MotoGP Race And Practice Results

The clouds were here to stay for the final qualifying session of the day, but the intermediate class was not to be deterred from attacking pole position until the last second of Q2, when Jake Dixon robbed teammate Albert Arenas of the honour by a minuscule hundredth of a second. The duo secured a one-two on the grid for a euphoric Aspar squad, with Arenas also registering his best qualifying result in the class in second position.

After leading the way just a handful of minutes earlier, Sam Lowes had to settle for the final spot on the front row, while Ai Ogura finds himself on the second row, despite being only five hundredths of a second slower than the poleman. Newcomer Alonso Lopez continues to show off with his speed, joining the second row ahead of Q1 leader Jorge Navarro. Joe Roberts and local favourite Bo Bendsneyder dropped back to third row after spending the early part of the session at the top end, while practice leader Augusto Fernandez could not match his earlier performance and settled for ninth.

Marcel Schrotter rounded out the top 10, sharing fourth row with championship leader Celestino Vietti, whose turn three tumble halfway through proceedings ended the session early for the Italian and allowed him to slip back to 11th place on the grid. Rookie Filip Salac closes fourth row, while Tony Arbolino fronts row five, ahead of Q1 graduates Barry Baltus and Manuel Gonzalez.

The notable absences in Assen continue to be Aron Canet, who is out of commission with a broken nose and recurring nose bleeds, and Pedro Acosta, the rookie fresh off the operating table after suffering a broken left femur in training.

Results:

An increasingly overcast FP4 saw a diverse assortment of tyres being sampled and the battle for top spot was back to a familiar picture, with Fabio Quartararo and Pecco Bagnaia swapping seats at the top of the timesheets. Despite not fully enjoying his time on the hard rear tyre, with a small moment leading him into the infamous gravel of the final chicane, Quartararo was still quick enough to claim the session at the chequered flag by one tenth of a second, after showing off his consistent pace on both the hard and medium tyre. An equally rapid Bagnaia settled for second, ahead of teammate Jack Miller, with FP3 leader Aleix Espargaro dropping to fourth, under four tenths off the lead and with solid pace despite a small front end moment of his own at turn five.

The KTMs got in the mix as well, with Miguel Oliveira climbing as high as fifth, just ahead of the Ducatis of Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, with Maverick Viñales eighth, half a second off top spot. Brad Binder and Luca Marini rounded out the top 10 placements, while the Suzukis of Joan Mir and Alex Rins kept close behind. After starting the session as strong as in FP3, top Honda man Takaaki Nakagami slid down the timing screens and ended the session 15th, eight tenths off the lead, in between the Ducatis of Johann Zarco and Marco Bezzecchi.

Results:

The intermediate class enjoyed their final practice session under some welcome sunshine at Assen and Augusto Fernandez enjoyed the conditions the most, the Spaniard topping the morning session throughout, despite being quite a distance away from the lap record. Albert Arenas was another consistent presence towards the top of the timing screens, the former Moto3 world champion second throughout the session, six hundredths of a second off the lead. Bo Bendsneyder enjoyed some time in the limelight on his home playground and climbed up to third, only a tenth off top spot.

Ai Ogura also returned to the business end of proceedings, the Japanese rider fourth at the end of practice, with Tony Arbolino rounding out the top five. Jake Dixon made some late progress to claim sixth position ahead of Joe Roberts, while Pedro Acosta’s absence through injury allowed Filip Salac to lead the rookie brigade from eighth place, despite a late tumble at the final chicane. An invigorated Marcel Schrotter continued his progress, climbing as high as second but seeing his top time cancelled for a track limits infringement and getting demoted back to ninth, with new recruit Alonso Lopez closing the top 10.

Celestino Vietti lingering outside of the top 10 is becoming an oddly familiar sight, although the championship leader did secure a Q2 position this time, with 11th place on the combined timesheets. Sam Lowes came next, the British rider losing some ground late in the session, after a tumble at the final chicane with three minutes left of the session. Somkiat Chantra and Cameron Beaubier claimed the remaining two tickets into Q2, leaving the likes of Jorge Navarro and Fermín Aldeguer out in the cold of Q1. A notable absence was that of Aron Canet, who only did three laps – but three laps too many after struggling with nose bleeds throughout the weekend – the Spaniard finally admitting defeat and withdrawing from the rest of the weekend’s action.

Results:

A brand new day brought brand new track conditions to Assen, with beautifully dry asphalt welcoming the lightweight class for their final practice outing. With a lot of work to pack into the 40-minute session, riders were quickly battling for their place in qualifying and it was no surprise to see Izan Guevara at the top of the pile straight away. Although the Spaniard got some competition from the likes of Ayumu Sasaki, Tatsuki Suzuki or Dennis Foggia, not even yellow flags could prevent him from finding his way back to the top, ending the morning three hundredths of a second quicker than Foggia. Sergio Garcia climbed the timesheets more stealthily to end the session two tenths off his leading teammate and another tenth ahead of Friday’s leader, rookie David Muñoz.

Suzuki rounded out the top five ahead of compatriots Sasaki and Ryusei Yamanaka, with Riccardo Rossi, Deniz Öncü and Lorenzo Fellon rounding out the top 10, despite the Frenchman ending the session with a big tumble. Jaume Masia in 11th position was the last rider within a second of the leader, while the remaining tickets straight to Q2 were handed out to rookie Joel Kelso and class veterans John McPhee and Andrea Migno – the Italian lucky to hang in there despite a crash in the final couple of minutes of FP3.

Teammates Stefano Nepa and Ivan Ortolá will have to deal with Q1 against some more fast rookies like Diogo Moreira and Daniel Holgado, although the Spaniard is in line for a penalty for crashing under yellow flags late in the session.

Results: