Bagnaia dominates a thrilling Friday at Assen ahead of Viñales

With rumours, tension, and excitement swirling around the paddock at the Motul TT Assen, the battle for direct entry to Q2 did not disappoint in the hour-long Practice session. Ending the day at the top of the time sheets was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who completed a perfect day in the Netherlands. The #1 set a blistering time early on before improving later in the session, setting a brilliant 1:31.340. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) crossed the line to claim second after improving yet again on his final fast lap – ending the day 0.065s shy from Bagnaia. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) had a positive end to Friday after a magnificent lap allowed the #73 to round out the top three.

It was a dramatic session throughout which all came down to the final 15 minutes when the riders took to the track for their time attack. Bagnaia was at the top of times as red sectors began to pop up everywhere before Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) hit the top for the first time of the weekend before Pecco soon responded on his next flying lap. There would be drama heading into the final run with Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) having an incredibly close moment with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing).

Further back, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) took a brave fourth and showed great pace throughout the session – completing over 20 laps. However, the #41 suffered a crash in the closing minutes at the final corner and would end the Spaniard’s session. Behind the Spaniard was compatriot Martin, who rounded out the top five positions, with work still to do to feel comfortable for Saturday.

Sixth place went the way of Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), who had an incredible front-end save during the session – improving on his 22^nd lap. Brad Binder was the only Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine inside the top 10 with his teammate Miller down in 18^th place at the end of Friday.

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) held onto eighth place and a spot inside Q2 after suffering from a crash of his own with three minutes to go. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) took ninth place, after setting a 1:31.909 in his final run. Behind the #25 was Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing), who took the final spot inside the top 10 and the final direct entry spot into Q2.

However, some huge names are now forced to battle in Q1 on Saturday including Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team), who missed out on his spot inside the top 10 by a mere 0.041s. Joining Quartararo in what is building to be an unpredictable Q1 will be both Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team riders and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), who was down in 15^th place at the end of Friday.

The MotoGP™ field will return to track for a blockbuster Saturday at 10:10 local time (UTC +2) for Free Practice 2 before qualifying begins at 10:50 local time and then the Tissot Sprint at 15:00 local time. So, make sure you don’t miss any of the action on motogp.com!

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