Dani Pedrosa's last-gasp effort ensured he ended the opening practice session ahead of the 2012 German Grand Prix on top.
Top spot had belonged exclusively to Honda during the 40-minute session, Pedrosa and teammate Casey Stoner trading times throughout, although Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo was able to shadow the duo and stay within two tenths of a second.
It was Stoner who had looked most likely to end the session on top, having got down to a 1m22.444s as the checkered flag fell. Pedrosa's final effort carried the Spaniard to the top of the times, however, at a circuit where he was victorious in both 2011 and 2010.
The top three riders' pace proved too much for the rest of the field, although Andrea Dovizioso was able to drop below the 1m23s mark in the late stages. He ended fourth fastest as a result, just over half a second adrift.
Tech 3 Yamaha stablemate Cal Crutchlow, still riding with a fractured ankle, ended the session in fifth, less than two tenths down on Dovizioso.
Hector Barbera finished as the fastest Ducati, putting his satellite Pramac machine sixth ahead of works rider Nicky Hayden, Gresini's Alvaro Bautista - who will start from the back of the grid following his Dutch TT clash with Lorenzo - and LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl.
The second works Yamaha of Ben Spies rounded out the top 10 ahead of Valentino Rossi on the second works Ducati.
Franco Battaini, replacing Karel Abraham at the Cardion Ducati squad, suffered one incident through the gravel 13 minutes from the end. He finished down in 18th position.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m22.357s
2. Casey Stoner Honda 1m22.444s + 0.087s
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m22.647s + 0.290s
4. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 1m22.922s + 0.565s
5. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m23.081s + 0.724s
6. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati 1m23.091s + 0.734s
7. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m23.092s + 0.735s
8. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m23.203s + 0.846s
9. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m23.306s + 0.949s
10. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m23.353s + 0.996s
11. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m23.481s + 1.124s
12. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m24.210s + 1.853s
13. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 1m24.560s + 2.203s
14. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 1m24.659s + 2.302s
15. Yonny Hernandez Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m24.786s + 2.429s
16. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m24.855s + 2.498s
17. Ivan Silva Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki 1m25.512s + 3.155s
18. Franco Battaini Cardion Ducati 1m25.646s + 3.289s
19. Mattia Pasini Speed Master Aprilia 1m25.839s + 3.482s
20. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Aprilia 1m25.958s + 3.601s
21. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 1m26.183s + 3.826s