Misano MotoGP: Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso fastest in wet session

The Ducati rider was the first to come off his bike in the treacherous conditions while on his out-lap, losing control on entry to the final corner and throwing his Desmosedici into the gravel.

Dovizioso then made a return on his back-up Ducati later on in the session and went top first time out with a time of 1m50.479s, before finding further gains in the final moments when he posted a 1m49.195s.

The Italian finished an impressive 1.161 seconds ahead of Dani Pedrosa, who was around the lower reaches of the top 10 until he set the second best time at the finish.

Honda team-mate Marc Marquez spent considerable time at the top of the timesheets before Dovizioso came back out, but the reigning champion was unable to improve on his mid-session 1m50.519s and finished third.

Danilo Petrucci claimed an impressive fourth for the small Ioda team ahead of first practice pacesetter Yonny Hernandez and Pol Espargaro.

LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl was in no rush to leave the pits and waited for other riders to test the tricky conditions before he took to the circuit. He set a late 1m50.761s, which was 0.693s better than what Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo could achieve.

Andrea Iannone was the filling in a Yamaha sandwich as Valentino Rossi completed the top 10.

Several riders crashed during the session at the final corner, including the likes of Aleix Espargaro and Scott Redding, who rides under a cloud of uncertainty following the Aprilia/Gresini announcement on Friday morning.