Barcelona MotoGP: Aleix Espargaro leads practice for Suzuki

Espargaro had been quickest for much of the morning session before Honda's Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa came to the fore.

The Suzuki man was immediately on top again in the afternoon, but again Honda put in quick times in the closing minutes to demote him.

This time Espargaro was able to fight back, albeit with the help of the softer tyre, and a 1m41.158s lap put him back in first place by 0.285 seconds over Marquez.

Although not the first occasion that Suzuki had topped a session in its MotoGP comeback, Espargaro's lap still prompted celebrations in the team garage and some delighted body language from the Spanish rider as he crossed the line.

Pedrosa ended up third, a further three tenths off the pace.

Suzuki's second rider Maverick Vinales also kept himself in the mix, taking fifth between the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone.

Yamaha had a low-key afternoon, although Jorge Lorenzo spent a long time in second before a lack of improvement on his last run meant he fell to seventh, followed by Cal Crutchlow - another man who had been a top-three fixture at first.

Valentino Rossi did not even make the top 10, ending the day 11th fastest.

Scott Redding, who was 11th quickest behind Pol Espargaro, had the only tumble of the afternoon as he crashed at Turn 10. He was unhurt.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES: