Maverick Vinales swept Friday at Phillip Island as he led the dry FP2 session that will likely decide who will progress to the pole shootout on Saturday.
Track conditions were in complete deference to the soaking wet FP1, with blue skies and a bone dry circuit awaiting the riders as the session got underway.
Vinales was immediately on the pace though much like FP1, the Yamaha man leading the field with his best early flyer of 1:28.916, with Marc Marquez and Danilo Petrucci separated by just 0.007 in second and third respectively.
Marquez then posted a couple of session best tours on his subsequent attempts, first managing a 1:29.718 before trimming his time to a 1:29.621.
Vinales would not be denied though, improving by roughly half-a-second on new tyres to post a 1:29.195, going on to lower his time even further by the close of the session to end on a 1:28.824-faster than the pole time of last season.
The entire field ventured out on track for what was effectively a mini qualifying session to decide who would progress to Q2 in qualifying, with rain expected to curtail any time improvements in FP3 tomorrow morning.
His blistering pace saw him close out the 45 minute test 0.496 clear of second placed Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati, with the rest of the top ten covered by just over the same margin.
Cal Crutchlow was third for LCR Honda just 0.005 in-arrears of Dovizioso, while Danilo Petrucci was fourth 0.002 behind.
Jack Miller rounded out the top five for Pramac Racing, with Marc Marquez eventually slipping to sixth-albeit just over a tenth down on Dovizioso’s effort.
Valentino Rossi was seventh fastest ahead of Alex Rins on the leading Suzuki machine, while Franco Morbidelli managed the ninth best time on his Petronas SRT M1.
Aleix Espargaro impressed meanwhile for Aprilia with the tenth quickest effort, provisionally bagging the final automatic berth to Q2.
A key admission from the top ten was Fabio Quartararo, who was forced to skip FP2 running due to his crash in FP1.
The satellite Yamaha man escaped any breakages, but had to take pain killers to numb the pain on his leg-meaning he was unfit to ride for the remainder of the day but can re-join the fray tomorrow subject to medical checks ahead of FP3.
Joan Mir marginally missed out on the position in 11th aboard the second GSX-RR, while Karel Abraham managed an encouraging 12th fastest tour for the Avintia Ducati squad.
LCR Honda replacement rider Johann Zarco meanwhile was embroiled in a battle to avoid being the slowest Honda with factory man Jorge Lorenzo, which the Frenchman eventually won despite only contesting his first dry running aboard the RC213-V in FP2.
Zarco managed a time 0.265 faster than Lorenzo in 15th and 16th overall respectively as the chequered flag came down on the session, the pair ahead of all KTM machines as the Austrian manufacturers struggles of late continue.
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