Gresini Ducati’s Marc Marquez topped the final MotoGP practice session in Jerez as unexpected wet weather disrupted the teams’ plans prior to qualifying.
Marquez posted a lap time of 1.48.183s to emerge on top at the Spanish venue, with VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio situated 0.076s behind the Spaniard.
Most of the riders elected to venture out and get acclimatised to the track conditions and collect vital data in case the later Sprint race is scheduled to be wet.
At the start of the session, Gresini’s Marquez continued his strong showing this weekend with continuous fastest laps and it was one-route traffic from then on.
Jorge Martin’s visor came off at the start of the session meaning he had to return to the pits, hampering his chances of adapting to the damper track surface.
Free Practice Two leader Francesco Bagnaia, meanwhile, endured struggles throughout most of the session, but he was able to produce a strong finish of third.
Trackhouse Aprilia duo Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira were as high as second and fourth but ended up fourth and sixth with Maverick Vinales wedged in between.
Pedro Acosta had his first outing in wet conditions on a MotoGP bike and was the lead KTM rider, ahead of lead Pramac rider Franco Morbidelli and Gresini’s Alex Marquez.
Aleix Espargaro rounded off the top 10 before a half-second margin covered a five-rider chain of Ducati and factory KTM riders, which Marco Bezzecchi fronted.
Dani Pedrosa and Jack Miller were slotted in close behind Martin, with both finishing ahead of factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini.
Fabio Quartararo’s struggles with Yamaha continue even in the interchangeable wet weather, which saw him only be able to finish 17th, 1.527s adrift.
Johann Zarco once more finished as lead Honda, with test rider Stefan Bradl finishing comfortably clear of Joan Mir and Luca Marini who finished 21st and last.
Having led the Japanese marque in the previous practice session last time round, Alex Rins had to settle for 19th.
KTM’s Brad Binder, who narrowly missed out on Q2 after a late crash, had to settle for 20th as he was unable to muster any consistent lap times.
Lorenzo Savadori struggled to compete but could only push his Aprilia bike as high as 22nd.
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