Quartararo edges out Vinales as Lorenzo suffers heavy fall
Full FP1 results at the Dutch MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo has continued his starring role in his rookie MotoGP campaign by topping the opening practice at Assen having beaten long-time session leader Maverick Vinales in a return to form for Yamaha, while Jorge Lorenzo suffered a nasty crash late on.
Full FP1 results at the Dutch MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo has continued his starring role in his rookie MotoGP campaign by topping the opening practice at Assen having beaten long-time session leader Maverick Vinales in a return to form for Yamaha, while Jorge Lorenzo suffered a nasty crash late on.
In an eventful session which saw multiple fallers in conditions cooler than expected, including a heavy tumble for Lorenzo in the final few minutes of FP1, Quartararo lined up some late fast laps on fresh soft tyres to produce a 1m 33.909s to beat Vinales by 0.077s who led for the majority of the morning practice.
With Assen often a happy hunting ground for Yamaha riders, Quartararo will fancy a strong showing for Petronas Yamaha having taken his maiden premier class podium last time out in Barcelona with the factory Yamaha slotting taking second place at the hands of Vinales having demonstrated impressive long run pace.
Danilo Petrucci shook off an early high-side at Turn 14 to bolt up to third place with his penultimate lap in FP1 for Ducati, with Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Espargaro and Lorenzo all going down during the session.
Lorenzo came off worst from his low-side at Turn 7, sent into a tumble in the gravel, as he was given medical attention trackside before being taken to the track medical centre in an ambulance.
Suzuki’s Alex Rins claimed fourth place in FP1 ahead of Nakagami on the LCR Honda who edged out MotoGP world championship leader Marc Marquez on the Repsol Honda.
Cal Crutchlow, who was absent from his Thursday media duties due to illness, gave a solid showing with seventh place for LCR Honda ahead of an eye-catching FP1 for Karel Abraham in eighth place for Avintia Ducati.
A late lap from Pol Espargaro ensured he kept his top 10 momentum for Red Bull KTM in ninth place as Jack Miller rounded out the top 10 for Pramac Ducati.
Andrea Iannone narrowly missed out for Aprilia in 11th place ahead of Valentino Rossi in 12th place – with the factory Yamaha rider suffering an early technical issue with a front wheel sensor problem on his opening out-lap.
Andrea Dovizioso produced a low-key Assen opener down in 13th place ahead of Espargaro on the Aprilia following his mid-session off as he continues to carry an injury sustained in Barcelona after a clash with team test rider Bradley Smith.
