Fabio Quartararo led a Petronas SRT 1-2 in FP2 for the Czech MotoGP event at Brno, the Frenchman snatching the top spot from his team-mate in the dying moments.
Quartararo-who managed a lowly 13th in FP1-was bang on the pace early on in the final Friday session, lapping just a fraction shy of early leader Joan Mir.
The times remained relatively constant throughout the bulk of the 45 minute test, with Morbidelli the man to wake everybody up with a late flyer in the closing minutes.
The Italian banged in a 1:56.509 to shoot 0.936 clear of anyone else, a time that looked unbeatable as one by one each rider that followed was unable to beat it.
Quartararo headed out for one final attempt for supremacy, and despite completing the third sector just over half-a-tenth down managed to sneak ahead of Morbidelli by just 0.007 as he took the chequered flag on the session.
Third went the way of Tech 3 KTM racer Miguel Oliveira, who posted a lap just 0.048 down on Quartararo’s benchmark to complete Friday as the lead KTM, just ahead of the similarly impressive Johann Zarco-who backed up his strong FP1 performance to sit fourth overnight for Avintia as the last man to lap within a tenth of Quartararo.
Maverick Vinales completed the top five on his factory Yamaha, with Joan Mir following closely behind as he slipped to sixth overall by the end.
Aleix Espargaro enjoyed a more positive session for Aprilia with seventh on the timesheets-just over half-a-second off the leader-and ahead of brother Pol’s factory KTM.
FP1 leader Takaaki Nakagami could only muster up the ninth fastest effort this time around, while Jack Miller completed the top ten as the lone Pramac Ducati machine out there.
Team-mate Francesco Bagnaia will miss the remainder of the Czech GP weekend after sustaining a knee injury due to a fast Turn 1 crash in FP1.
The official Honda outfit’s weekend went from bad to worse as Alex Marquez was forced to run back to the pits early on in FP2 after suffering a technical issue with his RC213-V, the Spaniard getting back out on his spare machine later but posting only the 16th best time.
Team-mate Stefan Bradl was again the slowest of the 22 runners, although a respectable 1.9 seconds away from Quartararo’s top time.
The factory Ducati outfit continued to struggle for speed meanwhile, Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso inseperable as they were in FP1 but way down in 14th and 15th respectively, behind the 13th placed Alex Rins who continues to recover from a shoulder injury.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Gap / Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’56.502 | |
| 2 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’56.509 | 0.007 / 0.007 |
| 3 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’56.550 | 0.048 / 0.041 |
| 4 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’56.583 | 0.081 / 0.033 |
| 5 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’56.668 | 0.166 / 0.085 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’56.876 | 0.374 / 0.208 |
| 7 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’57.041 | 0.539 / 0.165 |
| 8 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’57.059 | 0.557 / 0.018 |
| 9 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’57.073 | 0.571 / 0.014 |
| 10 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’57.109 | 0.607 / 0.036 |
| 11 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’57.279 | 0.777 / 0.170 |
| 12 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’57.290 | 0.788 / 0.011 |
| 13 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’57.354 | 0.852 / 0.064 |
| 14 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’57.620 | 1.118 / 0.266 |
| 15 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’57.635 | 1.133 / 0.015 |
| 16 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’57.688 | 1.186 / 0.053 |
| 17 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’57.777 | 1.275 / 0.089 |
| 18 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’57.865 | 1.363 / 0.088 |
| 19 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’58.161 | 1.659 / 0.296 |
| 20 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’58.378 | 1.876 / 0.217 |
| 21 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’58.424 | 1.922 / 0.046 |
| 22 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing |
