Espagaro will face the first part of Saturday’s qualifying round after a late singles clash in the second corner of Misano on Friday afternoon, a week ahead of historic Aprilia 1-2 at the Catalan GP.
Taking his last breath from Becchechi in 1 m30.846 seconds, he took first place from Vinales of April.
KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa ranked in the top three in the experimental RC16 with a carbon fiber chassis.
Pedroza placed former Honda teammate Mark Marquez in the Q2 spot in sixth place, but Yamaha did not make the top 10.
Fabio Quartararo paced in his first practice with a time of 1 m34.185 seconds at Yamaha on a hot Friday afternoon in Italy, before Vinales clocked 1 m34.129 seconds.
KTM’s Brad Binder lowered his pace to 1m32.554 seconds, while Vinales reached the top of the session with 1m31.794 seconds.
After the 10-minute session, Becchetti took the lead for the first time in a time of 1 m37.785 seconds, standing in reference time for the next 13 minutes.
Jorge Martin of Pramak Ducati was the jockey who broke down the bezechi of VR46 in 1 m31.562 seconds, while Pedro Corporation climbed to the top of the order with 1 m31.453 seconds.
Martin was a little faster at 1 m31.416 s before Becchet began the time attack phase of the session with 1 m31.388 s.
For the first time from Vinales of 1m30.972 seconds, with a lap of less than 1m31 seconds, he was more than four-tenths off the field and looked like he would remain in first place until the end of the session with less than 10 minutes left.
But with Pedroza in the top three, Betchec’s last lap secured him first, 0.126 seconds behind Vinales.
Martin finished fourth in the only Honda to be in the top 10, with Luca Marini and Mark Marquez on VR46, while Francesco Bagnaia finished seventh in his factory Ducati on Friday.
The last Q2 spot went to Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, Binder and RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez despite a late fall at Turn 14.
A miserable minute for the Españaro family was to keep both Paul and Aleik out of the top 10. As both players slipped on No. 15, the final stage of the session.
They finished on the 11th and 12th, with Tech3’s Paul Espagaro leading his Frilia mounted Aleik, and Quattararo leading Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli, who won at Misano on the 13th.
FP1 pace-setter Michele Pirro finished 16th in Ducati behind Honda tester Stefan Bradl, while Jack Miller (KTM) dropped to 17th.