Francesco Bagnaia ends MotoGP Friday at Assen with a fastest time ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo – Honda behind again in the dry
Second Ducati best time at Assen: Only it wasn’t Jack Miller who secured the top spot in the afternoon, but team-mate Francesco Bagnaia. With 1:33.274 minutes he was 0.178 seconds faster than Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) in second place. World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) was third.
The session started on rain tyres, but a dry line began to form on the track. Already on the first laps, many drivers were able to improve compared to the first free practice. The pace increased rapidly.
At the halfway point Miguel Oliveira (KTM) was ahead with 1:40.540 minutes. He was already two seconds faster than the best time in FT1. Shortly after, Johann Zarco (Pramac-Ducati) pushed the pace further to set the first 1’39” time, initially distancing the rest of the field by more than a second.
But that soon became a minor matter, as Luca Marini was the first rider to venture out onto the increasingly dry track on slicks, demonstrating after just a few laps that these were now the tyres of choice. He clearly beat Zarco’s best mark, so that the rest also changed over little by little.
Red sectors for @Luca_Marini_97!
And now the rest of the teams are jumping into action! DutchGP pic.twitter.com/tu5PURNny3
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) June 24, 2022
In the final phase, the times continued to tumble and the field moved closer together. In the end, the usual suspects – Aleix Espargaro, Quartararo and Bagnaia – prevailed at the front. Alex Rins (Suzuki) secured fourth place.
Miller completed the top 5 after his best time in the rain in FT1, but was already 0.559 seconds behind. Joan Mir (Suzuki), Maverick Vinales (Aprilia), Brad Binder (KTM), Zarco and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46-Ducati) followed in sixth to tenth, with Bezzecchi going down late in Turn 5.
Behind Enea Bastianini (Gresini-Ducati), Takaaki Nakagami was the first Honda to line up in twelfth, followed by Marini, Alex Marquez (LCR-Honda) and Andrea Dovizioso (RNF-Yamaha). Pol Espargaro (Honda) came in 19th, 1.5 seconds behind, and Stefan Bradl was second to last after a crash.
Several riders moved out with their latest aero updates during the session, including Rins and Alex Marquez. Aprilia tester Lorenzo Savadori, on a wildcard at Assen, collected data with a next engine upgrade.
Update: Because Aleix Espargaro also rode the spoiler in front of the rear wheel, which serves as a water deflector in the rain, with slicks, the Aprilia rider had his entire last run cancelled. In the revised classification, he is therefore listed with his rain time, which is, however, above the 105 per cent hurdle.
