +0.900 |
7 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | +1.009 |
8 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Ducati | Ducati Team | +1.160 |
9 | Randy de Puniet | FRA | Ducati | Pramac Racing Team | +1.377 |
10 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Suzuki | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | +1.378 |
11 | Nicky Hayden | USA | Ducati | Ducati Team | +1.529 |
12 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +1.671 |
13 | Loris Capirossi | ITA | Ducati | Pramac Racing Team | +1.958 |
14 | Hector Barbera | SPA | Ducati | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | +1.974 |
15 | Toni Elias | SPA | Honda | LCR Honda MotoGP | +2.138 |
16 | Karel Abraham | CZE | Ducati | Cardion AB Motoracing | +2.202 |
17 | Hiroshi Aoyama | JAP | Honda | San Carlo Honda Gresini | +2.351 |