Bagnaia wins both MotoGP FP1 and Practice, Viñales is second. Martín and Marc Márquez in the top six, Acosta in Q1.
The Friday free practice sessions for the 2024 Dutch GP, the eighth round of this year’s MotoGP, have just concluded. The Moto3, Moto2, MotoE and MotoGP classes each had two sessions with perfect conditions to test both in view of the race and to improve on the flying lap in view of tomorrow’s qualifying (and, in the case of the electric category, today’s).
MotoGP
Dominating the scene in the top class was Francesco Bagnaia. The winner of the last two editions of the Dutch GP seems to be the clear favorite for what could be the third consecutive victory in Assen, a record that no one has ever achieved in the MotoGP era and which has not happened since the huge win won by Mick Doohan between 1994 and 1998.
After having already achieved the best time in FP1, the reigning champion also took the lead in the decisive Practice to decide the top ten of Q2, improving his morning time by over a second. His 1:31.340 is the reference time of the day (already below Marco Bezzecchi’s absolute record from last year).
The thing to note is that Bagnaia achieved this time in the early stages of the session, without making an effort to complete a blazing lap in the final time attack. Maverick Viñales took second place in the meantime, with a final flying lap, stopping at 0″065 and also under the 2023 track record.
In terms of race pace, however, Marc Márquez seemed to be the only one able to compete with Bagnaia, his future teammate. In FP1 the “Cabroncito” came second, while in the PR it finished in sixth position behind Jorge Martín, a Martín who, as in Mugello, complained about the front end closures which are not allowing him to drive as he would like.
Some riders crashed in the final stages, such as Enea Bastianini (in turn 8, eighth at the end of the session) and especially Aleix Espargaró, thrown from his bike at the last chicane and ended up hard on the ground, so much so that he was carried out on a stretcher by the stewards. It is worth noting the exclusion from the direct Q2 of Pedro Acosta, who will have to overcome the obstacle of Q1 tomorrow.
Moto2
The Moto2 session is the one that probably claimed its most illustrious victim on Friday. While Fermín Aldeguer won P1 valid for the combined and for direct passage to Q2 (complete with a track record improved by 0″3), the second driver in the world championship standings Joe Roberts, despite finishing third, will have to skip the rest of the weekend due to a bad accident suffered at the exit of Ruskenhoek.
The impact with the asphalt, for the #16, was very hard especially for the right shoulder and the risk of a broken collarbone has materialized; this will hurt not only the physical, but also the ranking of the Malibu rider. Second place, in P1, for Ai Ogura, while the leader of the Moto2 world championship Sergio García is fourth at the end of the afternoon. Tony Arbolino closes the top five, first of the Italians.
Moto3
After a long time, a Friday of Moto3 does not see David Alonso as absolute dominator at the end of the final P1 of the day. Inheriting the first place he monopolized in the last races was Collin Veijer, who in front of his home crowd lapped in 1:40.259.
The Husqvarna rider gave a good 0.3 seconds to the MT-Helmets pair formed by Ryusei Yamanaka and Iván Ortolá, while the Honda Leopards defended themselves well with Adrián Fernández fourth and Ángel Piqueras sixth. Alonso was only ninth, but still ahead of his closest pursuer in the world championship, Daniel Holgado (tenth).
MotoE
We must not forget MotoE, which saw, in the P2 prior to the late afternoon qualifying, a first place obtained ex aequo by Jordi Torres and Héctor Garzó: the two Spaniards lapped tied to the thousandth in 1:39.965 and were the only ones, throughout Friday, to go under 1:40 in this category.
The two-time champion of the series seems intent on re-establishing the hierarchies in his favor in the Aspar team against Kevin Zannoni, after the recent exploits of the #21. The Cesena native, however, incredibly missed out on direct access to Q2 and will have to face the first session, just as Óscar Gutiérrez will have to do. Sixth place, however, for the world championship leader Mattia Casadei.
Here you will find the results of FP1, MotoGP Practice and the analysis of the times set in the latter.
Image sources: mediahouse.ducati.com, teamspeedup.it, intactgp.de, teamaspar.com
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