In a very hectic practice session, the Australian set a best time of 1min42s589 on the best of 14 laps, and secured the best time on Friday morning. 0s109 slower, Joan Mir was second, ahead of Pol Espargaró. World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo was 1s659 slower than the leader
Jack Miller was fastest in the first MotoGP practice for the Dutch GP. The Australian overcame a rainy and contentious Friday morning (24) to put the Ducati at the top of the Assen timesheet, ahead of Joan Mir and Pol Espargaró.
The first practice session at the Cathedral of Motorcycling began with a soggy track, which didn't put riders off, as bad weather is forecast for the entire weekend. Jack was among the fastest throughout, but it was only his lap time of 1min42s589, recorded in the 13th of the 14 laps he completed, that secured the lead.
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0s109 slower, Mir was second, ahead of the younger Espargaró brothers. Álex Márquez advanced at the end and secured the fourth time. Aleix Espargaró took fifth place.
Miguel Oliveira put his KTM in sixth place, ahead of Miguel Oliveira. Álex Rins is next, escorted by Johann Zarco, Jorge Martín, and Maverick Viñales, who complete a top-10 covered by 0s828.
World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo was only 17th. With a best of 13 laps of 1min44s248, the Frenchman was 1s659 behind the leader.
The second practice session for the Dutch GP of MotoGP in Assen will take place on Friday at 9:10 AM (EST).GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.
See how the first practice for the Dutch GP of MotoGP went:
Friday in Assen dawned with cold and heavy rain. At the time of TL1, the Catadrel track was soaking wet, with the thermometers measuring 19°C in the ambient and 21°C on the asphalt. The relative humidity was 93%, with wind speeds of around 8 km/h.
The poor conditions did not keep the drivers in the pits, and as soon as the track was cleared, everyone was out on track, almost uniformly with a pair of soft rain tires. The exception was Luca Marini, Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi, who put on soft fronts.
Jack Miller was the first to appear at the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1min48s348, 2s010 better than second-placed Fabio Quartararo. Soon after, the Australian had a scare at turn 1 and almost crashed as he passed the championship leader, but managed to avoid the tumble and got off the track to get back on his feet.
In the sequence, Quartararo took the lead with 1min48s011, 0s337 better. Marco Bezzecchi, on the other hand, crashed at turn 1, but escaped major injury.
Franco Morbidelli then went 1min46s707 and took the lead, ahead of Álex Márquez and Lorenzo Savadori. Quartararo dropped to fourth, followed by Miller, Johann Zarco, and Pol Espargaró.
Quartararo briefly regained the lead, but was immediately overtaken by Miller. The Australian, however, did not take the lead either, as Morbidelli appeared faster soon after. On the next passage, the recipe more or less repeated itself: Fabio jumped into first position, but was overtaken by a 0s684 better Jack.
With about 15 minutes left in the session, Enea Bastianini was the victim of turn 1. The Gresini rider was not even leaning, but slipped as soon as he hit the brakes and fell, going the entire distance of the escape area and reaching the tire barrier with his body. Despite the scare, the Italian suffered no serious injuries and left the track walking.
With 25 minutes to go, the track was pretty empty. Only Zarco, Marini, Mir, and Bezzecchi were still riding at Assen. The weather forecast indicated a rainy weekend in the Netherlands.
Zarco, by the way, managed to advance in the standings. With 1min44s570, the Frenchman jumped to second, 0s047 behind Miller. Maverick Viñales was also faster and placed third.
With the track much busier, Francesco Bagnaia climbed to sixth place, 1s636 away from his Ducati teammate. Brad Binder was tenth, with Joan Mir and Miguel Oliveira close behind.
Bagnaia was third, but soon after he was overtaken, first by Martin and then by Viñales. Pecco, however, was on a fast lap and advanced straight to the first position with 1min44s308, 0s215 better than Miller.
Pol Espargaró had also managed to improve and was now seventh, ahead of Brad Binder, Quartararo and Morbidelli. Rins was 11th.
At the top, Viñales went 1min44s128 and passed Bagnaia for the lead of the session. Pol, however, turned 0s213 better and took the lead. Pecco responded immediately and settled into second, cutting the Honda rider's lead to just 0s187.
With just over five minutes to go Miller dropped to 1min43s069 and retook the lead, 0s351 better than Pol. Zarco, Bagnaia, and Viñales rounded out the top five in Assen.
Zarco then moved into second place, only 0s349 behind Jack. Rins was also better and was now fourth.
With just under two minutes to go, Pol Espargaró took 1min42s891 and retook the top spot, 0s160 better than Joan Mir, who was second. Miller was third, ahead of Rins.
Miller didn't wait long before making a move and passed the Honda rider by 0s302 to retake the lead. Mir also improved and settled into second, with Aleix Espargaró popping up to take fourth.
With the checkered flag waving at Assen, no one topped the mark of Miller, who took the lead ahead of Mir and Pol. Álex Márquez improved towards the end and took fourth.