Marc Marquez completed a clean sweep of MotoGP Misano practice by dominating the third session on Saturday morning.
The Spaniard became the only man to break into the 1m33s bracket midway through the morning, which was enough to earn him top spot for a third straight session by just over one tenth of a second.
His Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa once again led the challengers, but fell just after setting his own best late in the session.
Yamaha pair Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were third and fourth, although the former pitted several times complaining of rear grip problems.
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso was the last man to get within half a second of Marquez in fifth, with Alvaro Bautista, Stefan Bradl and Andrea Iannone rounding out the top eight.
The latter’s late lap secured an automatic entry into Q2, and meant that Michele Pirro, Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith all missed out and must go through via Q1.
Crutchlow, who has started from pole twice this year, never managed to break into the overall top 10 despite just half a second covering fifth through to 12th at times during the session.
The Briton eventually ended third practice 11th, right behind Aleix Espargaro, who secured his Q2 spot yesterday when he went fifth fastest.
Nicky Hayden, ninth in practice three, also progresses automatically.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Marc Marquez Honda 1m33.975s 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m34.124s +0.149s 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m34.224s +0.249s 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m34.357s +0.382s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m34.448s +0.473s 6. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m34.569s +0.594s 7. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m34.635s +0.660s 8. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 1m34.731s +0.756s 9. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m34.822s +0.847s10. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m34.824s +0.849s11. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m34.908s +0.933s12. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.063s +1.088s13. Michele Pirro Pramac Ducati 1m35.280s +1.305s14. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Suter0BMW 1m35.731s +1.756s15. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m35.737s +1.762s16. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Kawasaki 1m35.977s +2.002s17. Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m36.014s +2.039s18. Claudio Corti Forward FTR-Kawasaki 1m36.412s +2.437s19. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m36.623s +2.648s20. Yonny Hernandez PBM Aprilia 1m36.831s +2.856s21. Karel Abraham Cardion Aprilia 1m37.145s +3.170s22. Bryan Staring Gresini FTR-Honda 1m37.353s +3.378s23. Michael Laverty PBM-Aprilia 1m37.875s +3.900s24. Lukas Pesek Ioda-Suter-BMW 1m37.903s +3.928s
Comments