14:47
Riders heading out for their next time attack runs now but the yellows are still out for that Aldeguer crash.
Major name without a time yet is Bagnaia in 13th, he stayed longer than anyone else on the medium rear doing race runs.
Marc Marquez, 2026 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
MotoGP Assen LIVE: Friday Practice reaction after Bezzecchi and Aprilia dominate
Live updates from the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Assen MotoGP in the Netherlands.
Live coverage of the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Assen MotoGP. FP1 is due to start at 10:50 local time this morning, with Practice coming up this afternoon at 15:00.
Key Moments
- Bezzecchi tops Practice as Aprilia look back to their best
- Alex Marquez crashes heavily at turn 11, brings out the red flags
- Ogura leads from Bezzecchi and Marquez after first hot laps
- Bezzecchi tops FP1 ahead of Bagnaia, Martin after Marquez crash
It's set to be a very hot Assen this weekend with temperatures set to rise into the high-30C range this afternoon, although by Sunday the European heat wave is due to have broken and more normal conditions will prevail, perhaps even some rain.
Marco Bezzecchi arrives in the Netherlands with the championship lead, despite not scoring a point in Brno after he crashed out of the Sprint and was suspended for the remainder of the weekend after hitting a marshal. The Italian spoke to the media yesterday and admitted his fault, saying the penalty he received for his action in Brno was the correct one. Bezzecchi ended FP1 at the top of the times this morning, but was in trouble with the stewards again.
The Italian, who was second at Assen last year, now leads the championship by eight points over Jorge Martin, who was third-fastest this morning.
Closing in on the two Aprilias is Marc Marquez, who was 102 points behind after the Italian GP, where Bezzecchi and Martin went 1-2, but is now only 40 points adrift having dropped only five points in the last two rounds. Marquez crashed in FP1 this morning and finished 10th.
Despite the closing Ducati threat, Martin does not think Assen is a "must-win" race for Aprilia, while Marquez's back-to-back wins in Hungary and Czechia came just before his new two-year contract with Ducati was announced earlier this week. The Spaniard said yesterday that a one-year option was discussed between he and Ducati, but the decision was taken to opt for two years for the benefit of the project as MotoGP heads into the beginning of its 850cc era.
Marquez was one of a few riders to take part in the 850cc test at Brno on Monday, Augusto Fernandez being another. The Yamaha test rider, who is wildcarding this weekend, reckons the new bikes, and tyres, will provide more entertaining racing next year.
Pedro Acosta also took part in the test for KTM, but it was announced only two days later that he will be joining Ducati with Marquez in 2027, a move which the Spaniard says is the biggest challenge of his career. In his final KTM year, Acosta is being his with reliability issues frequently, including three times in Czechia where he retired on the final lap through a technical problem, which Acosta does not expect to be fixed before Germany in July.
Aki Ajo said during FP1 that KTM understands what has been happening, and it was revealed by the MotoGP world feed broadcast that the RC16's engine has been running at a reduced performance level since Mugello.
Acosta's spot at Ducati is being opened to him by the move of Francesco Bagnaia to Aprilia on a new four-year deal that has the Italian "super-excited" as prepares to leave Ducati for the first time in his MotoGP career. The Italian was an encouraging second this morning, setting his time late on but not using fresh tyres to do it.
26 Jun 2026
14:46
Crash for Aldeguer at turn 11, that's the second of the rights at the end of the third split. He just low-sided as the rear span out from underneath him, but he tumbled nastily in the gravel.
14:45
Acosta improves again on his second lap but still loses over 0.3s in the final sector - up to fourth now for the KTM rider.
14:44
Bastianini's next lap after being blocked by Morbidelli puts him 10th.
14:44
Acosta's first time attack puts him seventh, lost half-a-second in the final sector compared to Ogura.
14:42
Now it's Morbidelli getting in the way in the fast rights, Bastianini the victim of the Italian's lack of concentration this time.
14:41
First time attack lap from Marquez, with a 15-lap-old medium front, and he goes third, 0.299s behind Ogura.
Di Giannantonio goes 6th with his first time attack.
14:39
Moreira could be in trouble, looks like he's held Morbidelli up in the fast rights at the end of the lap as Morbidelli was on a push lap.
14:38
Moreira takes the tow of Bagnaia to move up to 5th, 0.7s off the top, though.
Looks like Marquez heading out for his first time attack now.
14:33
Ogura fastest now, 0.144s ahead of Bezzecchi with his second lap on that tyre.
14:32
All-Aprilia top-four now as Ogura's gone up to fourth, 0.299s off Bezzecchi. Only the Aprilia riders have lapped in the 1m31s at the moment.
14:31
Personal best from Marquez, only ninth but that's his 13th lap on the medium rear tyre he's on at the moment.
14:30
Bezzecchi gets his improvement on the third lap, down to a 1m31.587s, he's 0.226s ahead of Fernandez now, the Trackhouse rider having just gone up to second ahead of Martin.
14:28
Raul Fernandez up to third now so all-Aprilia top-three. Unusual to see them so strong so early in the weekend, although we haven't seen a time attack from Di Giannantonio, Bagnaia, or Marc Marquez yet.
14:27
Bezzecchi and Martin the first riders into the 1m31s on their first laps, and Martin improves on his second lap. Bezzecchi was on course to improve as well, but 0.4s after the third sector, but he caught Mir in the final sector and lost 0.6s.
14:25
Time attacks coming from the Aprilias now as well, Martin improves first to go fastest, and Bezzecchi's first effort is 0.037s shy of his team-mate.
14:25
Di Giannantonio back to P5 now as Aldeguer goes fourth with a fresh soft rear tyre of his own.
14:24
Razgatlioglu up to 11th, but took a fresh soft rear to do it.
Di Giannantonio's moved up to fourth as well, albeit 0.4s off the pace of Bezzecchi.
14:21
Marc Marquez heading back out for his second run, currently eighth and 0.8s off the pace.
14:20
A lot of riders back in the pits now. Bagnaia currently lapping on a fresh medium rear but with the same front tyre he started the session with.
14:13
Bezzecchi now down to a 1m32.145s to lead Acosta by 0.2s, looks like that's the end of the run for the Aprilia rider.
14:10
Bezzecchi now fastest on the medium rear.
Acosta, Bagnaia, Miller, and Binder in the top-10 on the soft rear at the moment.
14:09
Acosta down to a 1m32.357s now, leaving him over a tenth clear at the top. He's the one of only a few riders on the soft rear tyre at the moment.
14:07
Alex Marquez crash
Alex Marquez has crashed at turn five. He seems to be okay, but looks like the bike switched off so he's got to go behind the barriers. He said yesterday that he would be trying to save energy in this hour-long Practice.
14:06
Acosta the first rider into the 1m32s this afternoon, he's ahead of Bagnaia and Raul Fernandez after the first couple of laps.