Tag Archives: MotoGP Assen

Maverick Vinales sets early pace at Assen

MotoGP 2021 – Round Nine
Motul TT Assen – Friday


Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) is back on top, the Spaniard making an early statement at the Motul TT Assen to go fastest in FP1 and FP2 as Top Gun shot first on Friday.

Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) was second quickest, 0.111 in arrears, with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) keeping his momentum in third on Day 1. The day was largely dry until the afternoon, when rain put paid to improvements in the latter half of FP2.

Another headline grabber was a huge high-side for Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in the afternoon, although the Spaniard walked away unscathed and headed back to the box.


FP1

Viñales topped FP1 convincingly and consistently, and he did so just ahead of Pol Espargaro, who also impressed in the opening session of the weekend. The two were a tenth apart, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) moving up to third late on, but the Suzuki man was 0.429 off the top.

Rins demoted Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to fourth, 0.561 off Viñales, with Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) slotting into fifth. The Frenchman was eight tenths off the top and was the first in a gaggle of riders packed close together, with Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and an impressive Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) completing the top ten, covered by a couple of tenths.

The only crasher was Garrett Gerloff (Petronas Yamaha SRT) as he begins his first full weekend in MotoGP, the Texan taking a tumble at Turn 7.


FP2

Viñales was again the fastest man on track, with a tenth and a half in hand over Oliveira before spits of rain became a downpour at the TT Circuit Assen. That left Quartararo third in the session and Marc Marquez fourth, before the aforementioned highside saw the number 93 crash out from behind reigning Champion Joan Mir. Mir completed the top five, ahead of Zarco, Rins, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), Aleix Espargaro and Pol Espargaro.

Rins was 0.252 off Zarco, but from the number 42 Suzuki down to Danilo Petrucci in 11th was less than two tenths in another tight pack.

Once the rain came down there was a lull in track action for a while, but once it was fully wet many headed back out to get a taster, with sun not guaranteed for the rest of the weekend.


Combined timesheets

Viñales and Pol Espargaro remain the fastest duo as their FP1 times couldn’t be bettered, with Oliveira the man to gain big in FP2, slotting into a bit of space on the combined timesheets. His 1:33.400 was 0.091 better than Quartararo, who improved in the afternoon but remained fourth. Rins’ FP1 best slots the Suzuki rider into fifth.

Maverick Vinales – P1

Today went well. Honestly, I didn‘t expect to be that competitive and fast. When in FP1 I saw a 1‘33.0s with twenty laps on the tyre, I thought ’That‘s a fast lap time, honestly‘. And this afternoon, I was cruising and trying to get a better understanding, so this 1‘33.2s was also good. Basically, I found good grip on the bike, and I can do more or less what I want on track. I can ride the lines I like, and that seems to pay off in the lap times.”

Maverick Viñales
Pol Espargaro – P2

Today has been a good day, the bike was working well, I was riding happy, and I was riding really how I wanted to. Everything was coming in an easy way; I wasn’t having to push or override the bike. In the afternoon we had plans to try some other things, but the track changed a lot even with light rain. Overall, the result is very good and I’m really happy with how the day has gone. The new asphalt is really good, it has a lot of grip and helped make it a really good first day. The crash today was a very small one, my leathers weren’t even damaged! Today the lap time shows how happy I am riding the bike.

Pol Espargaro
Fabio Quartararo – P4

This was a positive first day. In FP1 the soft gave me a bit of a strange feeling, so taking that into account, looking at my pace, it wasn‘t that bad. In FP2 we tried the medium front and the hard rear, because we knew that the conditions could change any moment, and it was good to also have given the hard tyre a try. I think we did a good job. On the wet, I was a bit too careful because I‘m in a situation where I don‘t want to make any stupid mistakes, but I feel like today was a normal day for us. We found the feeling, it is there. We need to improve in a few corners where I was struggling today, but let‘s say we‘re already in a great position.

Fabio Quartararo
Alex Rins – P5

Overall I’m feeling good, especially as I’m inside the Top 10 already. We expected that it might rain in the afternoon so in the morning I used the soft tyre to help me set a strong time that would keep me in the Top 10. The bike is feeling good, but I’m looking forward to doing some more laps tomorrow as a sort of race simulation to check the tyre longevity and to help me make my choice for the race. The new tarmac has an unbelievable amount of grip, which is fantastic, so that’s helpful with this bad forecast we have. I’m still feeling some pain in my arm, because this is a physical track, but everything’s OK.

Alex Rins

Before his highside, Marc Marquez put himself into sixth overall ahead of Mir, with Zarco also improving in FP2 but the man second in the standings only taking P8 on Day 1.

Marc Marquez – P6

First of all I have to say I feel lucky to escape in a good condition overall, these kinds of crashes can be very hard and very dangerous. It’s painful, but nothing is wrong. It was a strange crash because I didn’t think that I was over the limit and I was riding like I was in the morning, finding the limit and what way to follow. In this corner we rely on the Traction Control a lot, but it wasn’t there and when I shifted the rear started sliding and then I fell. We need to understand what happened to get the confidence to push through that corner again because right now, there will be a lack of confidence tomorrow. Before this we were having a positive day and in Free Practice 2 I was feeling good.”

Marc Marquez
Joan Mir – P7

It’s been a positive day, I expected and hoped to feel competitive from the beginning and this was our goal for today, and even if we don’t have the perfect settings yet I was still able to be quite strong and I feel that I have a good base in the wet and the dry. The new surface is pretty grippy so it feels nice. Now we need to work on the small details just to get the bike on point, because it’s not quite there yet especially in terms of stability. But we’ll work tomorrow and let’s see what the conditions are like, it will be more important than usual to be up the front because the conditions can change quickly and impact the times.

Petrucci takes ninth ahead of Aleix Espargaro completing the top ten, both of whom went quicker in FP1. So did Nakagami and he’s the first man currently set to miss out on an automatic place in Q2, down in P11 on Friday, ahead of Miller, Savadori, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing).

Jack Miller – P12

I’m pretty happy with this first day. This morning we focused mainly on the race pace with used tyres. We knew it would rain in the afternoon, and we wanted to try the time attack right away. But, in the opening minutes of FP2, we had to try something on the setup and then it started to rain, leaving us with no chance to improve our lap times. Anyway, I’m positive, and I’m sure we’ll be able to do so tomorrow“.

Jack Miller

Will the rain return on Saturday morning? Or can the field expect some more dry track time in FP3 to crack into that all-important top ten?


MotoGP Friday Combined Practice Times

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 M.Viñales YAMAHA 1m33.072
2 P.Espargaro HONDA +0.111
3 M.Oliveira KTM +0.328
4 F.Quartararo YAMAHA +0.419
5 A.Rins SUZUKI +0.429
6 M.Marquez HONDA +0.488
7 J.Mir SUZUKI +0.629
8 J.Zarco DUCATI +0.636
9 D.Petrucci KTM +0.867
10 A.Espargaro APRILIA +0.921
11 T.Nakagami HONDA +0.932
12 J.Miller DUCATI +0.994
13 L.Savadori APRILIA +1.026
14 F.Bagnaia DUCATI +1.193
15 J.Martin DUCATI +1.267
16 A.Marquez HONDA +1.286
17 V.Rossi YAMAHA +1.359
18 B.Binder KTM +1.419
19 I.Lecuona KTM +1.438
20 E.Bastianini DUCATI +1.586
21 L.Marini DUCATI +2.434
22 G.Gerloff YAMAHA +2.672

2021 MotoGP Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 131
2 Johann ZARCO Ducati 109
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 100
4 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 99
5 Joan MIR Suzuki 85
6 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 75
7 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 74
8 Brad BINDER KTM 56
9 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 53
10 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 41
11 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 40
12 Pol ESPARGARO Honda 35
13 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 34
14 Alex RINS Suzuki 28
15 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati 26
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 25
17 Jorge MARTIN Ducati 23
18 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM 23
19 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 17
20 Luca MARINI Ducati 14
21 Iker LECUONA KTM 13
22 Stefan BRADL Honda 11
23 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia 4
24 Michele PIRRO Ducati 3
25 Tito RABAT Ducati 1

Moto2

Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) took to the top on Day 1 of the Motul TT Assen, the Spaniard quickest in the morning as he put together an impressive run of fast laps and then proving quick again in the afternoon in the rain, 0.034 off the top. The combined timesheets come from FP1 however, so it’s Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) second quickest overall and his team-mate, Championship leader Remy Gardner, completing the top three on Friday.

Moto2 Friday Combined Practice Times

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 A.Fernandez KALEX 1m36.744
2 R.Fernandez KALEX +0.143
3 R.Gardner KALEX +0.388
4 J.Navarro BOSCOSCURO +0.525
5 S.Corsi MV AGUSTA +0.652
6 S.Chantra KALEX +0.740
7 M.Bezzecchi KALEX +0.797
8 S.Manzi KALEX +0.812
9 J.Roberts KALEX +0.878
10 F.Di Giannanto   Ita KALEX +0.966
11 J.Dixon KALEX +1.013
12 T.Arbolino KALEX +1.014
13 S.Lowes KALEX +1.048
14 A.Canet BOSCOSCURO +1.061
15 N.Bulega KALEX +1.092
16 T.Luthi KALEX +1.103
17 M.Schrotter   Ger KALEX +1.134
18 C.Beaubier KALEX +1.179
19 C.Vietti KALEX +1.272
20 A.Lopez BOSCOSCURO +1.360
21 X.Vierge KALEX +1.419
22 B.Bendsneyde  Ned KALEX +1.503
23 L.Dalla Porta   Ita KALEX +1.732
24 A.Arenas BOSCOSCURO +1.820
25 B.Baltus NTS +2.132
26 H.Garzo KALEX +2.224
27 A.Ogura KALEX +2.297
28 M.Ramirez KALEX +2.425
29 H.Syahrin NTS +2.574
30 M.Gonzalez MV AGUSTA +12.431

Moto2 Championship Points Standing

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Remy GARDNER Kalex 164
2 Raul FERNANDEZ Kalex 128
3 Marco BEZZECCHI Kalex 117
4 Sam LOWES Kalex 86
5 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Kalex 73
6 Marcel SCHROTTER Kalex 59
7 Aron CANET Boscoscuro 55
8 Joe ROBERTS Kalex 50
9 Xavi VIERGE Kalex 42
10 Ai OGURA Kalex 39
11 Bo BENDSNEYDER Kalex 38
12 Augusto FERNANDEZ Kalex 34
13 Jorge NAVARRO Boscoscuro 33
14 Tony ARBOLINO Kalex 30
15 Cameron BEAUBIER Kalex 26
16 Albert ARENAS Boscoscuro 18
17 Stefano MANZI Kalex 17
18 Celestino VIETTI Kalex 16
19 Marcos RAMIREZ Kalex 16
20 Jake DIXON Kalex 11
21 Hector GARZO Kalex 11
22 Somkiat CHANTRA Kalex 11
23 Nicolò BULEGA Kalex 10
24 Hafizh SYAHRIN NTS 8
25 Simone CORSI MV Agusta 7
26 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA Kalex 6
27 Alonso LOPEZ Kalex 4
28 Fermín ALDEGUER Boscoscuro 4
29 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI MV Agusta 3
30 Barry BALTUS NTS 2
31 Thomas LUTHI Kalex 2
32 Yari MONTELLA Boscoscuro 0
33 Tommaso MARCON MV Agusta 0
34 Miquel PONS MV Agusta 0
35 Fraser ROGERS NTS 0
36 Taiga HADA NTS 0
37 Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI Kalex 0
38 Keminth KUBO Kalex 0

Moto3

Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) begins the Motul TT Assen as the fastest man in Moto3, the Japanese rider taking over at the top in FP2 after an impressive lap just three and a bit tenths outside the all-time lap record. Rain then put paid to the chance to improve, with Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) ending the day just 0.089 off Suzuki and Dennis Foggia’s (Leopard Racing) FP1 best putting him in third overall.

Moto3 Friday Combined Practice Times

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 T.Suzuki HONDA 1m41.568
2 D.Binder HONDA +0.089
3 D.Foggia HONDA +0.180
4 A.Migno HONDA +0.518
5 R.Fenati HUSQVARNA +0.645
6 G.Rodrigo HONDA +0.654
7 N.Antonelli KTM +0.780
8 P.Acosta KTM +0.789
9 J.Masia KTM +0.853
10 J.Mcphee HONDA +0.872
11 S.Nepa KTM +0.918
12 S.Garcia GASGAS +0.920
13 K.Toba KTM +0.938
14 X.Artigas HONDA +1.013
15 J.Alcoba HONDA +1.120
16 I.Guevara GASGAS +1.294
17 J.Kelso KTM +1.320
18 D.Öncü KTM +1.325
19 R.Rossi KTM +1.347
20 L.Fellon HONDA +1.398
21 R.Yamanaka KTM +1.431
22 A.Fernandez HUSQVARNA +1.502
23 Y.Kunii HONDA +1.829
24 A.Surra HONDA +2.042
25 E.Bartolini KTM +2.153
26 T.Matsuyama HONDA +2.487
27 A.Izdihar HONDA +2.488

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Pedro ACOSTA KTM 145
2 Sergio GARCIA GASGAS 90
3 Jaume MASIA KTM 72
4 Niccolò ANTONELLI KTM 65
5 Romano FENATI Husqvarna 64
6 Dennis FOGGIA Honda 61
7 Darryn BINDER Honda 60
8 Andrea MIGNO Honda 58
9 Ayumu SASAKI KTM 57
10 Jeremy ALCOBA Honda 52
11 Gabriel RODRIGO Honda 51
12 Kaito TOBA KTM 49
13 Filip SALAC Honda 35
14 Izan GUEVARA GASGAS 32
15 Ryusei YAMANAKA KTM 28
16 John MCPHEE Honda 27
17 Jason DUPASQUIER KTM 27
18 Tatsuki SUZUKI Honda 26
19 Deniz ÖNCÜ KTM 24
20 Xavier ARTIGAS Honda 23
21 Riccardo ROSSI KTM 16
22 Carlos TATAY KTM 14
23 Stefano NEPA KTM 14
24 Adrian FERNANDEZ Husqvarna 10
25 Elia BARTOLINI KTM 7
26 Yuki KUNII Honda 7
27 Maximilian KOFLER KTM 3
28 Andi Farid IZDIHAR Honda 2
29 Daniel HOLGADO KTM 1
30 Lorenzo FELLON Honda 0
31 Joel KELSO KTM 0
32 Takuma MATSUYAMA Honda 0

MotoE

Alessandro Zaccone (Octo Pramac MotoE) was the man to beat on Day 1 of the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup’s first visit to the TT Circuit Assen, the points leader making it a clean sweep as he topped FP1 and FP2 to end the day two tenths clear of Eric Granado (ONE Energy Racing) on the combined timesheets. The Brazilian was also consistently fast, second in the morning and afternoon, with Lukas Tulovic (Tech3 E-Racing) moving up in FP2 to complete the top three overall.

MotoE Friday Combined Practice Times

Pos Rider MOTORCYCLE Time/Gap
1 A.Zaccone ENERGICA 1m42.809
2 E.Granado ENERGICA +0.239
3 L.Tulovic ENERGICA +0.458
4 H.Okubo ENERGICA +0.869
5 D.Aegerter ENERGICA +0.944
6 J.Torres ENERGICA +1.033
7 Y.Hernandez ENERGICA +1.325
8 M.Ferrari ENERGICA +1.439
9 X.Cardelus ENERGICA +1.476
10 F.Aldeguer ENERGICA +1.517
11 M.Casadei ENERGICA +1.563
12 M.Pons ENERGICA +1.845
13 M.Herrera ENERGICA +2.423
14 C.Perolari ENERGICA +2.879
15 K.Zannoni ENERGICA +3.034
16 A.Mantovani ENERGICA +3.561
17 J.Iwema ENERGICA +4.897
18 A.Pires ENERGICA +6.518

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Alessandro ZACCONE Energica 54
2 Dominique AEGERTER Energica 53
3 Jordi TORRES Energica 43
4 Miquel PONS Energica 36
5 Mattia CASADEI Energica 33
6 Eric GRANADO Energica 28
7 Yonny HERNANDEZ Energica 27
8 Matteo FERRARI Energica 27
9 Maria HERRERA Energica 18
10 Lukas TULOVIC Energica 17
11 Hikari OKUBO Energica 16
12 Corentin PEROLARI Energica 13
13 Fermín ALDEGUER Energica 11
14 Kevin ZANNONI Energica 11
15 Andre PIRES Energica 11
16 Andrea MANTOVANI Energica 10
17 Jasper IWEMA Energica 7
18 Xavi CARDELUS Energica 3

2021

Motul TT Assen Schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au

Franco Morbidelli will miss Assen after injuring knee

MotoGP 2021 – Round Nine
Motul TT Assen – Preview


Franco Morbidelli will miss this weekend’s DutchGP due to an injury to his left knee sustained in training overnight.

The injury is sufficient to mean Franco will miss this weekend’s event and he is undergoing medical assessment to determine the best course of action for recovery.

Morbidelli had been looking forward to Assen, after the global pandemic forced its cancellation last year, as it is somewhere that he has enjoyed success in the past. In 2017, when competing in Moto2, the Italian secured pole position, the race win and posted the fastest lap.

Franco currently sits 11th in the MotoGP World Championship with 40 points.

Franco Morbidelli

2021 MotoGP Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 131
2 Johann ZARCO Ducati 109
3 Jack MILLER Ducati 100
4 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 99
5 Joan MIR Suzuki 85
6 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 75
7 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 74
8 Brad BINDER KTM 56
9 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 53
10 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 41
11 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 40
12 Pol ESPARGARO Honda 35
13 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 34
14 Alex RINS Suzuki 28
15 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati 26
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 25
17 Jorge MARTIN Ducati 23
18 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM 23
19 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 17
20 Luca MARINI Ducati 14
21 Iker LECUONA KTM 13
22 Stefan BRADL Honda 11
23 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia 4
24 Michele PIRRO Ducati 3
25 Tito RABAT Ducati 1

2021 Motul TT Assen Schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au