Lorenzo fastest after rain delay

The session was red-flagged almost as soon as it began due to the arrival of a heavy rain shower, with proceedings resuming after a 20 minute delay on a very wet circuit.

The times rapidly tumbled as track conditions improved, and it was Lorenzo who took charge with a succession of fastest laps.

Beating Marquez's early benchmark by three tenths, the factory Yamaha rider proceeded to lower his time by a further 4.4 seconds over the course of his first stint as he explored the limit.

Lorenzo's best time of 2m14.503s would stand until the end of the session, with Marquez ultimately falling 0.242s short when he returned to the track later in the session.

Morning pacesetter Dani Pedrosa, having spent much of the session in the lower reaches of the top 10, rose to third in the closing stages, albeit eight tenths adrift of Honda team-mate Marquez.

Andrea Dovizioso and Aleix Espargaro made late improvements to complete the top five ahead of Hector Barbera, whose last-ditch effort took him up to a surprise sixth place.

Stefan Bradl was one of the quickest riders in the first half of the session but faded to seventh late on, ahead of Andrea Iannone, who appeared to injure his elbow in a late crash at the last corner.

Nicky Hayden and Cal Crutchlow rounded off the top 10, while Philip Island winner Valentino Rossi could manage no better than 15th in a difficult session, 3.519s off the pace.