Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez set a blistering pace in the second Free Practice session at the VisitQatar Grand Prix to lead the way on Friday, his 1:53.380 three tenths under the previous lap record as the Spaniard betters second place Maverick Vinales by 0.474, with Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) completing the top three.
After the start was slightly delayed due to track conditions, it was a manic second session for the premier class as the time attacks came in, with the later time giving the riders the best chance to book an automatic Q2 place for Saturday’s qualifying. It was Marquez who set the fastest lap of the weekend with just over five minutes of FP2 gone, setting the tone for the rest of the session.
Rookie Joan Mir was the first to put the soft-soft tyre combination in and the 2017 Moto3 World Champion set the timing screens alight to go over three-tenths clear of the field with just under 15 minutes to go.
Miller then took over at the top a couple of minutes later on board his GP19, before Franco Morbidelli produced the goods to fire himself to the summit – this coming after he had crashed at Turn 1 earlier in FP2, with his bike catching fire in the gravel. Andrea Dovizioso then took over but shadowing Viñales, a prowling Marquez would have the last laugh to go 0.474 clear of the Yamaha rider to set a new outright lap record around the Losail International Circuit.
Viñales and Miller kept P2 and P3, with Danilo Petrucci 0.673 back in fourth. Rookie Fabio Quartararo had a great session, the Frenchman rounding out the top five to easily get himself a provisional Q2 place, with Dovi eventually settling for P6. Morbidelli ends Friday in seventh, with Alex Rins jumping into the top ten on his final lap with a 1:54.320. Aleix Espargaro and Mir sit P9 and P10 respectively after strong sessions.
There are some big names missing from the top ten, and as things stand will have to go through Q1 in order to fight for pole. Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) ends P11 after finishing P2 in FP1, Cal Crutchlow sits just behind teammate Takaaki Nakagami in P13 and P12 respectively, with FP1 leader Valentino Rossi’s 1:55.048 only good enough for P16 at the end of the day – ‘The Doctor’ the only rider to not improve his time in FP2.
A belter of an FP2 session sets us up nicely for the first Saturday of the season. Will anyone be able to improve in FP3? Find out when the premier class head back out at 15:15 local time (GMT+3)
Full Results:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1’53.380 | |
| 2 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1’53.854 | 0.474 / 0.474 |
| 3 | Jack MILLER | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1’53.908 | 0.528 / 0.054 |
| 4 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Mission Winnow Ducati | Ducati | 1’54.053 | 0.673 / 0.145 |
| 5 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 1’54.154 | 0.774 / 0.101 |
| 6 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Mission Winnow Ducati | Ducati | 1’54.256 | 0.876 / 0.102 |
| 7 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 1’54.275 | 0.895 / 0.019 |
| 8 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 1’54.320 | 0.940 / 0.045 |
| 9 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1’54.367 | 0.987 / 0.047 |
| 10 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 1’54.402 | 1.022 / 0.035 |
| 11 | Jorge LORENZO | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1’54.428 | 1.048 / 0.026 |
| 12 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | 1’54.444 | 1.064 / 0.016 |
| 13 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | Honda | 1’54.452 | 1.072 / 0.008 |
| 14 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1’54.801 | 1.421 / 0.349 |
| 15 | Tito RABAT | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1’55.032 | 1.652 / 0.231 |
| 16 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1’55.053 | 1.673 / 0.021 |
| 17 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1’55.137 | 1.757 / 0.084 |
| 18 | Johann ZARCO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1’55.412 | 2.032 / 0.275 |
| 19 | Andrea IANNONE | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1’55.432 | 2.052 / 0.020 |
| 20 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 1’55.635 | 2.255 / 0.203 |
| 21 | Karel ABRAHAM | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1’55.654 | 2.274 / 0.019 |
| 22 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 1’56.437 | 3.057 / 0.783 |
| 23 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Factory Racing | Aprilia | 1’56.834 | 3.454 / 0.3 |
