Fabio Quartararo monopolised Friday running at Valencia by leading MotoGP FP2 ahead of Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez.
Marquez-much like in FP1- was fastest out the blocks at the beginning of the session, recording a 1:30.974 to immediately shave nearly half-a-second from Quartararo’s first session benchmark.
He would fail to improve later on though as most riders went for a last gasp effort, Vinales the first to pip the world champion with a 1:30.883-while Quartararo crossed the line just 0.085 slower just seconds later.
Quartararo was not finished though, and promptly posted what would ultimately be the fastest time of the test-a 1:30.735 to put him 0.148 clear of Vinales at the head of the field.
Marquez would remain third despite not improving upon his own time, with Jack Miller taking the fourth quickest time despite a small tumble at Turn 2 late in the session.
The Aussie tucked the front as he entered the ever-slowing bend and slid through the run off, coming to rest just before the gravel on that lined the circuit.
He was able to remount his relatively undamaged GP19 and continue to lead Franco Morbidelli on the second Petronas SRT M1, who completed the top five.
Alex Rins just beat Suzuki team-mate Joan Mir for sixth in the closing stages of the 45 minute practice, while Aleix Espargaro flew the flag strongly for Aprilia with the eighth fastest tour.
Andrea Dovizioso again struggled relative to his satellite Ducati stable mate on the factory machine down in ninth, while Johann Zarco again performed strongly as he headed LCR Honda team-mate Cal Crutchlow in tenth and eleventh respectively.
Valentino Rossi meanwhile crashed once again, although at the significantly faster Turn 10 unlike his slower FP1 spill.
The Italian tucked the front of the M1 mid-way through the bend, and despite getting away unscathed the same couldn’t be said for his bike-which spiralled through the gravel several times before coming to rest against the barrier with significant damage.
He managed to get back out for the final 20 minutes, but could manage only the 14th fastest time ahead of Jorge Lorenzo’s Honda in 16th.
Iker Lecuona again made solid progress on his MotoGP debut with the Tech 3 KTM squad, lapping just 0.227 slower than team-mate Hafizh Syahrin and just over half-a-second down on factory rider Mika Kallio.
