Marco Bezzecchi tops Assen FP1 a week on from MotoGP ban, Marc Marquez crashes
Marco Bezzzecchi led the opening practice of the 2026 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi led FP1 at the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix a week on from his race ban, while Ducati’s Marc Marquez suffered a crash.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi was forced to sit out last Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix at Brno, after he struck a marshal following a crash in the sprint.
Coming into the Assen weekend looking to put this incident behind him, the Aprilia rider got the Dutch Grand Prix off to the best of starts by leading FP1.
The Aprilia rider led Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia by 0.098s, while 2024 world champion Martin rounded out the top three.
Following back-to-back wins, Marc Marquez is just 40 points away from the championship lead ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.
But he lost crucial track time when he crashed at the final chicane with around 20 minutes of the session remaining.
He ended the morning in 10th.
Top spot changed hands frequently across the 45-minute session, with Bezzecchi leading the way after 10 minutes with a 1m32.589s.
Having been shuffled back several times by others, he re-established his position at the top of the timesheets with a 1m32.311s with 20 minutes remaining.
Bagnaia, who battled some technical issues in the opening stages, put this under threat on his final lap, but missed out with a 1m32.409s.
Martin rounded out the top three, a further 0.046s back from Bagnaia, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth on the VR46 Ducati.
Ai Ogura leapt up to fifth late on with a 1m32.475s on the Trackhouse Aprilia, with team-mate Raul Fernandez 0.004s behind him.
Honda’s Joan Mir was the first of the riders to fit a fresh rear tyre in the closing stages and was seventh, moving ahead of Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer.
Tech3 KTM’s Maverick Vinales also put a new rear tyre on for a late time attack and was ninth, with Marc Marquez 10th after his crash.
Pedro Acosta was 11th on the factory team KTM, while LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira was 12th after a crash at Turn 4.
Yamaha’s Alex Rins lost track time at the start of the session due to mechanical issues and was 17th at the chequered flag, while team-mate Fabio Quartararo was 20th.
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