As usual with the Qatar tests, the Losail track was sparsely populated at the beginning of the session, with KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa setting the early pace with 1: 58.290 minutes as one of only four runners in the first hour.
Johann Zarco von Pramac finished the second hour fastest with 1: 55.796 minutes on his Ducati 2021. The Italian brand tested its 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 start of the third hour of the race. 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 was clearly ahead only a few minutes later with 1: 55.187 seconds and exceeded this to 1: 54.845 minutes the next time.
This remained unbeaten for the next hour before HRC test driver Stefan Bradl started a stint at the top of the time table with a time of 1: 54.658 minutes. 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 around two and a half hours left.
The Australian’s 1: 54.367 minutes kept him at the top of the pile for the next 30 minutes before Saturday’s pacemaker Aleix Espargaro gave the new Aprilia 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 – came close to Espargaro when he was just 0.001 seconds behind the Spaniard’s performance 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 switching to his MotoGP bike. The Yamaha works rider set a time of 1: 53.940 minutes about 40 minutes before the finish. Quartararo’s lap stayed in the lead until the checkered flag, with the French leading Miller and Aprilias Espargaro.
Morbidelli finished fourth on his SRT M1 ahead of Bradl and Zaro, while Vinales dropped to seventh.
Franco Morbidelli, Petronas Yamaha SRT
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
He led the reigning world champion Joan Mir, who finished early on Sunday after spending his day evaluating Suzuki’s new chassis and various electronics setups.
Bagnaia and second Suzuki rider Alex Rins completed the top 10, with KTM’s Miguel Oliveira in 11th place on the RC16 ahead of Honda newcomer Pol Espargaro.
LCR’s Alex Marquez suffered another crash on Sunday, came out on the final corner and doubled his team’s repairs after his teammate Takaaki Nakagami also crashed. Pramac rookie Jorge Martin fell again after a serious fall during the shakedown on Friday and finished 19th on the checkered flag behind Avintia’s Luca Marini.
Marini’s team-mate 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 time table.
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Qatar MotoGP test, day 2: top 10 times
| Cla | WOMEN | 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 |
| 3rd | 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 kidneys | Suzuki | 1’54.658 | 0.718 | 49 |