Marc Marquez dominated a mixed-weather MotoGP FP3 at the Red Bull Ring by 1.7 seconds over Bradley Smith, while Valentino Rossi will face Q1 for the first time this season.
The morning rain fall had abated by the time MotoGP FP3 got underway, but the track was still damp for the start of the session. Despite the field switching to slick late on, the times from FP1 still stood as the decider for Q2 places.
Jorge Lorenzo set the early pace aboard his Ducati, the Spaniard firing in a 1:33.938s, though this was soon eclipsed by Rossi with a 1:33.382s.
A broken sprocket on one of his bikes and a set-up which did not yield the laptime hoped in FP1 left Rossi just half a tenth from the top 10 on combined times, and will face Q1 for the first time since Phillip Island last year.
Rossi improved to a 1:33.289s to increase his advantage at the top of the standings, but a succession of session-best laps from Dani Pedrosa, Xavier Simeon and Alex Rins demoted the Italian.
Lorenzo twisted the knife at mid distance to go 1.5s clear of the field with a 1:30.687s, which stood as the benchmark until the final seven minutes.
With 15 minutes to go, Pramac's Jack Miller was the first to gamble on slick tyres as a clear dry line appeared, with Rossi following suit. The switch to slicks also prompted Marquez to make his first appearance of the session.
Miller leaped up to second on, 0.096s adrift of Lorenzo's time, and eclipsed on his follow-up tour with a 1:28.967s.
Marquez's first flying lap put him a second back from Miller, but a 1:27.997s put him a second clear, and he added a further second to his advantage with a 1:26.496s.
A sprinkle of rain in the closing stages stopped anyone challenging Marquez, leaving the Spaniard top of the pile ahead of KTM's Smith and Aprilia's Scott Redding.
Cal Crutchlow went fourth fastest running medium slick tyres at the end, with Honda stablemate Tom Luthi completing the top five.
Miller slipped to sixth at the chequered flag, but will face Q1 along with Rossi. Friday pacesetter Andrea Dovizioso, Alex Rins, Hafizh Syahrin and Maverick Vinales completed the top 10.
Hovering around the sharp end of the timesheets for much of FP3, the switch to slicks saw Zarco, Lorenzo and Rossi slip down the order to 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.
Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Iannone, Aleix Espargaro and Tito Rabat did not set a laptime in FP3, with the latter – safely into Q2 along with Petrucci and Iannone – not even completing a tour.
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