Iannone fastest in FP2, Crutchlow third

Iannone set the early pace at Silverstone with a time of 2m02.312s, more than a tenth up on Vinales' Friday morning benchmark, which stood for the bulk of the session.

Czech GP winner Cal Crutchlow was the first rider to shake up the order with a run on new tyres, jumping to the top with six minutes remaining with a 2m02.046s lap, despite a wild moment exiting Woodcote.

A lap later, the LCR Honda rider improved again to a 2m01.917s, but Vinales was also on a flier at the time and snatched top spot with his 2m01.721s.

The Suzuki rider was still fastest when the chequered flag flew, but Iannone changed that with his 2m01.421s and he finished the session 0.300 seconds clear at the top.

Local hero Crutchlow wound up third, 0.496s slower than Iannone, while Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi occupied fourth, fifth and sixth.

Like his Ducati team-mate Iannone, Andrea Dovizoso improved after the chequered flag to take seventh, ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa.

Scott Redding grabbed 10th for Pramac Ducati, which could be enough to book a spot in the second phase of qualifying if forecast rain on Saturday affects third practice.

Redding pipped Pol Espargaro to the place by 0.040s, while Espargaro's temporary Tech3 Yamaha team-mate Alex Lowes was 19th.

Deputising for Bradley Smith to make his MotoGP debut, Lowes was within 2.434s of Iannone's pace, that deficit nearly an identical margin to his lap time improvement from first practice.