Vinales stars again to top day two in Qatar as Marquez falls

Vinales – who was also quickest on day two of the previous test at Phillip Island – eclipsed yesterday’s fastest lap from reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo to lead today's timesheets, lapping in 1m55.436s.

He was using the version of the Suzuki’s gearbox that only has seamless upshifting, while teammate Aleix Espargaro (10th today) ran a seamless downshift system too.

Ducati’s Andrea Iannone was second fastest, just 0.072s slower, but was one of four fallers during the session.

Yamaha’s Lorenzo was third quickest, his 1m55.535s slower than the 1m55.452s he managed on the opening day.

The Pramac Ducati of Scott Redding was fourth fastest, just under a quarter of a second off the pace. He again beat the Avintia-run Ducati of Hector Barbera to be best of the satellite riders.

The second works Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso was sixth quickest, ahead of the leading Honda of Dani Pedrosa.

Rossi and Marquez off the pace

Valentino Rossi was eighth, over half a second off Vinales’s pace, but a tenth clear of the second works Honda of Marc Marquez.

Marquez fell on his fourth lap at Turn 1, just after recording a 1m56.046s lap that was quickest at the time.

Michele Pirro also fell off the Pramac Ducati usually ridden by Danilo Petrucci, who is recovering from an injury sustained at Phillip Island.

Pol Espargaro was another faller, from his Tech 3 Yamaha. He was 11th fastest.

Testing times:

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Maverick Vinales	Suzuki	1'55.436		42
2	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	1'55.508	0.072	41
3	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	1'55.535	0.099	48
4	Scott Redding	Ducati	1'55.677	0.241	43
5	Hector Barbera	Ducati	1'55.815	0.379	35
6	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'55.856	0.420	46
7	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	1'55.857	0.421	42
8	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'55.947	0.511	56
9	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'56.046	0.610	42
10	Aleix Espargaro	Suzuki	1'56.126	0.690	32
11	Pol Espargaro	Yamaha	1'56.173	0.737	30
12	Loris Baz	Ducati	1'56.427	0.991	45
13	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'56.584	1.148	50
14	Yonny Hernandez	Ducati	1'56.667	1.231	38
15	Esteve Rabat	Honda	1'57.263	1.827	49
16	Bradley Smith	Yamaha	1'57.267	1.831	14
17	Eugene Laverty	Ducati	1'57.670	2.234	41
18	Alvaro Bautista	Aprilia	1'57.721	2.285	36
19	Jack Miller	Honda	1'57.789	2.353	20
20	Michele Pirro	Ducati	1'58.113	2.677	21
21	Hiroshi Aoyama	Honda	1'58.347	2.911	62
22	Stefan Bradl	Aprilia	1'58.418	2.982	16