Johann Zarco headed Jack Miller by 0.073 seconds after seizing top spot from the Australian late on in a drying third MotoGP practice for the San Marino Grand Prix.
Overnight rain left the Rimini circuit damp for the start of FP3, and though the racing line was dry enough for slicks, improvements on the combined times were unattainable for most.
After 10 minutes, only Nieto's Alvaro Bautista, Tech3's Zarco and the Honda of Dani Pedrosa had registered a laptime, with the former leading the session with a 1:37.797s.
Bautista improved to a 1:36.212s not long after, before Pedrosa began a short residency at the top of the timesheets with a 1:35.670s.
Honda stablemate Tom Luthi, on the year-old Marc VDS RC213V, went just under a tenth quicker, but was soon usurped by Pedrosa's teammate Marc Marquez, who dramatically upped the pace in the latter stages.
Marquez seized top spot with a 1:35.473s, which improved over the course of four laps to sit a comfortable 1.1s clear of the field with a 1:33.422s.
Zarco dethroned Marquez with three minutes remaining with a 1:33.010s, which put him within touching distance of a place in Q2.
Pramac's Miller did squeeze into Q2 with his lap of 1:32.861s in the dying seconds, though was pushed out of top spot by Zarco's last-gasp effort of 1:32.788s to join the Australian in the pole shootout session.
Friday pacesetter Andrea Dovizioso ended the morning third on his Ducati, heading Marquez, LCR's Cal Crutchlow and the Suzuki of Alex Rins – all of whom safely into Q2 with their times from FP2.
Zarco and Miller's improvements came at the expense of Franco Morbidelli, who will now face Q1. The Italian was seventh in FP3, with fellow Q1 runners Dani Pedrosa, Hafizh Syahrin following, while Maverick Vinales – securing his Q2 spot on Friday – completed the top 10.
The final Q2 runners had a low-key FP3, with Danilo Petrucci 15th, home hero Valentino Rossi 20th and Jorge Lorenzo last after opting to remain in his garage for the entirety of the session.
Early pacesetter Luthi [22nd] crashed late on at Quercia, while KTM's Bradley Smith [21st] fell from his machine under braking for the Carro hairpin in the closing seconds of the session.
