Ducati’s rising star Pecco Bagnaia continued to shine by setting Friday’s fastest overall time, a 1’46.147, at Mugello this afternoon ahead of the Italian’s home GP. 

Alex Rins and Franky Morbidelli put in the closest challenges at the close of play with Valentino Rossi continuing his struggles at the back of the pack and finishing 21st overall. 

It was a KTM in charge as the initial laps registered for FP2. Miguel Oliveira led the way from Takaaki Nakagami and Fabio Quartararo with Aleix Espargaro and Rins fighting for the next best before the Aprilia’s time was deleted from the standings. Iker Lecuona sat fifth from Brad Binder before his time too was deleted, promoting the South African as the Tech3 rider dropped to seventh. 

Rins and Espargaro were back on a charge they found second and third after 10-minutes of action, Quartararo demoting the latter with his fifth lap as Bagnaia and Johann Zarco sat seventh and eighth. Lecuona held on to ninth ahead of Pol Espargaro with Morbidelli heading the final two Hondas - Alex leading his elder brother in 12th and 13th. 

Despite heading the standings on his morning effort, a demure start to the second practice left Maverick Viñales circulating in 15th before he upped the ante to eighth with his eighth lap.

Jack Miller rose to tenth after the opening 15-minutes in place of Espargaro as the HRC man’s time was deleted and he dropped back to 21st, with Rossi and Luca Marini on either side at the base of the standings. 

The mid-point of the afternoon saw Bagnaia up to fourth, Viñales following suit for fifth half a lap later before the Ducati rider stormed to second with his next attempt, just 0.064s behind Oliveira’s earlier marker and overall best. Zarco was the next to climb as he found himself In fifth and the middle of a Yamaha sandwich, with Aleix Espargaro, Nakagami, Binder and Joan Mir in provisional control of the top-10. 

Pol Espargaro had recovered to 11th as the closing 15-minutes began, his teammate circulating in 19th between Marini and Enea Bastianini, with Rossi two-seconds off the pace and firmly at the back.

The pack returned for fresh tyres as the session neared its conclusion and the hot-laps were anticipated. Miller was the first to hit a time attack, initially claiming fourth before his second attempt found third, Rossi taking a trip through the gravel after promoting himself to 14th, narrowly ahead of his teammate. 

The closing three minutes saw the standings start to shuffle in earnest - partly due to new laps and then again as more were deleted. Quartararo demonstrated his frustration as traffic began to play its part, Rins seemingly unfazed as he swept through to the lead with a 1’46.218, closely followed by Binder before the Frenchman found his rhythm, demoting the KTM for second. 

As the flag came out, a storming lap from Morbidelli put the Petronas into second, Quartararo looking to threaten before ultimately settling for third but there was more to come. Bagnaia claimed the session and the overall times with a 1’46.147 to drop the trio behind, Binder claiming the final top-five position from teammate Oliveira, Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro with the Ducati’s of Miller and Zarco completing the top-10. The Frenchman’s time, however, was not enough to sit him inside of the provisional Q2 positions, with Viñales’ morning time keeping him in contention despite a 17th place finish in the afternoon session.