Lorenzo beat his Italian Ducati teammate by 0.014 seconds while Honda’s Marc Márquez was 0.079 seconds behind in third.

Márquez, who is chasing a fifth world championship title but is without a victory in his last four races, had set the pace with a time of one minute, 46.96 seconds.

But the Spaniard paid the price for a mistake at Turn 12 on his final run as Lorenzo and Dovizioso both saved their best times until last.

Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi managed to complete only one timed lap during the session. The Italian veteran qualified in a disappointing 18th, his lowest grid position since 2006.

The UK’s Cal Crutchlow was pushed back into the second row after finishing fourth. He missed the chance to fight for a top-three spot after crashing out during his last lap.

Crutchlow sits in front of Spain’s Dani Pedrosa, Italian Danilo Petrucci and another Spaniard, Álvaro Bautista, who came in sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively.

Márquez owns a 67-point lead over Dovizioso in the standings ahead of Sunday’s race, with Rossi sitting third, 70 points adrift.