The Suzuki rider clocked in at 1m29.131s during the latter part of the day’s running, which was enough to leave him 0.161s clear of Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez after the pair staged a shoot-out of quick laps inside the last five minutes.

The factory Yamaha pair were third and fourth fastest, Jorge Lorenzo edging out Valentino Rossi by less than half a tenth.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) was fifth fastest, ahead of Hector Barbera (Avintia Ducati) and works Ducati rider Andrea Iannone.

Dani Pedrosa was eighth fastest on the second Repsol Honda, but it was hardly a straightforward day for the Spaniard.

Around 90 minutes from the end of the session Pedrosa sparked a red flag by crashing at Turn 4, but was quickly given the all-clear and was able to resume running shortly afterwards.

That wasn’t the only red flag either; with just 10 minutes of the day’s running left to go Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Ducati) crashed at the same spot as Pedrosa.

The Colombian was also uninjured, but with so little time left didn’t make it back out.

Full testing times: