While the morning session was hampered by a drying Barcelona circuit, riders faced no such hurdles in the afternoon.

Marquez led the way in first practice and displaced Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso at the top with a 1m45.159s to lead the way for the bulk of the 45 minutes by 0.026 seconds.

Alvaro Bautista was the first rider to crash in the session, at the new Turn 14 chicane with 15 minutes to go, falling again as he looked to get his Aspar Ducati going.

Bautista regrouped on his second bike and became the first rider to make a big move on a soft rear tyre, jumping from 13th to third with seven minutes remaining.

The next time around, he pipped Marquez with a 1m45.116s lap, as Dani Pedrosa jumped up to second in a lead quartet covered by just 0.069s.

Pedrosa also went faster on his subsequent flying lap, setting the fastest time of the day, a 1m45.098s with three minutes to go.

Lorenzo then leapt to the top, and by nearly four tenths with a 1m44.700s, before Marquez reasserted his authority.

The reigning world champion banked a 1m44.478s and then a 1m44.295s after the chequered flag to finish 0.405s clear of Lorenzo.

Tech 3 Yamaha’s Jonas Folger was third, ahead of Dovizioso and fellow Mugello podium finished Danilo Petrucci, Marc VDS Honda’s Tito Rabat, Johann Zarco and Pedrosa.

Bautista eventually finished ninth, not improving with his last laps, just ahead of Valentino Rossi on the best of the factory Yamahas.

It was a tough afternoon for Yamaha, the only leading team to miss last month’s pre-event test at the reconfigured Barcelona, with Vinales finishing 16th, 1.515s off the pace.

Avintia Ducati pair Hector Barbera and Loris Baz both had falls in the final third of the session, Barbera finishing 11th and Baz 15th.

Cal Crutchlow was the other rider to crash, at Turn 5 starting his final run and the LCR Honda rider wound up 19th, 1.672s adrift of Marquez.

Practice results:

Pos.	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	93	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'44.295
2	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	1'44.700	0.405
3	94	Jonas Folger	Yamaha	1'44.839	0.544
4	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'44.883	0.588
5	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1'44.890	0.595
6	53	Tito Rabat	Honda	1'44.922	0.627
7	5	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	1'45.063	0.768
8	26	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	1'45.098	0.803
9	19	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	1'45.116	0.821
10	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'45.118	0.823
11	8	Hector Barbera	Ducati	1'45.311	1.016
12	45	Scott Redding	Ducati	1'45.375	1.080
13	29	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	1'45.465	1.170
14	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'45.554	1.259
15	76	Loris Baz	Ducati	1'45.755	1.460
16	25	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	1'45.810	1.515
17	43	Jack Miller	Honda	1'45.868	1.573
18	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1'45.932	1.637
19	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'45.967	1.672
20	22	Sam Lowes	Aprilia	1'46.682	2.387
21	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM	1'46.946	2.651
22	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki	1'47.002	2.707
23	38	Bradley Smith	KTM	1'47.892	3.597