Suzuki's Vinales pips Honda's Marquez in Phillip Island MotoGP test

Following a 'wasted' Wednesday marred by intermittent rain showers, wet weather again greeted teams and riders at the home of the Australian Grand Prix.

World champion Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone were the most active during the wet opening 90 minutes - the Ducati pair sampling the new intermediate Michelin tyre - while Suzuki tester Takuya Tsuda fell in the conditions.

As the track dried either side of a brief rain shower, Vinales was a frequent visitor to the top of the timesheets, as the first rider to break the 1m31s barrier, then dip beneath 1m30s later in the day.

Vinales was fourth when running resumed following Yonny Hernandez's fall at Turn 4 with 15 minutes to go, and then moved to the top with two minutes remaining.

His 1m29.353s lap was pipped almost immediately by Marquez who recorded a 1m29.292s, but Vinales found more time on his next lap, ending the day on top with a time of 1m29.132s - 0.148 seconds faster than Marquez's best lap during last year's Phillip Island race.

Marquez was second, 0.161 seconds behind Vinales in a promising showing following Honda's struggles at Sepang, while team-mate Dani Pedrosa was eighth, having also fallen at Turn 4 with 90 minutes left on the clock.

Lorenzo was on top of the timesheets before Vinales and Marquez improved and his 1m29.357s was ultimately good enough for third, just 0.047s ahead of Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.

While Lorenzo's average advantage on the days he topped in Malaysia was one second, that margin covered the top 13 riders with several minutes to go.

Cal Crutchlow finished the day fifth, ahead of Hector Barbera, Iannone, Pedrosa, Scott Redding and Bradley Smith, with Dovizioso 12th and the busiest rider of the day, turning 88 laps.

While Redding led that tally on the opening day with 33, only Tsuda managed less than 50 on a far more productive Thursday.

THURSDAY TEST TIMES: