Fabio Quartararo put Yamaha on top in FP2 for the Czech GP at Brno, setting the fastest lap of the weekend so far with a 1:55.802
The Frenchman snatched the top spot from Marc Marquez in the dying moments of the session, posting a time just 0.029 faster to notch up yet another fastest practice session time in his rookie campaign for the satellite SRT Yamaha squad.
Maverick Vinales moved to the head of the times early as he bolted on a pair of fresh soft tyres for a short run, posting his fastest time on his first flyer-a 1:56.084- before setting another time fast enough for the top spot a lap later, before returning to the pits.
Marquez fought back later though, fitting his own fresh rear soft for a short run in the closing minutes of the session.
The Honda man shot to the head of the times on his first effort with a 1:55.825-the first sub ’56 lap of the day-before backing this up with a time just a tenth-and-a-half slower on his following tour, before being pipped by Quartararo’s own gambit shortly after.
Marquez therefore ended the session second ahead of Jack Miller, while Andrea Dovizioso snatched fourth from Vinales late on, demoting the factory Yamaha to fifth.
Alex Rins led Suzuki’s assault in sixth just ahead of the second SRT machine of Franco Morbidelli in seventh, while eighth-placed Cal Crutchlow led home the second Yamaha of Valentino Rossi and Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci who rounded out the top ten.
Rossi was forced to swap to his spare M1 bike for the final part of the session as his main machine developed a mechanical fault, the Italian forced to cruise back to the pits as smoke billowed from the Yamaha’s exhaust.
Miguel Oliveira slipped to 13th fastest in this session after his impressive top five showing in FP1, although was still top KTM in the standings at the end of Friday running.
Two riders crashed out during the 45-minute session, the first being Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro who tucked the front of his RS-GP at Turn 13 and slid into the gravel much like Francesco Bagnaia had during FP1. Takaaki Nakagami was the second of the crashers, dropping his LCR Honda in the closing seconds of the session. Both riders walked away from their respective incidents.
