Raul Fernandez continued his impressive debut in the Moto2 class by securing the fastest time of Friday practice.

The only rider to hit 1’58 pace, the KTM rookie claimed FP2 glory with a lap two-tenths under Sam Lowes’ pole effort last-time-out, holding off a strong performance from Fabio Di Giannantonio and Remy Gardner to head the standings in the closing seconds of the evening session. The Brit completed the day in seventh after having his P4 shot denied due to track limits.

Lowes was back in action at the Losail International Circuit as a second-consecutive Friday of free practice got underway under immense heat once again. Marcos Ramirez, however, was forced to sit out of proceedings having been declared unfit for the weekend after last-Saturday’s qualifying accident. Simone Corsi and Barry Baltus were also out of competition due to injury, with the Italian replaced at Forward Racing by former MotoE rider Tommaso Marcon.

The initial hot laps saw Aron Canet take charge from Di Giannantonio and Fernandez before the top two switched places, Lowes matching the front running pace shortly after with Canet dropped to fourth. A determined Jake Dixon sat on the fringes of the top-10 after the opening 10 minutes, his Cheshire-cat-grin clear to see from the Petronas garage before the session began despite the ongoing battle for his wrist’s recovery.

Di Giannantonio’s 2’00.118 lap held fast at the top as the mid-session played out, Marco Bezzecchi joining his countryman in the standings with Fernandez continuing his impressive rookie performance, in third. Lorenzo Baldassarri suffering a technical issue on his MV Agusta at the half-way stage.

15 minutes remaining and Lowes was cutting a fairly solitary figure out on track as he circulated with continuing consistency, third in the standings, as Canet’s Aspar found its way into the gravel at turn four. The times lit up as the clock hit eight to go, with the top-three all setting P1-worthy pace. A turn-seven-crash for Cameron Beaubier put paid to a personal-best lap for the American as he followed his compatriot Joe Roberts - with the Italtrans rider more fortunate as he found sixth at the line.

The closing minute saw improvements from Roberts to fifth and Nicolò Bulega to seventh but with the flag flying, the top-four looked to remain safe. Di Giannantonio took the session from Bezzecchi, but a late-charge from Roberts claimed third from Lowes in the dying seconds, the Brit just two-tenths from the fastest time so far. Fernandez sat fifth from Canet with Ai Ogura advancing to seventh with his final attempt, Xavi Vierge, Bulega and Marcel Schrotter concluding the afternoon’s top-10. Dixon, Beaubier and a disappointingly quiet Remy Gardner circulating on the edges of the top-20 in 19th, 21st and 23rd respectively after the opening 40-minutes.

Fernandez fired up immediately as FP2 got going, setting an impressive 1’59.4 before Celestino Vietti pounced moments later with a personal best to take the times on his third attempt. Early efforts kept coming as Di Giannantonio once again headed the session, this time from Gardner and Roberts with Bezzecchi now leading his rookie teammate in fourth. Lowes sat seventh, just three-tenths off the pace, behind Fernandez and ahead of Schrotter with Bulega and Stefano Manzi completing the top-10.

Another mid-session-break saw the pack return with 12 to go but little impact was recorded on the standings as the clock counted down. Four minutes left and Fernandez stormed to the top with a stunning 1’58.541, 0.2s faster than Lowes pole effort from a week ago, while another rookie, Ogura, was making waves for fifth in the same lap.

The closing seconds saw Lowes advance to fourth on his 15th effort before the lap was deleted due to track limits with the Brit ending the day seventh overall as the flag came out.

Fernandez completed his second Friday in Moto2 at the head of the times from Di Giannantonio, Gardner and Bezzecchi with Roberts heading Ogura and Lowes. Vietti sat eight at the close of Friday from Schrotter, Bulega and Manzi with Canet, Augusto Fernandez and Beaubier claiming the final Q2 positions.

Vierge, Somkiat Chantra, Jorge Navarro and a frustrated Dixon completed the evening practice in the top-18 unfortunate to be denied promotion by the narrowest of margins.