ASSEN: Spaniard Aleix Espargaro edged championship leader Fabio Quartararo to put in the quickest time in the third and final practice ahead of Saturday’s qualifying for the Dutch MotoGP in Assen.

Despite a fall at the end of the session, Aprilia rider Espargaro topped the session, finishing 0.041sec ahead of Quartararo’s Yamaha.

Alex Rins (Suzuki) was third quickest while Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who was on top on Friday, slipped to sixth.

The top 10 all head directly into Q2 (1230 GMT) to see who will take pole position for Sunday’s race.

World champion Quartararo shakes off illness to win German MotoGP

Espargaro’s brother Pol, who injured his ribs in Germany last week, had to withdraw from the race weekend, another blow for Honda, who have already lost Marc Marquez to another arm operation.

Standings after third and final practice session:

1. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 1min 32.164sec, 2. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) at 0.041, 3. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 0.156, 4. Takaaki Nakagami (JAP/Honda-LCR) 0.191, 5. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.218, 6. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 0.276, 7. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 0.323, 8. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 0.428, 9. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 0.562, 10. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) 0.714