Assen, The Netherlands

Assen MotoGP Saturday Round Up: Viñales' Bombshell Aprilia Move, A Wide Open Rider Market, And Who Can Stop The Yamahas?

Submitted by David Emmett on

Saturday at Assen only deepened the enigma that is Maverick Viñales. After being fastest in both sessions of practice on Friday, the Monster Energy Yamaha man added FP3 to his belt in the morning, then finished second in FP4. That result was a little deceptive, however: he started FP4 on a used soft tire with 15 laps, nearly two thirds race distance, on it, and put nearly race distance on it, ending with a couple of 1'33.7s. For context, the race lap record at Assen is 1'33.617, set by Marc Márquez on lap 4 of the 2015 race. Viñales' second run was on a new medium tire, assessing tire choice for the race.

Seven days ago, Viñales was just twelfth fastest in FP4, and qualified in 21st. The contrast could not be greater with Assen. Here, he qualified on pole position, smashing the lap record and becoming the second rider to lap the Circuit van Drenthe in under 1'32, after teammate Fabio Quartararo posted a 1'31.922 in his first run during Q2. Both Monster Energy Yamaha riders ended with laps of 1'31.8, Quartararo posting three 1'31s to Viñales' two. But it was Viñales who was the quickest of the pair, taking pole with 1'31.814.

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2021 Assen MotoGP FP4 Result: Quartararo Challenges Viñales

Submitted by Zara Daniela on

With rain keeping away from the Assen circuit despite the pessimistic forecast, the premier class got to enjoy good conditions in their chase for race pace in FP4 and it looked like a Yamaha vs Suzuki party throughout. Fabio Quartararo put the darker shade of blue at the top of the timesheets early on and did not budge, responding to any challenge by going quicker and quicker. The Frenchman was one step ahead on both the medium and hard rear tyre, but all tyre options got significant airtime from the field.

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