Fabio Quartararo managed to fire his Yamaha to the top of the timesheets in the closing moments of FP2 for the Indonesian Grand Prix to lead team-mate Franco Morbidelli.
Quartararo started the test on the back foot after suffering a technical problem with his machine in the opening segment of the session, the M1’s engine shutting off at Turn 4 and thus leaving him to coast to a halt and hitch a ride back to the pits to fetch his spare bike.
In the meantime the leading tours continued to get faster and faster as the Mandalika International Circuit tarmac continued to clean up, setting up a final time attack in the closing stages with rain showers looking potentially on the cards overnight ahead of FP3 – meaning the top ten on Friday could well progress directly to the pole shootout in Saturday’s qualifying session.
Jorge Martin was the first man to break into the 1:31 bracket with a 1:31.904s effort as the session entered its final minutes, though he soon found himself usurped by Pramac Ducati team-mate Johann Zarco to the tune of 0.011s.
Having entered FP2 a lowly 16th, Quartararo managed to wind his back-up M1 for a late charge on soft compound tires to fire to the top of the times with only a couple of minutes remaining, denying Morbidelli the top spot right at the end, though Yamaha could be left encouraged following a tough opening contest of the year in Qatar.
Zarco would hang onto third in the end ahead of Martin and Enea Bastianini, the Qatar GP victor crashing out at Turn 13 late on as he looked to try and lead the way at the end of Friday, the Italian walking away uninjured.
Also suffering a spill at the session’s climax was Honda’s Marc Marquez, who suffered an even faster get-off at Turn 11, the Spaniard barrel-rolling through the gravel before walking away seemingly unharmed.
The subsequent yellows meant improvements were few and far between, leaving Ducati’s Jack Miller in sixth overall ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and KTM factory duo Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira.
Alex Rins meanwhile managed to lift his Suzuki GSX-RR to a potentially crucial tenth late-on to deny RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso the spot, while Gresini’s Fabio Di Gianantonio the fastest rookie in 14th.
Having ended up first and third in the opening session, Honda were left licking their wounds somewhat with Takaaki Nakagami his highest placed rider in 12th, with factory men Pol Espargaro – who led the opening test on Friday morning – and Marquez only 19th and 22nd respectively .
Joining them towards the bottom end of the times were 2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir and 2021 vice-champion Francesco Bagnaia, the pair ending the day 20th and 21st respectively.