2018 Assen Moto2 Qualifying Result: Early Bird Gets The Worm

After the wild ride of MotoGP qualifying, the intermediate class was more of a palette cleanser once Pecco Bagnaia planted his flag at the top of the standings. His lead wasn’t all that comfortable, only seven hundredths of a second keeping him ahead of Marcel Schrotter but eventually it was just enough to secure the Italian pole position. In a perhaps surprising turn of events, SKY Racing teammate Luca Marini spent most of the session on provisional front row and will start the race from third, behind Schrotter.

Alex Marquez kept a low profile in fourth position throughout the session but misfortune hit in turn seven in the final five minutes to end his qualifying session early but the Spaniard got way with fourth position nonetheless. The session was red flagged soon after, with Niki Tuuli needing some assistance after a crash in turn five and his bike possibly leaving some fluid on the surface. Once the session was resumed, there was time for two flying laps at a stretch but the chaos proved quite unhelpful and few improvements were to be found.

Xavi Vierge looked a little lost in practice but made a comeback in qualifying to finish fifth, while Sam Lowes continued a consistent weekend with sixth grid position, only one and a half tenths off the poleman. Fabio Quartararo opens row three of the grid, only two tenths of a second off pole and in the company of Andrea Locatelli and Jorge Navarro. The Spaniard ticked off another crash during the sessions but his earl benchmark helped significantly.

Joan Mir continued an on-and-off weekend with tenth on the grid, ahead of Mattia Pasini and Khairul Idham Pawi. Lorenzo Baldassarri has become an unusual sight so far down the grid but the Italian was only fast enough for 13th, one place ahead of Romano Fenati.

Results: