Bagnaia Leads Friday Practice Sessions In Assen
Calum Gill 14:19 24/06/2022
Francesco Bagnaia made it a Ducati clean sweep of the Friday practice sessions ahead of the Dutch TT at Assen.
Bagnaia's factory Ducati teammate Jack Miller was quickest in the first session that was affected by heavy rain. The MotoGP grid has almost unanimously agreed that the TT Circuit Assen was left right on the limit of safety in this morning’s FP1 session, after the heavy rain left standing water on the track’s fast corners - and subsequently meant that aquaplaning became an issue all while the session carried on without a red flag coming from race control. 3-time winner in 2022 Enea Bastianini was the most notable of the victims of the conditions, when he slid his Gresini Ducati down the road at the first corner, appearing to lose the front end on a puddle in the braking zone.
By the time the second session had come around, the rain had somewhat eased up, before stopping entirely part of the way through the session. VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini was the first man to brave the Cathedral of Speed on the slick tyres, and was on the pace right away, and managed to beat the benchmark set by Pramac Ducati's Johann Zarco on his third flying lap. By the time the chequered flag came out, Bagnaia, despite an apparent hindrance from Tech3 KTM rookie Raúl Fernández through the Geert Timmer Chicane, was able to set a 01:33.274, beating Aprilia's Aleix Espargaró to the top spot by 0.178 seconds. However, Espargaró's best lap was later deleted after the rear rain spoiler of his bike was not removed. Championship leader Fabio Quartararo was therefore three tenths back in second place, whilst Álex Rins, carrying a new aero package on his Suzuki GSX-RR, was third.
Miller wound up in fourth place, ahead of Suzuki's Joan Mir, and Aprilia rider Maverick Viñales, who took pole at this circuit one year ago. Brad Binder was the lead KTM runner in 7th, followed by Zarco and VR46 rookie Marco Bezzecchi who fell - in his second crash of Friday - at the hairpin-like Strubben corner in the final minutes right after setting the fastest time. Bastianini was the main beneficiary of Espargaró's losing his laps set in the dry, the Italian finishing the day 10th, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami spearheading the Honda contingent on the satellite LCR machine in 11th place.
Notable riders that currently find themselves outside the top 10 include Marini, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) and Jorge Martín (Pramac Ducati). Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) has received a long-lap penalty for the race after being found guilty of cruising on the racing line, interfering with other riders, and causing a safety concern. This comes "after having received a verbal warning at the last Grand Prix" according to the stewards. Morbidelli currently sits 17th in the combined standings.
