A hectic hour of running to conclude Friday at the Mandalika track concluded with Espargaro firing in a new all-time lap record of 1m30.474s in the closing seconds.
This deposed VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi, who underwent surgery on a broken collarbone five days ago and only turned up to Lombok this morning, after the Italian went top with 10 minutes remaining.
He would end up third behind Maverick Vinales on the sister factory Aprilia, while Brad Binder recovered from an early tangle to finish fourth.
Championship leader Bagnaia endured a tough Friday on his factory Ducati and could only go 16th in the second practice.
On target to set a top 10 lap to get directly into qualifying Q2 on his last effort, a mistake at the third-to-last corner resigned him to his first Q1 appearance since the Spanish GP.
The early pace in the hour-long second practice was set by Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, who found out on Thursday that he will be moved aside for Marc Marquez next year.
Di Giannantonio’s time stood firm for around 10 minutes before Aleix Espargaro made his first play for the top of the times with a 1m31.783s, which he duly improved to a 1m31.466s.
Source: Autosport