Espargaro continues Qatar domination

The Spaniard, quickest in the previous two sessions, set a 1m54.773s to finish more than four tenths of a second clear of the rest of the pack.

Behind Iannone, Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Dovizioso locked out the top four as the Factory riders, unable to use the soft compound available to all other entrants, struggled for outright speed.

Honda's defending champion Marc Marquez was the best placed in fifth, with Jorge Lorenzo seventh and Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa ninth and 10th respectively.

Bradley Smith managed to split Marquez and Lorenzo despite crashing heavily and wrecking his Tech 3 Yamaha at Turn 5 early on.

Cal Crutchlow also fell during the session, losing his Ducati at Turn 10 just 15 minutes in.

The Briton wound up 12th overall, and therefore misses automatic qualification into Q2.

Rossi was also at risk of missing the cut when, two minutes from the end, he was bumped down to 11th in the combined times by Smith's team-mate Pol Espargaro.

The Italian responded however, just securing 10th - and the final berth through to Q2 - with his next effort.

Stefan Bradl also makes the Q2 cut-off, having finished eighth overall in the third session.