Aragon MotoGP: Dominant Lorenzo beats Rossi by 0.7s in second practice

The Spaniard hit the top of the timesheets halfway through the 45 minute session with a 1m48.307s, running the hard rear tyre.

As the top riders began their final runs, Rossi became the first man to beat Lorenzo's FP1 benchmark, setting a 1m48.200s on the medium rear - the first of a flurry of late improvements.

Having also switched to the medium rear, Lorenzo then unleashed his true pace, lowering the bar by a full 0.683s with a scintillating 1'47.517s and wresting back ownership of the top spot from his title adversary.

Rossi failed to improve thereafter, completing a one-two for the works Yamaha squad, while a late jump by Bradley Smith on the satellite Tech 3 machine allowed the Japanese marque to lock out the top three.

Dani Pedrosa was the best of the Honda riders in fourth, seven tenths off the pace, having led the way early on after going for his first run later than his rivals and enjoying a clear track.

Pedrosa's Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez was a relatively subdued fifth, ahead of the Espargaro brothers Pol (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Aleix (Suzuki).

The Ducati trio of Andrea Dovizioso, Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci completed the top 10, with Hector Barbera (Avintia Ducati) recovering from his FP1 crash to lead the Open class in P14.

Practice results: