Fabio Quartararo led FP2 and set the fastest time of Friday running for the Catalan GP, beating Andrea Dovizioso by 0.281.
Dovizioso looked to have done enough to top the session, banging in a scorching lap 0.367 faster than then leader Franco Morbidelli in the closing minutes of the session.
Quartararo however smashed the Italian’s effort by over a quarter-of-a-second on his final flyer to end Friday on top for Petronas SRT Yamaha. backing up his strong second-placed showing from the first session.
Takaaki Nakagami backed up his strong FP1 pace by ending FP2 in an excellent third position, making it two satellite machines in the top three, while Pol Esparagaro also impressed for KTM in fourth.
Francesco Bagnaia rounded out the top five on his 2018-spec Pramac Ducati, with Morbidelli eventually falling to sixth by the end of the session.
Valentino Rossi was quickest of the two factory Yamaha’s in seventh just ahead of an improved Danilo Petrucci, who suffered a tough FP1, while LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow and Suzuki’s Alex Rins closed out the top ten runners.
FP1 pace setter’s Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales both suffered in FP2, with FP1 leader Marquez setting just the 17th fastest time-although he didn’t go out for a final fast lap at the end of the session-while Vinales settled for 14th just behind Jorge Lorenzo.
Three riders crashed during the 45 minute test, including both Suzuki pilots. Rins crashed on his out-lap-eerily similar to his Mugello practice crash- at Turn 4 but rejoined the session later on, while team-mate Joan Mir also crashed out late on.
Johann Zarco was the other man to crash out, but this time at the fast Turn 14. The KTM rider lost the front of his RC16 just past the apex and slid into the gravel as a result. He was luckily unharmed and was able to rejoin the session later, ultimately posting the 12th quickest time.
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