Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, who was on pole last year and finished second, took the final front-row slot on the non-works LCR Honda.

Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales, the 2016 race winner on a Suzuki, starts fourth.

Marquez leads Italian Andrea Dovizioso, who qualified sixth for Ducati, by 16 points in the standings with Rossi fourth and 33 points behind the Spaniard.

Rossi’s time was a mere 0.084 slower than Marquez, whose lap of one minute 59.941 seconds was a record by a MotoGP rider at the circuit.

Sunday’s race starts at 1430 GMT, avoiding a clash with the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps which gets under way at 1200 GMT. 

Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!

Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!

Click here for iOS

Click here for Android