Marco Bezzecchi topped the timesheets to lead an Aprilia 1-2 in the final Japanese MotoGP practice session at Motegi.
The session was red-flagged inside the first six minutes for track conditions after Franco Morbidelli suffered an engine blow up, which disrupted the final efforts of the riders before qualifying.
However, the Aprilia riders were not deterred with Bezzecchi setting a 1:43.321s lap time to top the timesheets by 0.080s.
Aprilia team-mate and championship leader Jorge Martin narrowly trailed Bezzecchi in second, while Pedro Acosta took third.
Marc Marquez was fourth and 0.243s off Bezzecchi’s best time, while Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top five.
Brad Binder posted an impressive time to take sixth as Enea Bastianini kept his momentum in seventh ahead of eighth-placed Alex Marquez.
The Trackhouse Aprilia riders were evenly matched despite a crash for Ai Ogura, with Raul Fernandez in ninth and Ogura 11th as the pair were split by Fabio Quartararo in 10th.
Francesco Bagnaia was 12th ahead of the LCR Honda duo of Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira, with Luca Marini 15th.
Morbidelli was 16th despite the engine blow up, with Maverick Vinales in 17th and Fermin Aldeguer, who suffered a crash midway through FP2, in 18th.
Jack Miller was 19th over Somkiat Chantra, as Alex Rins in 21st and Toprak Razgatlioglu in 22nd rounded out the standings.
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