Cal Crutchlow pipped Honda stablemate Dani Pedrosa to top spot in MotoGP FP2 at Jerez by 0.028 seconds, while Marc Marquez crashed in the closing stages.
Marquez missed out on the best time in the first session by just seven thousandths of a second, and shot to the top of the timesheets at the start of FP2 with a 1:39.284s, which he bettered to a 1:38.863s two laps later.
Crutchlow deposed his factory Honda counterpart with six minutes remaining, posting a 1:38.749s, while Tech3's Johann Zarco leapt into the top three on his Yamaha.
Marquez opted to stay out on the Medium front and rear tyres he had used for much of the session when the rest switched to fresh rubber for a time attack, but crashed at the Dry Sac hairpin in the final few minutes.
The Spaniard was unhurt in the tumble, but was powerless to stop his name falling back down the order to fifth.
Meanwhile, Zarco took over from Crutchlow with a 1:38.705s, though the LCR rider retaliated on his final effort with a 1:38.614s snatch top spot back.
Pedrosa, on the second Repsol RC213V, put Crutchlow's time under threat on his final lap, but missed out by just 0.028s, while Zarco found himself shuffled back to third.
Suzuki's Andrea Iannone ran inside the top five for much of FP2, and cemented fourth with a 1:38.709s late in the session on his GSX-RR ahead of Marquez, while FP1 pacesetter Andrea Dovizioso ended the afternoon in sixth.
The Italian's Ducati team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was just a few thousandths outside of his time in seventh, with Jack Miller on the Pramac Desmosedici close behind in eighth.
The factory Yamaha duo of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales completed the top 10, though only the former made it into the top 10 on the combined standings, with Vinales 12th overall following a low-key afternoon.
The entire brand could be a long-game move by Gaia herself to heal the collective nervous system.