Late surge carries Pedrosa clear of Stoner in final MotoGP practice at Catalunya

As was the case in Friday's sessions, tyre choice proved critical, with Pedrosa's time - a 1m41.646s, the fastest ever on a MotoGP bike at Barcelona - coming when he switched to a softer rear compound.

Pedrosa's two-lap flurry, set as the chequered flag was readied, deprived works Honda team-mate Casey Stoner of top spot by just over three tenths of a second.

Stoner had himself produced a late burst to depose Tech 3 Yamaha's Andrea Dovizioso, who had been on top for the majority of the session after becoming the first rider to dip under the 1m42s mark.

Of the top three however, only Stoner set his time on the harder front and rear compounds.

Pramac Ducati's Hector Barbera ran toward the front for the entire session and eventually ended fourth, ahead of the works Ducati rider Nicky Hayden. The Texan followed Stoner's lead by opting for hard front and rears.

Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo ended more than one second down on Pedrosa in sixth, ahead of Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda), Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Valentino Rossi (Ducati).

Having complained about the set-up of his Ducati following the opening two practice sessions, Rossi opted to switch back to the carbon fibre swingarm he had used prior to the team's recent Mugello test.

Gresini Honda's Alvaro Bautista finished 10th fastest ahead of the second works Yamaha of Ben Spies.

Aspar's CRT duo Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet meanwhile occupied 12th and 13th, with the Cardion Ducati of Karel Abraham 14th.

Pos  Rider             Team/Bike                 Time      Gap
 1.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda                     1m41.646s
 2.  Casey Stoner      Honda                     1m41.966s  + 0.320s
 3.  Andrea Dovizioso  Tech 3 Yamaha             1m41.993s  + 0.347s
 4.  Hector Barbera    Pramac Ducati             1m42.353s  + 0.707s
 5.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati                    1m42.433s  + 0.787s
 6.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha                    1m42.697s  + 1.051s
 7.  Stefan Bradl      LCR Honda                 1m42.784s  + 1.138s
 8.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha             1m42.906s  + 1.260s
 9.  Valentino Rossi   Ducati                    1m43.123s  + 1.477s
10.  Alvaro Bautista   Gresini Honda             1m43.133s  + 1.487s
11.  Ben Spies         Yamaha                    1m43.440s  + 1.794s
12.  Aleix Espargaro   Aspar Aprilia             1m43.882s  + 2.236s
13.  Randy de Puniet   Aspar Aprilia             1m43.991s  + 2.345s
14.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Ducati            1m44.585s  + 2.939s
15.  Mattia Pasini     Speed Master Aprilia      1m44.901s  + 3.255s
16.  Colin Edwards     Forward Suter-BMW         1m45.193s  + 3.547s
17.  Michele Pirro     Gresini FTR-Honda         1m45.670s  + 4.024s
18.  James Ellison     Forward Suter-BMW         1m45.785s  + 4.139s
19.  Yonni Hernandez   Avintia FTR-Kawasaki      1m45.824s  + 4.178s
20.  Danilo Petrucci   Ioda-Aprilia              1m45.942s  + 4.296s
21.  Ivan Silva        Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki  1m46.889s  + 5.243s