World Champion Joan Mir went straight to the used rear mid-size tire he finished FP1 on in FP2 and set the initial benchmark – a 1: 39.781s – when he started running on used rubber.
Just like in the first 15 minutes of FP1, the top spot often changed hands as players like Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales, Pramacs Johann Zarco, HRC Wildcard Stefan Bradl and Aprilias Aleix Espargaro set session peak times.
Franco Morbidelli of Petronas SRT prevailed almost 33 minutes before the end with 1: 37.965 minutes ahead of Quartararo, before improving this to 1: 37.704 minutes.
This was the benchmark until the final stages, although LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami was close to defeating Morbidelli with a time of 1: 37.787 minutes.
Most of them used the optimal conditions for race preparation in the afternoon, although Pramac’s deputy Tito Rabat’s session was interrupted 15 minutes before the end by a quick fall in the last corner.
With four minutes to go, the timing screens were full of session-best sectors as most of the field set out for a time attack on fresh, soft rubber.
Quartararo finally set the time of his Yamaha stable mate 1: 37.695 minutes before Espargaro on the Aprilia was ahead with 1: 37.646 minutes.
But those laps were wiped out by Bagnaia, with the Qatar GP poleman digging deep to produce a 1: 37.209s to secure the top spot in FP2.
Quartararo was able to reduce Bagnaia’s considerable lead to 0.178 seconds, while Espargaro held onto one of the top three places.
At the end of the session, Morbidelli did not rely on a time attack with soft tires, but stayed fourth on his Yamaha “A-Spec”, with Vinales rounding off the top 5.
In the end, Nakagami was pushed back to sixth place by KTM’s Miguel Oliveira and the only Suzuki in the lead by Alex Rins.
Zarco and FP1 pacesetter Brad Binder on the KTM completed the top 10, with Bradl Jack Miller (Ducati) and Mir leading in 11th place outside of the provisional Q2 positions.
The factory Honda duo Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez finished 14th and 16th, although the latter did not start a time attack late.
Alex Marquez was also under the radar on his LCR Honda in 20th place, while Valentino Rossi on his SRT Yamaha couldn’t get over the 21st place ahead of Tech 3’s Iker Lecuona and Rabat.