Live: Day 3 of MotoGP preseason testing at Phillip Island

THE 2017 MotoGP season is shaping up as the Mav v Marc show after three days of pre-season testing at Phillip Island.

Live: MotoGP Phillip Island test, Day 3

UPDATE: THE 2017 MotoGP season is shaping up as the Mav v Marc show after three days of pre-season testing at Phillip Island.

Yamaha’s star signing Maverick Vinales and Honda’s world champion Marc Marquez topped the time charts after three days on the coastal circuit.

Vinales backed up from top place on Thursday with a best time of 1min 28.548sec on Friday.

Marquez celebrated his 24th birthday with another consistent workout, about a quarter of a second behind his fellow Spaniard.

Honda’s Marc Marquez in action at Phillip Island on Friday.

At times during the afternoon session, the two were trailing each other around the 4.4km track.

Another big improver was Marquez’s Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa who leapt to third fastest after battling a throat infection on Thursday.

MotoGP rookie Jonas Folger on the Tech 3 Yamaha was the surprise packet of the final day. The German stopped the clock at 1:29.042 in fourth position.

Young Aussie Jack Miller improved as each day passed and put down many laps on his Marc VDS team Honda. The 22-year-old finished the third day as ninth fastest (1:29.358).

Jorge Lorenzo, the three-time world champion who moved from Yamaha to Ducati in the off-season, battled to find pace on all three days. He salvaged the third day with an eighth but spent most of the sessions outside the top 10, struggling to get the setup right on the 2017 bike.

Veteran Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi was 11th fastest.

See how we covered the action in our live blog.

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Originally published as Live: Day 3 of MotoGP preseason testing at Phillip Island