The conditions improved, leading to faster lap times at Mandalika, with Enea Bastianini dominating Friday’s practice session by topping the timesheets. The rider showed his pace as he clocked an impressive time of 1:29.630, shattering the previous lap record. He edged out Jorge Martin, who missed out on P1 by only 0.040 seconds. Franco Morbidelli also displayed impressive speed, securing third place with an improvement on his 20th lap.

Unfortunately, Miguel Oliveira faced a setback after his crash in FP1. As practice got underway, the pace at the front was electric. Rookie Pedro Acosta experienced an early crash at Turn 1, but he wasn’t the only one; Aleix Espargaro also had two falls at Turn 16, though he emerged unscathed.

The real time attacks came in the final 20 minutes, with Acosta initially leading after returning with fresh tires. However, Martin quickly made his mark, retaking the lead and dipping into the 1:29s. Just when it seemed Martin would hold onto the top spot, Bastianini found an extra gear to reclaim first place. Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia had a tense end to the session, moving from ninth to finish fourth overall, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, who also showed promising pace on the soft rear.

Fabio Quartararo maintained his impressive form, finishing sixth, while Marc Marquez secured seventh, delivering a stunning save. Acosta rounded out the top eight as he recovered from his earlier crash, while Fabio Di Giannantonio held onto ninth despite his late crash, with Maverick Viñales securing the final Q2 spot.

Viñales ended the day as the top Aprilia rider, while Johann Zarco narrowly missed the top ten. Luca Marini took 12th, and Brad Binder suffered a late crash that dashed his hopes for Q2.