As is typical during the Qatar test, the Losail track was sparsely populated at the start of practice. KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa set the early pace to 1: 58.290 seconds as one of only four runners on the track in the first hour.
Pramacs Johann Zarco rounded off the second hour fastest with a time of 1: 55.796 minutes on his Ducati 2021. The Italian brand tested their new front holeshot device together with KTM, Honda and Aprilia. Francesco Bagnaia put his Pramac replacement at the top of the overall standings at the beginning of the third hour of the run. The Ducati works driver drove in 1: 55.560 minutes.
The run of the Italian at the top was short-lived, however, as Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales clearly moved a few minutes later with a time of 1: 55.187 minutes and improved this to 1: 54.845 seconds the next time.
This remained undefeated for the next hour before HRC test driver Stefan Bradl started a stint at the top of the timesheets with a time of 1: 54.658 seconds. That time was eventually beaten by Jack Miller’s other works Ducati team, who spent much of the day evaluating a new aerodynamic package, with about two and a half hours left.
The Australian’s 1: 54.367 minutes kept him in the lead for the next 30 minutes before Saturday’s pacemaker Aleix Espargaro put the new Aprilia in the lead with 1: 54.152 minutes.
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Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli, who continued to evaluate his slightly updated ‘A-spec’ M1, was nearing Espargaro’s dismissal, driving just 0.001 seconds outside of the Spaniard’s efforts at the start of the final hour.
Eventually, Espargaro’s reign was ended by Morbidelli’s former teammate Quartararo, who set the best lap of the test after a tough first day getting back on his MotoGP bike. The factory Yamaha rider set a time of 1: 53.940 seconds about 40 minutes from the finish. Quartararo’s lap stayed up until the checkered flag, with the French leading Miller and Aprilias Espargaro.
Morbidelli was fourth on his SRT M1 ahead of Bradl and Zaro, while Vinales dropped to seventh place.
Franco Morbidelli, Petronas Yamaha SRT
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
He ran reigning world champion Joan Mir, who was an early finisher on Sunday after spending his day evaluating Suzuki’s new chassis and various electronics setups.
Bagnaia and second Suzuki rider Alex Rins rounded out the top 10, with KTM’s Miguel Oliveira on the RC16 in 11th place ahead of Honda newcomer Pol Espargaro.
LCR’s Alex Marquez suffered another crash on Sunday when he got out at the last corner and doubled his team’s repairs after teammate Takaaki Nakagami also suffered a crash. Pramac rookie Jorge Martin had another crash after a serious fall on Friday during the shakedown and finished 19th on the checkered flag behind Avintia’s Luca Marini.
Marinis teammate Enea Bastianini was again the fastest rookie in 16th place after a lap of 1: 55.486 minutes.
Valentino Rossi from SRT, the Tech3 duo Danilo Petrucci and Brad Binder from KTM were the last full-time riders on the timesheets.
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Qatar MotoGP Test, Day 2: Top 10 times
| Cla | N. | driver | bicycle | time | gap | Round |
| 1 | 20th | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 1’53.940 | 59 | |
| 2 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1’54.017 | 0.077 | 57 |
| 3 | 41 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia | 1’54.152 | 0.212 | 69 |
| 4th | 21 | F. Morbidelli | Yamaha | 1’54.153 | 0.213 | 63 |
| 5 | 6th | Stefan Bradl | Honda | 1’54.210 | 0.270 | 61 |
| 6th | 5 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 1’54.356 | 0.416 | 55 |
| 7th | 12th | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha | 1’54.395 | 0.455 | 66 |
| 8th | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 1’54.515 | 0.575 | 48 |
| 9 | 63 | F. Bagnaia | Ducati | 1’54.651 | 0.711 | 48 |
| 10 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1’54.658 | 0.718 | 49 |