Sepang, Malaysia - Danilo Petrucci topped the timesheets on Tuesday in an incident-packed second day of pre-season MotoGP testing that featured a dramatic high speed tyre blow-out involving Loris Baz.
In track temperatures of almost 50 degrees, Petrucci, riding a Ducati, was among the few riders who improved their times by adapting well to the sizzling weather and new Michelin tyres.
The 25-year-old Italian clocked 2m00.095s, 0.060 seconds faster than Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, who dominated Monday's sessions.
Defending champion Lorenzo, who is chasing a fourth championship title, fell at Turn 5 while Honda's Dani Pedrosa crashed at the same place in the final 30 minutes of testing.
Neither rider was injured.
Baz, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Monday, earlier escaped serious injury when his rear tyre exploded and hurled him off his Ducati in a spectacular high-speed crash.
The Frenchman was riding at about 290km/h down Sepang's main straight at the time. He credited his protective gear for his escape.
Hector Barbera on a Ducati finished third, 0.292s behind Petrucci. Honda's double MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez was fourth-fastest, 0.748s off the pace.
British rider Cal Crutchlow on a Honda was fifth, with a time of 2m0.899s, while Valentino Rossi, the charismatic 36-year-old Italian rider, finished the session in sixth position, 0.926s behind Ducati's Petrucci.
Retired double world champion Casey Stoner, back on track testing for Ducati, was ninth fastest, 1.008s behind Petrucci.
This is the first time since 2012 the Australian is riding alongside the MotoGP race riders.
On Monday Lorenzo clocked 2m0.684s, more than a second faster than Rossi.
The three-day testing at Sepang will end on Wednesday. The MotoGP world championship will start at the Losail circuit in Qatar on 17 March.