Dovizioso Gets MotoGP Pole Position In The Wet At Assen (Updated)

Dovizioso Gets MotoGP Pole Position In The Wet At Assen (Updated)

© 2016, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIM MotoGP World Championship

TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands

June 25, 2016

Qualifying Results (all on Michelin tires):

From Qualifying Session Two (wet conditions):

1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:45.246

2. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:45.961

3. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 1:46.312

4. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:46.430

5. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:46.568

6. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:46.828

7. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:46.997

8. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:47.118

9. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:47.567

10. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:47.601

11. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:47.897

12. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:48.415

From Qualifying Session One (wet conditions):

13. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:48.830

14. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:48.909

15. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:49.163

16. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:49.364

17. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (DUCATI), 1:49.678

18. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 1:49.685

19. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:49.775

20. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 1:49.779

21. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:50.204

More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:

Miller and Rabat battle tricky conditions at Assen

Team Estrella Galicia Marc VDS 0,0 riders Jack Miller and Tito Rabat were thrown into the deep end with tricky conditions in a rain hit qualifying session for tomorrow’s Dutch TT.

Miller walked away from a harmless crash to qualify 19th for the 86th edition of the famous Assen race with Rabat 20th on the time sheets.

The rain that had threatened since Friday morning arrived just before qualifying after both Miller and Rabat had performed strongly in the morning FP3 session in dry conditions.

Miller was 14th in FP3 and within a second of fastest time set by eventual pole winner Andrea Dovizioso while Rabat had dramatically sliced 2.2s off his previous best time.

And then in the drizzling rain of qualifying Miller’s talent shone through with the 21-year-old Australian’s first fast lap putting him in third place with the chance of progressing into Qualifying 2.

Miller’s surge was slowed on his second qualifying run when he crashed at the right-hand Mandeveen (Turn 10) leaving him with a best time of 1’49.775.

For Rabat the wet qualifying session was a rare opportunity for the MotoGP rookie to familiarise himself with the Honda RC213V on rain tyres.

For tomorrow’s 26-lap race on the iconic 4.5km Assen layout both Miller and Rabat will move forward one spot on the grid because of a rear-of-grid penalty imposed on Andrea Iannone who qualified ninth.

Jack Miller: 19th – 1’49.775

“It was pity it rained just before the session and we ran out of time to make some set-up changes before my first exit. I thought I could have done a faster time on my second run but the little crash at turn 10 stopped us from showing our full potential. I have a strong pace both in the wet and the dry and I’ve started back on the grid before so I know what to expect. It is what it is so I’m ready for a strong race tomorrow.”

Tito Rabat: 20th – 1’49.779

“Today I felt better in the dry FP3 session and I have improved my performance every time I have gone out on the track. I also felt comfortable in the rain during qualifying and then as the track dried I thought I could go a little faster but decided it was safer not to risk too much in the conditions. I have a good feeling in both the wet and the dry so I have some confidence for the race no matter the weather conditions.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“In the circumstances it was a good effort from both riders, the conditions were not easy with the rain coming in the afternoon. It was our first time on the track with wet weather tyres on a drying surface and it is difficult to make a perfect plan to deal with this. Overall there were positives with both Jack and Tito putting in good performances in the dry FP3 session and then dealing with the tricky conditions in qualifying. Now we just have see what we can do in the race, depending on the weather conditions.”


More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Espargaro to launch from head of the third row at Motul TT Assen

Monster Yamaha Tech3 team rider Pol Espargaro undertook an impressive qualifying campaign at the Cathedral of Speed and will kick off tomorrow’s highly anticipated race from 7th on the grid. The young Spaniard began the day by completing the morning practice in 12th after suffering a fall midway through the session, which prevented him from progressing to Q2, which he missed by only 0.073 of a second. However, rain fell just before FP4 where Espargaro battled onwards then, in QP1, he launched into action and notably finished first to progress through to qualifying 2. Here, he continued his efforts and after topping the time sheets early in the session, the Spanish rider pushed further and cut his time again, before completing the shootout in 7th by the time the chequered flag fell. Now the 25 year old keenly awaits the GP tomorrow where he aims to seal the top independent rider honours.

On the opposite side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 pit box, Bradley Smith fought against the elements at the historic Dutch circuit and will begin the 8th round of the World Championship from the fifth row of the grid. The young Briton kicked off his day by continuing his setup work from yesterday before finishing the morning session in 15th, which confirmed his attendance in Q1. Here, Smith got straight to work as he battled against the tricky conditions and he built up his pace as the minutes counted down, before setting a personal best on his penultimate lap. Nevertheless, the 25 year old optimistically looks on to the race tomorrow where he intends to clinch a solid point scoring result.

Pol Espargaro

Position: 7th Time: 1’46.997 Laps: 8

“To end up in seventh position in what was definitely one of the most difficult days I have experienced in MotoGP, is something that we have to be pleased with. Today was about being smart on the bike which I had to work a lot on and I also had to be super smooth plus not make any mistakes. The fact that we had to go through QP1 was an extra tricky task because with these conditions you can’t predict how things will turn out. The bike was sliding so much in FP1 but I didn’t ride on the absolute limit until the last minute as I didn’t want to crash. Instead, in the final qualifying I pushed one lap too early and on the last one I had Vinales in front who hindered me a bit so I couldn’t improve the lap time further. It’s a pity but considering how the day started, we have to be very satisfied with our position. For tomorrow I really hope we will have a dry race, as our pace seemed to be strong and consistent. If the conditions are wet I think it will be a real lottery, just like at the beginning of the season, as we could see today how easy it is to crash out because of a minor mistake. However, we will do our best and fight until the chequered flag.”

Bradley Smith

Position: 14th Time: 1’48.909 Laps: 8

“It was tricky out there today, but we gave it everything that we had. It was the first time since Argentina that we had to ride in the wet, and I was quite apprehensive because we didn’t have a fantastic setup when it rained there. Anyway the team worked really well today and we tried to undertake a solid strategy by pitting in Q1, yet unfortunately I couldn’t tell the guys in the garage exactly what I wanted and we were very short on time! Therefore, we compromised ourselves a little bit by going out on the second bike. Nevertheless, I felt that we had decent pace and Hernandez and Pol who progressed, were really competitive in the second qualifying practice, so I have to take some positives from that as I was close to both of them in the first session. For tomorrow, we have some work to do and we can still improve the bike in different areas in order to obtain a good result for the Dutch fans.”

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

MOTOGP QUALIFYING AT ASSEN

FIFTH ROW FOR BAUTISTA’S APRILIA, SIXTH FOR BRADL

The weather is still the big and unpredictable protagonist on the Dutch Assen circuit. The rain that arrived after three practice sessions held on a dry track forced the MotoGP riders to use rain tyres from FP4, where the treacherous asphalt caused a series of spectacular crashes. The Aprilia riders also fell victim to the situation, crashing during the last free practice session that precedes the qualifying, without suffering any physical consequences.

However, this meant that in the session that decided the starting grid order, both Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl had to use the second RS-GP available to them. The Spanish rider stayed in the important positions for the entire session, choosing to stay on the track without stopping in the garage and finishing Q1 with the fifth best time. The same strategy was also adopted by his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini teammate Stefan Bradl, eighth across the line under the chequered flag. Because of the sanction imposed on Iannone, Alvaro will start from the fourteenth spot on the grid (and the fifth row), with seventeenth place and the sixth row for Stefan Bradl.

ALVARO BAUTISTA

“Difficult conditions today. I wasn’t able to find the right feeling with the rain tyres. In fact, I crashed in FP4 without any warning. That’s why I tried to regain confidence little by little in the qualifiers, improving lap after lap but never managing to find an ideal pace. We need to work. We haven’t lapped much on the wet with these new tyres and for the moment we are pushing too close to the limit. When we try to push too hard we risk crashing like many riders did today”.

STEFAN BRADL

“Today the conditions were typical Assen, with a track that was wet, but not wet enough, so we couldn’t use the slicks but even with the rain tyres the feeling wasn’t the best. Unfortunately I took a spill in FP4, losing the front, and in qualifiers I had to race with the second bike and a different setting. Things improved throughout the session. There was actually some progress, but not enough to let us earn a better position on the grid”.

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:

Fourth row for Barbera in a wet qualifying session

Today was another difficult day for Avintia Racing riders at Assen. In the morning they could enjoy dry conditions but Hector Barbera’s bike suffered electronic issues on his number one bike that cost him a lot of time and he was only able to complete ten laps during the 45 minutes FP3 session. He managed to get in the top ten for a few minutes, but finally he lost the chance to move straight to Q2 and finished eleventh. In the afternoon the rain finally appeared at the Dutch venue and Barbera was confident ahead Q1 after a positive final free practice session. The Spanish Avintia Racing rider did a string start of the 15 minutes session, but he crash in the final stages and finished third. But he’ll move forward one spot on the grid because of a penalty imposed on Andrea Iannone who will start from the last place.

For Michele Pirro the day was really complicated and he had bad feeling with the bike both in wet or dry conditions. Pirro crashed twice and this only reduced his confidence with the bike to finish the day in last position. Tomorrow he’ll start ahead Iannone from the back of the grid.

Hector Barbera | 1’48.830 | P13

“Today was a difficult day. In the morning I did just two laps, but they were positive. We started the day with some problems in one bike and the set up on the second one was not perfect, so I was able to do just two fast laps. In the afternoon FP4 I felt good riding under the rain and I was confident ahead Q1. We made a good lap at the beginning but then I crashed and I think this wet front tyre is a little bit hard and needs more grip. I went back on track with my other bike but I lost the chance to get in Q2. We’ll see the conditions tomorrow, because at Assen you never know. If it’s wet we’ll need to keep on the bike, because the grip is not good and finishing the race will be crucial. I’m ready to race on any condition”.

Michele Pirro | 1’50.204 | P21

“Today was so hard for me. This morning I crashed and my feeling with the bike on the dry was not good at all. In the afternoon with the rain was even worst and I had no feedback from the tyres, o I crashed again. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but I’ll give my best to give a good result to the team. Right now I don’t care about the weather for tomorrow, because I have not good feeling. We need to find something for the race during the warm up.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP QUALIFY ON FIRST AND FOURTH ROW AT DRAMATIC DUTCH QUALIFYING

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi saved his best effort for last in today‘s 15-minute qualifying heat to secure second place on the start grid for tomorrow’s TT Assen. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was looking competitive in the early stages of Q2, but was unable to acclimatise to the tricky and changeable track conditions and finished in eleventh position.

Assen (The Netherlands), 25th June 2016

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi judged the grim conditions at the TT Circuit Assen track exactly right during the Q2 session and dropped a strong final lap to start the Dutch GP from the middle spot on the front row.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was unable to ride the hot lap he had in mind and will start tomorrow’s race three rows further down the grid.

Rossi had been posting competitive times in every session and various types of weather so far this weekend and, despite this afternoon‘s treacherous track conditions, the Q2 session was no exception. The Doctor followed his usual procedure of letting the other riders go out on track before him to be assured of some clear space. Once he completed a very careful out lap he put the hammer down and set a 1‘49.662s for third place.

His following two attempts didn’t gain him any places and, with four minutes of the session left, the Italian decided to come in for a fresh wet rear tyre, despite a dry line forming on track. His decision paid off; after a minute he was ready to hit the track once more and set a brilliant 1‘45.961s for second place, 0.715s off the fastest time.

Teammate Lorenzo had suffered a crash in FP3, luckily without any major consequences, and was able to take part in the afternoon sessions without any trouble. With the FP4 session being the only time the team had been able to test the wet set-up, the Mallorcan was also eager to go out at the start of the 15-minute long Q2 session. He was the first man to leave pit lane and set a 1‘51.016s lap for provisional pole before dropping down the order to fifth place as the other riders completed their first lap.

Over the next ten minutes of the session he continued to better his time gradually, but was unable to climb up the ranking until the very end of the session. Struggling to find a good feeling on the slowly drying track, that still had damp patches in various corners, he was in twelfth position but was determined to make his final attempt count. He gave one final push after the flag went out and improved on his own best lap by 1.289s with a 1‘47.897s to take eleventh place.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

It was a very challenging qualifying session today because the team only had the wet FP4 session to get a feel for the conditions. Valentino improved his set up in the afternoon for qualifying and he made the right decision to come in for a fresh wet rear tyre when he did, so his second place is also the fruit of his experience. Despite a crash in FP3, Jorge improved the feeling with his bike in dry conditions this morning, but qualifying didn’t go as we expected. Jorge didn‘t make a pit stop and rode the entire session on one set of tyres and this gamble will unfortunately cost him a start from the fourth row tomorrow. We are in a good place with our dry set up, but we still have a lot of things to fix for the wet one, especially as the conditions for tomorrow are still uncertain. We will use the warm up tomorrow to finalise our package whatever the conditions will be.

VALENTINO ROSSI

I stopped at the pit box four minutes before the end of the session, because my rear tyre was already getting too hot, because there were some places of the track that were starting to dry. For me it was too early to change to the intermediate tyre because three or four corners were still completely wet, so we put in another rain tyre and it was the right choice. It‘s a shame for me that I‘m not in pole position, but above all I‘m happy for the second place and starting from the first lane tomorrow.

JORGE LORENZO

It was a heavy crash even though it was a small crash, losing the front, but the corner was fast. The gravel was very close to the track and when I arrived to it I had a very high speed and I rolled through the gravel a lot. A lot of rocks hit me in the neck, on my back and my hip, so I damaged my skin and superficially have a lot of pain, but luckily not in my bones, they are OK so I can race without any problem. I don‘t think it had an effect on qualifying, I just didn‘t feel safe or comfortable in the rain on wet tyres. I tried my best but I was slow.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Splendid pole position for Dovizioso at Assen. Iannone, ninth quickest in qualifying, will start last on the grid in Sunday’s Dutch GP

Andrea Dovizioso powered to a superb pole position for tomorrow’s Assen TT Grand Prix, which will take place tomorrow at the spectacular Dutch circuit.

The Italian set the quickest time overall of 1’45.246 on his final lap of qualifying, which was held on a wet track. Dovizioso used rain tyres in Q2 while his team-mate Andrea Iannone instead opted to go out on intermediate tyres mid-session and he was ninth quickest with a time of 1’47.567. The Vasto rider will however start from the final row of the grid tomorrow due to the penalty he picked up after the Catalunya Grand Prix.

This morning’s FP3 session was held in dry conditions and Dovizioso was quickest in 1’33.308, while Iannone, with one eye on the race, was on used tyres throughout the session and classified ninth, just a shade slower than his team-mate. Both factory Ducati riders went through directly into the afternoon’s Q2 session.

After the final pre-qualifying free practice run, in which Iannone finished sixth and Dovizioso twelfth, had been held in the rain, the two Italians went out for Q2 and Dovizioso clinched his first pole of the year, the fourth in his career.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’45.246 (1st)

“I am very happy with the job we have done in these four sessions. This morning in the dry we were quickest, with a good pace, but this afternoon it wasn’t so much a question of pace in the wet, but more of being ready to analyze the situation, which was constantly changing. We had opted for a one-run strategy, because it didn’t look like the track was drying out, but after two laps I saw that a few dry lines were forming and, even though it was still raining a bit, I decided to stop to fit a new rear rain tyre, despite the fact that we hadn’t agreed on this with the team. On returning to the track I was also lucky to tuck in behind Rossi: I had already identified the corners where I could push like on the dry track, while in the others I just followed him. As always it’s going to be tough to fight with the leading group, but tomorrow we’ll give it a go”.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’47.567 (9th)

“I think that today was a very positive day for us, because this morning we did the entire session with used tyres and covered a distance that was greater than what we will do in the race. Despite this we finished the session with a good time and above all a good pace, which means that in dry conditions we are competitive. In the wet on the other hand, we have a bit more difficulty because the front tends to turn in, but all things considered in the few laps I did in FP4 we didn’t go badly. As for the qualifying session, seeing as I had nothing to lose, I tried to do a different strategy by using intermediate tyres. Unfortunately it didn’t work out the way I expected, even though I think that with one more lap I could have surely been quicker. In any case we are ready for the race, and even if we are starting from last place, we’ll do our best to get a good result.”

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Challenging qualifying for Repsol Honda Team at Assen

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa experienced a demanding Saturday at Assen today, leading to mixed results for the Repsol Honda riders. The weather conditions were typical of the Netherlands, variable and quickly changing, but Marc was able to positively deal with both the dry FP3 session, finishing in second position, and the wet FP4 session that ended with him leading the standings.

When QP2 got underway at 2:35 p.m., the rain had already stopped, but the track was still too wet for slick tyres. Marc was about halfway through his first flying lap when he made a small mistake and crashed. He had barely touched the ground before he got up, ran toward the fences, grabbed a scooter and sped back to his pit. In the meanwhile, his team was working as quickly as possible on the second bike, which had a setup meant for intermediate tyres and had to be prepared for the wet. That meant Marc only had the chance to complete two fast laps, though he still qualified in a very positive fourth position.

Dani’s 13th place in FP3 meant that he had to go through QP1 for the first time this year. Unfortunately, although he was quite fast in FP4, finishing in fourth position, a crash damaged his first bike and forced him to start QP1 on his second machine, which was fitted with a chassis he had never tried in the wet. He wasn’t completely comfortable and had to settle for the 16th position on the grid, although the fact that Andrea Iannone will line up in last position means Dani will be able to start from the fifth row.

Marc Marquez

4TH

“In free practice this morning we were able to do a good job in dry conditions. We managed to maintain a good pace and try out several things with the bike. We went back to the previous setup and it worked well. Later we had to deal with Assen’s typical ‘surprise factor’—we all know that it can rain at any time here—although FP4 went well for me. I made a mistake in qualifying and crashed on the second lap. The marshals were a bit far away, and I saw a scooter with key in it and nobody around. When I took it, I saw that it belonged to a photographer, but he let me go. I wanted to get back to the pit as soon as possible, so honestly I would’ve taken it even if he said no! Thanks to the great work done by the team, I was able to get back out on track for two laps and we managed to finish fourth. The important thing is that I feel comfortable in the dry, not superior to the others but at ease enough to fight. In case of rain it will be kind of a lottery, as always.”

Dani Pedrosa

16TH

“I had a good enough pace in FP4 in the wet, but I crashed in a very strange way. I don’t understand exactly why I fell. Anyway, that meant I couldn’t continue the session with the same bike, which had a different chassis than my number-two machine. I went out for Q1 with the same setup as the other bike, but with the other chassis, and I tried to get back on the pace. I managed to set almost the same time that I had in FP4, but whenever I tried to push a bit more I had the same scare at the same corner where I had crashed earlier. We’ll be starting far down on the grid tomorrow, but we’ll try to do our best, whether it rains or if it stays dry.”

More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:

Yonny Hernández shines through the rain with sixth place at Assen

Colombian seals Aspar Team’s best grid in three seasons as Eugene Laverty qualifies sixteenth

After 85 years of Saturday races at the TT Circuit Assen it was qualifying that took centre stage today, although the drama and excitement was as high as ever. With a wet track for a Q2 session that started with crashes for Maverick Viñales and Marc Márquez, the formation of a dry line saw Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso time a perfect run for pole position, with the Italian manufacturer taking five of the top twelve positions including a front row start for Scott Redding in third place and Team Aspar rider Yonny Hernández sealing sixth. Valentino Rossi completes the front row in second place on the Yamaha.

Team Aspar rider Hernández came within touching distance of his best ever grid position as he secured the best qualifying result for the team since Aleix Espargaró qualified sixth for the San Marino Grand Prix in 2013. Hernández came through Q1 in second place, just 0.053 off first, to fight for a top twelve position in Q2, waiting five minutes before entering the track on his only remaining wet tyre. He immediately moved towards the top of the order and maintained his position there to ensure a creditable second-row start. Eugene Laverty managed to bounce back from a crash in free practice to qualify in sixteenth place, despite also struggling with an electronic issue during qualifying.

6th Yonny Hernández 1.46.828: “I am really happy – it was about time we gave the Aspar Team something to smile about and also myself after the season we have had so far. I want to say thanks a lot to the team, who have always believed in me and supported me, it is nice to give them this nice moment. It is a second row start that we have worked hard for, we have found a really good pace on the wet tyres. We have to enjoy the moment but not lose sight of tomorrow. If it is a dry race we will try to finish and pick up some more points. If it is wet then we have a chance of a top six or top ten finish. After going through Q1 we only had one tyre for Q2 so we did a really good job.”

16th Eugene Laverty 1.49.678: “Today was positive in one way because this is the best MotoGP bike I have ridden in the wet. Unfortunately we had a problem at the beginning of practice where I was losing almost 20km/h on the straights. I should have come in immediately but I wanted to make at least some laps before I came in to fix what turned out to be an electronic problem. I only had two laps at the end to set a time but in the wet you need time to build your rhythm. We missed a good opportunity to arrive in Q2 because the potential of the bike today was much higher than we have been able to show.”

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:

 EXCELLENT FIFTH ON THE GRID FOR CRUTCHLOW

On a soggy afternoon in the Netherlands, Cal Crutchlow put in a superb display to equal his best qualifying position of the season, and will start Sunday’s TT Assen from the second row of the grid in fifth.

The British rider pushed hard in the morning’s third free practice session to secure a position in the final qualifying shootout, and looked to have solid race pace in the dry conditions. However, rain fell as the riders took to the track for their final free practice, and Crutchlow suffered a small crash as he got accustomed to the now damp track.

The LCR Honda man dusted himself down in time for qualifying, where he put in a sterling performance to set a best lap of 1’46.568 and give him an excellent chance of challenging for the podium positions in the race.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 5th (1’46.568)

“I’m pleased enough to be on the second row, at least we’re not buried deep like normal qualifying sessions of late. I should have pitted and got a new tyre though, everybody in front of me came in for one.”

“We are struggling in the wet on the Honda a bit, a few of us crashed with the front because we can’t generate enough heat in it. We have understeer with the bike in general, and in those corners we have it, we keep crashing as Marc (Marquez) and Dani (Pedrosa) showed too.”

“Even if mixed conditions are forecast, we still want a dry race. It’s really slick in the wet conditions, and we need to look tonight as a Team and with Honda to see what we can come up with for tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by  Dorna:

Dovizioso delivers Ducati pole at The Cathedral

Andrea Dovizioso will start from pole position as his teammate, Andrea Iannone, is scheduled to start from last but the weather means anything could happen.

Both FP4 and Q1 had been littered with falls, riders approaching Q2 with a healthy amount of caution during their first laps. The rain had eased but the track was clearly still too wet for slick tyres, resulting in the first wet Qualifying session of the new Michelin era.

Crashes were almost immediate as Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) fell at Turn 5 on his out lap. His fall was quickly followed by Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who came off at Turn 8, grabbing a spare scooter to get back to the pits as quick as possible.

For just the fourth time in his premier class career, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) will line up in pole position. Conditions were incredibly tricky but ‘Desmo Dovi’ showed his skill and experience to set a 1’45.246 to take pole by over half a second. This is his third pole while riding with Ducati, his last coming in Qatar back in 2015. Andrea Dovizioso’s lone MotoGP™ win came at the British GP in 2009 in wet conditions, he could be on course for a second one if the rain remains.

It proved to be a good day for Italy, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) taking second on the grid. Like Dovizioso, Rossi is known for his ability when the conditions are less than ideal. With both Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) having less than ideal sessions and starting down the order, Rossi has an excellent chance to close the 22-point gap in the championship. It’s still a three way title battle and momentum is on Rossi’s side heading into Sunday’s race.

Leading the Independent Team charge and rounding out the front row is Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich). The Brit will start from the front row for the first time in the premier class, his last front row coming at the British GP in 2013 when he was battling for the Moto2™ World Championship. This comes as a welcome confidence boost for Redding who has been hit by a number of technical issues early in the season. Ducati riders have classically gone very well in the wet, his teammate scoring a podium a the British GP in 2015.

A relieved Marc Marquez will start the Motul TT Assen from fourth place, not quite able to re-create his magic wall-jumping pole from Austin. Given the circumstances it certainly could have been much worse. Just behind Marquez is fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) in sixth. The Brit is not overly confident for Sunday’s race, labeling it a lottery if it’s wet.

Completing the second row is Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP), the Colombian inside the top ten on the grid for the first time since Germany in 2015 when he was fifth.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) completed the top ten in the session.

Andrea Iannone was ninth but will start Sunday’s race from last due to his penalty from Catalunya, moving everyone else up a position. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will need any bit of help he can get after only managing 11th place in the session. There’s a lot of work to do for the factory Yamaha rider from tenth on the grid, his up and down love affair with Assen continuing.

Lüthi times Qualifying run to perfection

The Swiss rider was like a Swiss train in Moto2™ Qualifying, his flying lap coming exactly when it needed to.

Although they started on wets, the Moto2™ World Championship quickly found the TT Circuit Assen dry enough to run on slicks. Dominique Aegerter (CarXpert Interwetten) was the first to explore the uncertain conditions and had set his best lap time of the weekend before too long.

This spurred on his fellow Moto2™ riders and soon everyone hit the track with slicks fitted. Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) again proved to be a master of timing his flying laps, the Swiss rider setting a 1’37.954 before the rain returned. With 23 minutes of the session left, the heavens opened and secured Luthi his second pole of 2016. In Le Mans, where he started from pole, Luthi went on to finish on the podium.

0.448s back on Luthi was Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport), the French rider having spent most of the weekend towards the top of the timesheets. After a torrid time at his home Grand Prix, Zarco has found the form that won him the 2015 Moto2™ crown and is looking for his third straight win of 2016 on Sunday at Assen. In 2015 the French rider also won the Dutch GP on his way to the title, fitting a set of clogs for his backflip celebration.

Aegerter’s early adventure on slicks paid off as the Swiss rider secured third to complete the front row. Having been 16th in FP3, third was a significant improvement and sees him return to the front row for the first time since Mugello in 2015. Despite racing fulltime since 2007, this is only Aegerter’s sixth front row start across all classes.

Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) is set to lead the charge from the head of the second row of the grid. The Brit was half a second back on Luthi’s time but only a tenth slower than Zarco, gaps deceiving in the tricky conditions. Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) completed the top five and is guaranteed to make for some exciting racing on Sunday.

Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP40), Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Team) formed the remainder of the top ten.

Several riders went out after the rain fell later in the session, but no one was able to improve their times. These laps could prove crucial should the run in similar conditions. Assen is known for unpredictable weather, as the intermediate class found out in 2014.

Bastianini beats the rain for pole in Assen

Enea Bastianini timed his flying lap perfectly to just beat the rain and take pole in an incredibly tight Qualifying session at The Cathedral.

Before the session it looked as though Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was an odds on favourite for pole position but the rookie’s session didn’t go to plan. A crash with over half an hour to go at Turn 8 left his Honda a wreck. He had only managed two laps and found himself in 32nd, and thus last. With ten minutes to go he headed back out on track, his team having performed a minor miracle to repair the bike.

Rain flags once again made an appearance with less than ten minutes to go, riders pushing to overcome the conditions for a last fast lap. But for Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) the work was already done. The Italian set a 1’42.463 to take the fifth pole of his career and the first of 2016. Bastianini looks to break the current pole position curse, the last 12 pole setters in Moto3™ unable to convert pole to victory, ‘The Beast’ was the last rider to win from pole way back in 2015 at Misano.

After showing well in Free Practice 3, Andrea Migno (SKY Racing Team VR46) took just his second front row start in the World Championship. Second on the grid matches his previous best result, second in Mugello two rounds ago. The Italian is yet to take a podium despite having run on the world stage for a season and a half before 2016.

Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) made it an all-Italian front row to celebrate the 800th race in the lightweight class. Like his teammate, this is Bulega’s second front row start. His previous came in Jerez when he converted pole to a debut podium. Bulega is the highest placed rookie on the grid but has already proven he can battle with the best.

With Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) in fourth, it was an almost perfect session for SKY Racing Team VR46. He starts round eight ahead of championship rival Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), both out to make the most of Jorge Navarro’s (Estrella Galicia 0,0) absence.

Juanfran Guevara (RBA Racing Team) was sixth with home hero Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) set to start his home race from seventh, his best ever grid position. Fabio Quartararo (Leopard Racing), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing Moto3) and Francesco Bagnaia (Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3) completed the top ten, all within 0.3s of pole position. In fact all of the top 20 were within just a second of Bastianini’s time.

Canet would eventually set the 16th fastest time.

Joan Mir (Leopard Racing), Khairul Idham Pawi (Honda Team Asia) and Alexis Masbou (Peugeot MC Saxoprint) will all be demoted three positions for riding slowly during various sessions.

Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) made an unforced error early in the session, sliding off at Turn 5. Fortunately the damage was slight and he was back out after minor repairs. But a second crash would end his session, the Italian set to start 13th.

Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) broke his leg while training and was replaced by Lorenzo Dalla Porta for the weekend. Dalla Porta leads the replacement riders after taking 12th on his Honda debut, having previously ridden the Husqvarna and KTM.

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

TOUGH ASSEN QUALIFYING FOR SUZUKI ECSTAR

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales will start tomorrow’s Motul TT Assen MotoGP™ race in the Netherlands from the third and fourth rows after rain played a part in today’s final qualifying.

In the morning’s dry FP3, Viñales and Espargaró both transferred directly to Q2 following their strong third and eighth positions respectively. But times dropped-off dramatically in FP4 and the two all-important qualifying sessions following the showers and a change to wet tyres.

Espargaro had to struggle with the tyre at the very beginning of the qualifying session, not being able to find a good feeling with the soft one and having to switch pretty soon to the hard. Then, some traffic on track prevented him to do a clean lap for the time attack. His feeling is positive, however, as the improvements done and the race pace set him as a contender in such a pack race as Assen is expected to be.

Viñales was an early casualty of Q2, slipping off his GSX-RR at the start and having to transfer to his second machine, which messed-up the team’s strategy for a new set of tyres for the time attack. The Spaniard, however, could work intensively both on dry and wet to find a good set-up for the race pace, giving him good hopes for tomorrow’s race.

Because of a penalty to Andrea Iannone – who will start from the back – Maverick Viñales will start one place ahead in tomorrow’s race, meaning from 11th.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“It’s a pity both for Aleix and Maverick because we couldn’t express all our potential, despite the rain. Aleix found some traffic on track while he was going for the time attack and he was good to find the eighth time as well as he had had a wise strategy; he had a bad feeling with soft tyre he didn’t lose time and immediately got back to switch to the hard one. Maverick unfortunately had a little slide at the very beginning and this complicated everything; he was supposed to make some laps and then come in the pit to change to a new hard tyre, but after the crash he had to exit again with the soft and then there was no more time for the planned tyre substitution. We could have been better with both, but this is the situation and we have to take the best from it. Aleix can actually do a good race because he’s in the third row, Maverick will have to struggle a little more, but both on dry and wet we proved to have a good pace. Today could have been better, but nothing is compromised for the race.”

Aleix Espargaró:

“Today the weather seemed to say ‘welcome to Assen’! As we expected the rain came to mix up the cards and actually the qualifying classification is a bit strange. This morning in the dry I could make important improvements and this paid off, then in the afternoon with the rain we had to start from zero. In qualifying I exited with the soft tyre but I immediately felt it was not performing as I wanted because I had a lot of spinning on the straight, so I decided not to lose time and get immediately a hard one. Unfortunately, after that I found some traffic on the track right when I was pushing for my time attack, and I couldn’t do better. It’s a pity because I felt comfortable and I believe that without this inconvenience I could have fought for the first row, but this is racing and it’s ok. I feel confident because I have a good feeling with the machine both in dry and wet, so for me the weather will not be a variable and with a good start I think I could be fighting for the top positions.”

Maverick Viñales:

“I’m disappointed because the crash at the very beginning of the qualifying session ruined the work we were doing which was really positive. In the morning I’ve been very fast and also my pace in FP4 proved to be good, my feeling was good and I was enthusiastic for the qualifying. Unfortunately, I had this crash, I cannot even explain what happened because I was riding very carefully as it was one of the early laps. Anyhow, this interfered with our strategy; the idea was to run some laps with the soft and then go for the hard, but I lost time with the crash and then finally there was no time for a tyre change. It’s a pity, probably we can learn from this experience, but at the same time I feel confident for the race because the race pace is good. Usually in Assen the race is a pack race, so I’ll try to make a very good first lap to recover positions and then fight for a good place at the end.” 

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