Brad Binder led a KTM 1-2 at the end of Friday MotoGP practice at Barcelona, as Pecco Bagnaia laboured to a dreadful 21st place.
The team-mate of championship leader Marc Marquez, Bagnaia won both grands prix at the venue last year but looked nowhere near making the top 10 and securing a Q2 spot even before late yellow flags, for Turn 2 crashes for Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini, denied him the chance to at least improve his dispiriting position.
Alex Marquez led the session before the 'qualifying simulations' started late on, which Binder - whose Achilles' heel in MotoGP this year, and also in MotoGP as a whole, has been single-lap pace - topped with a 1m38.141s.
Binder looked rejuvenated - though was also aided by a reference from team-mate Pedro Acosta, whose lap while towing Binder to the session benchmark proved good enough for second place.
The Marquez brothers placed third and fourth, Alex ahead of Marc, the latter seemingly compromising his late chances of improving by opting to run in a train of riders behind Alex, then also encountering yellow flags.
Aprilia's form looked worrying through the day but ultimately it got two RS-GPs into Q2 - one of Marco Bezzecchi in fifth, one of resurgent rookie Ai Ogura in 10th, though neither Jorge Martin nor Raul Fernandez were at all close to challenging for the top 10.
Advanced to Q2: Binder, Acosta, A Marquez, M Marquez, Bastianini, Morbidelli, Zarco, Marini, Ogura
Will contest Q1: Quartararo, Oliveira, Mir, Aldeguer, Miller, Rins, Di Giannantonio, Martin, Fernandez, Espargaro, Bagnaia, Savadori, Vinales, Chantra
Bastianini, who launched the bike onto the tyre barrier in his Turn 2 crash, was still sixth on the Tech3-run KTM. His team-mate Maverick Vinales was only 23rd but seemed to forfeit a late qualifying run, presumably to protect his stamina as he's still not recovered from injury.
Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati), Zarco (LCR Honda) and Luca Marini (Honda) were the other riders to book Q2 spots, in seventh, eighth and ninth place.
The Yamaha was the only bike absent from Q2 though all four riders gave it a good go, particularly Fabio Quartararo - who came up 0.003s short and was seen incandescent after climbing off the bike.
It was one of Ducati's weaker days of the season, with Fermin Aldeguer and Fabio Di Giannantonio also missing out like Bagnaia - but the two-time champion's strife was striking.
He was a second off the pace in the end, behind one test rider in Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and barely ahead of another in Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia).
