The afternoon practice is special, as the top 10 fastest riders will earn a direct entry to Q2, making it thrilling to watch towards the end. And as it always is, the riders wasted no time and went immediately on track.

First times started in the range of 1:35 to 1:32. With another attempt, the times improved further and Luca Marini was the first one to dip into the 1:30s. Six minutes in, the session had its first yellow flag, caused by Johann Zarco crashing in sector one. Moments later, Somkiat Chantra also crashed, this time at turn 11, making it a bad start of the session for LCR Honda.

The second yellow flag of the session came just 8 minutes in, this time caused by Marc Márquez crashing between sectors 2 and 3. After the first 10 minutes, the top 10 looked as follows: Marini, Aldeguer, Bezzecchi, Acosta, Bagnaia, Alex, Mir, Binder, Miller, Fernández.

Throughout the session, the top 10 kept changing, except for the top 3. For a moment, you could find Morbidelli in there, and at another point Bagnaia. Alex, who was doing fairly well, improved his time and moved up to 4th place. Luca Marini, meanwhile, continued to improve and secured the lead.

However, Pedro Acosta improved his lap and took the lead from Marini for a moment. Marini tried to respond with a flying lap, but wasn’t able to take it back. After 20 minutes, the top 10 looked as follows: Acosta, Marini, Bezzecchi, Aldeguer, Di Giannantonio, Fernández, Alex, Morbidelli, Rins, Miller.

Halfway through the session, a third yellow flag appeared, caused by a second crash from Marc Márquez, who had a high-side at turn 5. Riders who managed to improve and break into the top 10 included Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Oliveira. At that point, the only Ducati riders inside the top 10 were Alex Márquez and Aldeguer.

With 15 minutes left, most riders switched to soft rear and soft front tyres, trying to improve their times before a final quick stop in the pits for last attempts. The top 10 before the chaotic ending was: Bezzecchi, Acosta, Rins, Mir, Marini, Marc, Quartararo, Bastianini, Fernández, Marini.

Bezzecchi didn’t stay in the lead for long, as Pedro Acosta briefly took it before Bezzecchi responded on the next lap.

In the final 5 minutes, riders were pushing hard to secure direct entry into Q2. The standings at that moment were: Bezzecchi, Aldeguer, Acosta, Fernández, Mir, Alex, Marini, Marc, Rins, Quartararo.

Marc Márquez made a mistake on one attempt, running wide at a corner, but it helped him set up for a stronger following lap. With 3 minutes left, a fourth yellow flag was triggered by Alex Márquez crashing at turn 12. That meant most riders had their times deleted.

Shortly after, another yellow flag came out when Enea Bastianini crashed at turn 3, followed quickly by Johann Zarco’s second crash of the session at turn 8.

When the yellow flags were cleared, the chequered flag was waved as riders attempted their final laps.

The top 10 riders going directly into Q2 are: Bezzecchi, Aldeguer, Acosta, Marini, Fernández, Mir, Quartararo, Rins, Oliveira, Alex Márquez.