Lorenzo Savadori and Aprilia ended off Friday at the Red Bull Ring quickest in a rain-affected FP2 session that dried out in the latter stages.
A brief rain shower just prior to the start of the final test of the day soaked the Austrian tarmac, meaning any improvements relative to the mornings FP1 session would be impossible.
Many of the riders therefore elected to remain in their garages early on, with only Tech 3 duo Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci braving the conditions as they donned their wet-compound tyres on their KTM’s.
The former soon found out how slippy the track was as he slid off his RC16 on the approach to Turn 1, though he was quickly able to re-mount and go on to post the fastest time that would hold sway at the head of the table for quite a while-a 1:33.770s.
Marc Marquez would be the first to lower the Andorran’s benchmark on his Honda with a 1:33.206s before shaving a further four-tenths from his next gambit, a time that would remain unbeaten until the track really started to dry in the closing moments of the 45-minute session.
A dry line started to become visible, affording the riders more grip and allowing Savadori to fire in a 1:31.304s, the ex World Superbike racer once again showing his impressive ability in mixed conditions.
Nobody else would ultimately find themselves able to deny the Aprilia man the top spot as the clock ticked down to zero, with Pramac Ducati pilot Johann Zarco getting closest as he lapped just 0.154s slower.
Reigning MotoGP world champion continued to show strong pace at the Red Bull Ring as he ended the day third ahead of Francesco Bagnaia and the second Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro.
Alex Rins was sixth fastest on his Suzuki ahead of LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez, while Lecuona eventually was shuffled back to eighth as Maverick Vinales and Marc rounded out the top ten.
Jack Miller decided to try slicks right at the end of the test, although his gamble failed to pay off as he found himself unable to improve upon 14th overall, the Aussie just heading series leader Fabio Quartararo.
FP1 leader Takaaki Nakagami struggled in the wetter conditions relative to the morning and ended up a lowly 17th, while Cal Crutchlow got the better of Petronas SRT team-mate Valentino Rossi on the timesheets as the pair ended Friday 20th and 22nd respectively, KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa splitting them.
