Quartararo fourth
There were no such issues for Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) as the French rookie showed off his now customary impressive pace by taking fourth and ending the day as top Independent Team rider.
'El Diablo' slotted in just behind the Monster Energy Yamaha duo of Vinales and Rossi in FP2, with the Iwata marque dominating the afternoon...although Marquez' morning hot lap remained out of reach.
Vinales charges
Vinales spent much of that afternoon chipping away at his rival's advantage and a few positions chopped and changed in the top five and ten, but a late rush for provisional graduation to Q2 soon changed the tone again.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's man of the moment Pol Espargaro impressed again as after a solid FP1 within the top ten, the Spaniard ended the day in an ever-impressive P5 overall.
Rossi boost
Rossi was one who needed a boost up the order after finishing FP1 outside the top 15, and Quartararo was on the edge too.
Ultimately, both would shoot up the timesheets and safely end the day in P3 and P4 respectively.
Dovizioso pushes
Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) slipped from fifth to sixth overall, although the KTM ahead only got the better of him by an infinitesimal 0.050, with LCR Honda Castrol's Cal Crutchlow then even closer in seventh - only 0.008 in further arrears.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) kept the trend going as he ended the day only 0.027 off Crutchlow; the Italian finishing eighth by the end of the day after ending FP1 in P4.