Phillip Island MotoGP: Marc Marquez leads Cal Crutchlow in practice

In what had largely been a sedate practice session, Honda rider Marquez sparked the field into action with five minutes left on the clock as he recorded a 1m29.081s - the fastest lap of the weekend so far.

The Spaniard then looked as though he might go quicker on his next lap, only to be blocked by Pol Espargaro.

That mattered little though as Crutchlow's best effort was more than four tenths slower - the Briton nevertheless impressing with the third-best time from the three sessions combined.

Jorge Lorenzo could not improve on his time from second practice but still set the third-fastest lap of Saturday morning aboard his Yamaha while Scott Redding, who had struggled in both of Friday's sessions, turned arguably the performance of the session to post the fourth fastest time and seal his place in Q2.

Maverick Vinales continued his impressive pace with fifth for Suzuki, marginally quicker than his best time from Friday, ahead of Andrea Iannone.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi was one of the few riders to improve early on in the session but had to settle for seventh, while Dani Pedrosa hung on to a spot in Q2 despite a low-key session aboard the second Honda.

Bradley Smith booked his place in Q2 with a late effort as he went eighth quickest.

The second Suzuki of Aleix Espargaro and his brother Pol's Tech 3 Yamaha are among those having to go through Q1, along with local favourite Jack Miller despite his strong Friday pace.

PRACTICE THREE TIMES: