Since he lost his factory headquarters at Ducati at the end of 2020, Dovizioso has been on a sabbatical, during which he completed a test program with Aprilia with a view to a full-time return in 2022.
As that path closed after Maverick Vinales signed, his Yamaha exit paved the way for Morbidelli to join the Yamaha factory team, with Dovizioso taking over the vacant Petronas SRT M1 for the remainder of the year.
Dovizioso finished his first official MotoGP session since November as the last of the field of 24 riders, 2.5 seconds behind, while Morbidelli was in 16th place on his return from a knee injury that had left him out since June.
The 45-minute session started in dry conditions, although the risk of rain was omnipresent as dark clouds came over the Misano track.
The top spot frequently changed hands in the first 15 minutes, with Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro setting the initial benchmark with 1: 35.476 minutes.
After the first 15 minutes, Aragon race winner Francesco Bagnaia had led his works Ducati to the top of the overall standings with 1: 32.801 minutes.
It wasn’t a smooth session for the latest MotoGP winner, as some technical gremlins on his motorcycle robbed him of the crucial dry season.
Once Ducati solved the problem, Bagnaia’s running schedule was restricted by the heavy rain.
Moments before the weather changed, Vinales – tested two weeks ago at Misano – had returned to the top of the overall standings in 1: 32.666 minutes after serving brief stints earlier in the session.
And with the rain forcing everyone back into the pit lane, Vinales’ time would go undisputed to the checkered flag.
The Suzuki duo Alex Rins and Joan Mir as well as Hondas Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez used the opportunity in the final phase of FP1 to collect a few wet kilometers.
At the checkered flag, Mir was runner-up behind Vinales, 0.080 seconds behind, and Bagnaia completed the top three.
Ducati team-mate Jack Miller finished fourth ahead of Rins, Pol Espargaro and championship leader Fabio Quartararo on the factory Yamaha – the Frenchman had a chaotic session on his M1.
Honda Wildcard Stefan Bradl led Marc Marquez and Aprilias Aleix Espargaro to complete the top 10, while Avintia’s Enea Bastianini on his two year old Ducati was 12th Zarco.
Valentino Rossi’s penultimate race on home soil started 19 th in FP1, 1.1 seconds behind the pace, while the factory KTM duo Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira started the weekend cautiously in 21st and 22nd.