Maverick Viñales has taken over the lead in Qatar pre-season MotoGP testing while Friday fast man Andrea Dovizioso debuted an eye-catching ‘hammerhead’ fairing on his factory Ducati.
Viñales took nearly 0.4s off the Day 1 benchmark, ahead of Movistar Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi and Tech 3 Yamaha’s Jonas Folger.
The Spaniard, who has headed each of the three preceding off-season tests, went top midway through the seven-hour session and then improved again later in the night.
Rossi crashed once during proceedings but still surpassed the German rookie Folger, who had been second only to Viñales.
Cal Crutchlow was again the best of the Hondas in fourth, but might have been faster again had he not dropped his LCR machine late in the night.
Aleix Espargaro (Gresini Aprilia) was fifth, while defending world champion Marc Marquez improved six positions on his Day 1 result to finish sixth.
The Repsol Honda rider had been fastest before Viñales took over.
Alvaro Bautista (Aspar Ducati), Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), Scott Redding (Pramac Ducati), and Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha), completed the top ten.
Dovizioso set a lap good enough for 13th before making headlines for the ‘hammerhead’ fairing as the factory Ducati team becomes the latest to experiment with a replacement for winglets.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) was a lowly 16th and Jack Miller 19th, the Australian unhurt despite crashing his Marc VDS Honda.
The three Red Bull KTMs brought up the rear of the field, led again by Pol Espargaro.
The final day of official pre-season testing will be held on Sunday (Monday morning AEDT).
Result: MotoGP Pre-season test, Qatar, Day 2
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Maverick Viñales | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1:54.45s | |
| 2 | Valentino Rossi | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1:54.73s | 0.27s |
| 3 | Jonas Folger | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:54.91s | 0.46s |
| 4 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | 1:55.03s | 0.57s |
| 5 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1:55.12s | 0.66s |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | 1:55.19s | 0.74s |
| 7 | Alvaro Bautista | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1:55.24s | 0.79s |
| 8 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati Team | 1:55.34s | 0.88s |
| 9 | Scott Redding | Octo Pramac Racing | 1:55.35s | 0.89s |
| 10 | Johann Zarco | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:55.35s | 0.89s |
| 11 | Karel Abraham | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | 1:55.42s | 0.96s |
| 12 | Andrea Iannone | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:55.54s | 1.09s |
| 13 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati Team | 1:55.58s | 1.12s |
| 14 | Danilo Petrucci | Octo Pramac Racing | 1:55.68s | 1.22s |
| 15 | Loris Baz | Reale Avintia Racing | 1:55.80s | 1.35s |
| 16 | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | 1:55.87s | 1.42s |
| 17 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1:56.11s | 1.65s |
| 18 | Tito Rabat | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1:56.21s | 1.75s |
| 19 | Jack Miller | Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1:56.25s | 1.79s |
| 20 | Sam Lowes | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1:56.27s | 1.82s |
| 21 | Pol Espargaro | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:56.64s | 2.19s |
| 22 | Bradley Smith | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:57.26s | 2.81s |
| 23 | Mika Kallio | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:57.68s | 3.23s |
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