Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales set the quickest time during the final day of the second test at Phillip Island on Friday.
Viñales underlined his status as a title threat by clocking a lap of 1:28.549 to finish 0.294s faster than Repsol Honda rival Marc Márquez.
Viñales’ headline-grabbing time, as on Thursday, came during the early stages of running, with his competitors unable to overhaul the Spaniard, who was also the only rider to amass over 100 laps.
Márquez’s team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, moved up to third late in the day, edging Tech 3’s Jonas Folger by just 0.009s, the rookie taking an eye-catching fourth despite a crash.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow collected fifth position, fractionally in front of Álex Rins, who emerged as the lead Suzuki rider in sixth spot.
Ducati took seventh and eighth, with Andrea Dovizioso ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, the three-time MotoGP champion enjoying his most competitive showing of the week.
Jack Miller continued his encouraging form with ninth spot for Marc VDS, leaving Aleix Espargaró to complete the top 10.
Espargaró’s improvement during the closing stages shuffled Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi down to 11th, as Andrea Iannone took 12th, his best lap within a second of leader Viñales.
