Vinales tops opening day at Assen

Maverick Vinales

It was roles reversed in FP2 at the Motul TT Assen as Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) overhauled FP1 leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) by 0.180 in the afternoon session the end Friday at the top of the timesheets with a 1:32.638.

With perfect conditions welcoming the riders in the afternoon, almost all the riders were able to go quicker in the early stages of FP2 and it was Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso who was the early pacesetter. That was just after Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Andrea Iannone was able to go P1 after finishing FP1 on the fringes of the top ten, the Italian shadowed Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) to briefly sit fastest but as usual, Friday’s honors would be decided in the final 10 minutes.

The soft rear tires were slotted in for every rider bar Marquez and soon enough, Vinales rose to the fore once more – just as he had done for most of FP1 before Quartararo ousted him from top spot. The Spaniard set the first sub-1’33 lap of the weekend before improving once more to get within a whisker of teammate Valentino Rossi’s all-time Assen lap record. A 1:32.638 was enough to beat Quartararo in the second session as the Frenchman could only manage a 1:32.818. The rookie sensation has now finished inside the top two in nine consecutive sessions, but will Vinales vs Quartararo roll on for the rest of the weekend?

Lorenzo crash from FP1

Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), as he did in FP1, ended third quickest in the second Free Practice session to sit as Vinales and Quartararo’s nearest challenger. The Italian is 0.314 back from Vinales’ pace, with teammate Dovizioso 0.271 behind his fellow Bologna bullet in fourth as two Ducatis stalk two Yamahas in Assen – Dovi improved from a lowly P13 in FP1.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) slammed in a late personal best lap to go from P9 to P5 as the checkered flag came out for FP2, 0.667 is the gap to Vinales as Rins slips from fourth to fifth from FP1. Iannone’s early time means he holds a provisional Q2 place heading into Saturday morning, it may have been even better for the Italian if a crash at Turn 9 late in the day didn’t arise – rider ok. It’s been a quiet weekend for Marquez so far, the Championship leader lies seventh at the end of Day 1 in the Netherlands after finishing sixth in FP1 – expect the number 93 to come out all guns blazing in FP3.

Quotes

Marc Marquez
“Seventh on Friday isn’t a panic, we are working for the race and looking to analyze everything. Different tires and all of these things, working for Sunday. There are four or five riders with a similar pace at the moment but we are there, that’s important. We keep working. It was also very special today to be alongside some of Honda’s legends to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Honda Racing. I’m very sorry for Lorenzo and wish him a speedy recovery."

Jorge Lorenzo
“Due to the fall I fractured both my T6 and T8 vertebrae. The injury does not allow me to race here in Assen or at the Sachsenring. Tomorrow morning I will fly to Lugano and do all the possible treatments to get ready to go to Brno."

Combined Friday Times