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Andrea Iannone fastest for Ducati in MotoGP Qatar second practice

Ducati's Andrea Iannone set the pace in the second practice session for this weekend's MotoGP season opener in Qatar, just ahead of Honda's Marc Marquez

Marquez led the way early, setting laps of 1m55.808s and then 1m55.664s, both faster than he managed on Thursday while battling an electrical problem.

Iannone then took the upper hand with a 1m55.388s, moving past Jorge Lorenzo's fastest time of Thursday night within the first 10 minutes of the session.

Despite a flurry of improvements in the final five minutes, Iannone's effort stood, continuing Ducati's promising start after being Yamaha's closest challenger on Thursday evening.

Marquez improved late to a 1m55.401s to finish the session just 0.013 seconds behind Iannone, while Pramac Ducati's Scott Redding also flew in the closing minutes.

Redding was already inside the top five when he recorded a time of 1m55.511s, which put him third.

Suzuki rider Maverick Vinales was fourth, ahead of Iannone's team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

First and second in Thursday evening's first practice session of the year, Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi had a quiet 45 minutes, focusing more on race preparation.

Rossi saved a wild moment at Turn 9 and improved late to be seventh, two spots ahead of Lorenzo, who did not eclipse on his Thursday time.

Satellite riders Hector Barbera and Danilo Petrucci - returning from injury - in eighth and 10th made it five Ducatis inside the top 10.

Cal Crutchlow lost the front end of his LCR Honda at the final corner with 15 minutes to go, having been set to improve on his 11th position at the time.

Avintia Ducati's Loris Baz then limped away from a heavy crash at Turn 14 with seven minutes remaining, when he was also on a personal best lap to improve from 13th.

Crutchlow and Baz dropped to 13th and 15th in the closing stages.

FP2 TIMES

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Andrea Iannone Ducati 1m55.388s - 18
2 Marc Marquez Honda 1m55.401s 0.013s 16
3 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati 1m55.511s 0.123s 16
4 Maverick Vinales Suzuki 1m55.644s 0.256s 16
5 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m55.721s 0.333s 15
6 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m55.764s 0.376s 16
7 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m55.883s 0.495s 16
8 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati 1m55.919s 0.531s 16
9 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m55.934s 0.546s 13
10 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati 1m56.258s 0.870s 17
11 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki 1m56.293s 0.905s 16
12 Pol Espargaro Tech3 Yamaha 1m56.324s 0.936s 17
13 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m56.489s 1.101s 14
14 Yonny Hernandez Aspar Ducati 1m56.558s 1.170s 17
15 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati 1m56.623s 1.235s 12
16 Bradley Smith Tech3 Yamaha 1m56.728s 1.340s 17
17 Jack Miller Marc VDS Honda 1m56.900s 1.512s 15
18 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1m57.012s 1.624s 16
19 Tito Rabat Marc VDS Honda 1m57.429s 2.041s 18
20 Stefan Bradl Aprilia 1m57.541s 2.153s 16
21 Eugene Laverty Aspar Ducati 1m57.722s 2.334s 15

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