Briton Scott Redding and reigning 125cc world champion Marc Marquez concluded the pre-season Moto2 test at Valencia tied atop the timing screens, with three seconds exactly blanketing the 30 riders in attendance.

The evenly-matched pair had similarly set identical lap times the previous day – albeit then for just fifth position – and they wound up three tenths clear of their closest challenger, Friday pace-setter and last year’s Moto2 World Championship runner-up Julian Simon.

Marquez and Redding both improved their times from day two by a second, Simon by just a tenth.

Fellow Friday star Yuki Takahashi again rode well to claim fourth, joined in the 1:36s-dead bracket by Thomas Luthi and Stefan Bradl, whilst joint day one pace-setter Andrea Iannone kept up his consistently impressive form in seventh, half a second shy of the benchmark.

Aleix Espargaro posted a time good enough for eighth, with Alex de Angelis and Michele Pirro completing the top 10.

Claudio Corti, Simone Corsi, Axel Pons and Mike DiMeglio all got to within a second of the fastest lap, whilst Briton Bradley Smith lopped seven tenths off his own best effort to place 22nd.

Results:

Marc Marquez Catalunya Caixa Repsol Suter 1m 35.6secs

Scott Redding Marc VDS Suter 1m 35.6secs

Julian Simon Mapfre Aspar Suter 1m 35.9secs

Yuki Takahashi Gresini Moriwaki 1m 36.0secs

Thomas Luthi Interwetten Suter 1m 36.0secs

Stefan Bradl Viessmann Kiefer Kalex 1m 36.0secs

Andrea Iannone Speed Master Suter 1m 36.1secs

Aleix Espargaro Pons Kalex Pons 1m 36.1secs

Alex de Angelis JiR Motobi 1m 36.3secs

Michele Pirro Gresini Moriwaki 1m 36.4secs

Claudio Corti Italtrans Suter 1m 36.4secs

Simone Corsi Ioda Racing Project 1m 36.6secs

Axel Pons Pons Kalex Pons 1m 36.6secs

Mike DiMeglio Tech 3 1m 36.6secs

Jules Cluzel Forward Suter 1m 36.8secs

Rafaelle de Rosa G22 Moriwaki 1m 36.9secs

Mika Kallio Marc VDS Suter 1m 37.0secs

Alex Baldolini Forward Racing Suter 1m 37.0secs

Mattia Pasini Ioda Racing Project 1m 37.0secs

Randy Krummenacher Switzerland Kiefer Kalex 1m 37.2secs

Xavi Forés Mapfre Aspar Suter 1m 37.2secs

Bradley Smith Tech 3 1m 37.3secs

Kev Coghlan Motorsport 69 FTR 1m 37.5secs

Esteve Rabat Blusens STX 1m 37.7secs

Max Neukirchner MZ Racing 1m 37.7secs

Robertino Pietri Italtrans Suter 1m 37.8secs

Santiago Hernández SAG Team FTR 1m 37.9secs

Anthony West MZ Racing 1m 38.1secs

Kenny Noyes Avintia STX FTR 1m 38.5secs

Dominque Aegerter Technomag CIP Suter 1m 38.6secs

Crash.Net / Eurosport