Sepang MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo flies in third practice

After beating his quickest time from Friday early in the session, Lorenzo later found more than half a second to post a 1m59.544s with four minutes left on the clock.

That time was almost two and a half tenths of a second quicker than Marc Marquez's qualifying lap record from 2014.

Honda pair Dani Pedrosa and Marquez would join Lorenzo underneath the two-minute mark, with Marquez going second quickest on his final lap, 0.111 seconds down on Lorenzo.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi made it into the top four but was seven tenths off the pace of his team-mate and title rival Lorenzo.

Hector Barbera was a fine fifth fastest on his Avintia Ducati, just ahead of Cal Crutchlow, who lifted himself up from 13th on combined times to sixth at the end of the session to secure a place in Q2.

Suzuki rider Aleix Espargaro completed the top seven.

Andrea Iannone could not improve upon his Friday time and ended his session parked up against the pitwall with the chain off his Ducati, but will go through to Q2 with the eighth best time ahead of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Pol Espargaro secured the final Q2 spot with the 10th best time of practice. His Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Bradley Smith will have to go through Q1 after only managing 12th behind Maverick Vinales.

Danilo Petrucci slipped out of an automatic Q2 slot when he crashed with three minutes remaining at Turn 7.

PRACTICE THREE TIMES: