Dovizioso tops FP3, Marquez misses Q2 cut

Marquez was within the combined practice top 10 when he fell while braking hard into the sharp Turn 10 left-hander in the dying minutes of FP3.

Then, when Dovizioso put in a late flying lap to top the session, Marquez was shuffled down and denied an automatic Q2 spot.

The Spaniard will now have to fight through Q1 for the first time since the Mugello round of the 2015 season.

The reigning champion had begun the day outside the combined top 10 - but took no time to force himself in, kicking off FP3 with his first run using a soft rear tyre this weekend.

He set an initial 1m39.705s before swiftly lowering that to 1m39.390s, which left him comfortably quickest until the late-session qualifying simulation runs.

Avintia Ducati rider Tito Rabat, who spent much of FP3 in second place behind Marquez, took over at the top with eight minutes left on the clock.

Yamaha's Valentino Rossi went quickest a few moments later, narrowly surpassing Rabat with a 1m39.234s effort, before Johann Zarco (Tech3) fired in a 1m39.143s.

This was bettered by LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, who had crashed at Turn 2 earlier in the session.

But a last-ditch effort from Dovizioso - a 1m38.923s - sealed FP3 honours for the Italian, as he narrowly beat team-mate Jorge Lorenzo's Friday benchmark in the process.

Yamaha's Maverick Vinales lapped within a tenth of Dovizioso to slot into second at the chequered flag, ahead of Crutchlow, Zarco, Rossi and Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci.

Dani Pedrosa was seventh in the session on the second factory Honda, leading Rabat, Marquez and Tech3's Hafizh Syahrin.

But it was Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone progressing to Q2 automatically at Marquez and Syahrin's expense, with the Ducati and Suzuki riders' Friday times enough to comfortably assure them of a spot in the combined top 10.

Marc VDS Honda rider Franco Morbidelli, who elected to go to the hospital on Friday after hurting his neck in a hard FP2 fall, was 17th - despite crashing late on in the session in what was his third accident in three practice sessions.

FP3 Results