MotoGP riders reflect on hectic Assen qualifying

MotoGP 2022 – Round 11
Motul TT Assen – Qualifiyng

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has a new all-time lap record to add to his growing collection after the Italian shaved three-tenths off the old in setting the new after an eventful Q2.

Key rival – and 2021 Assen winner – Fabio Quartararo will line up alongside him on the grid for the Motul TT Assen. The first rider through the barrier of the old lap record, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), completes the front row.

Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) continued his impressive rookie speed with fourth place, under the lap record and having also gone straight through to Q2, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) looking for more from fifth.

Miller lines up sixth, and there was no harm done in his slow off – but there was a little after, as the Ducati rider was slow on line, disturbed Viñales and was given a Long Lap for the race given it’s the second similar incident this season.

Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) had a more under the radar session but as ever showed some good form with seventh, ahead of Oliveira, Rins and Binder. All three will want more from the race but after a tough run of qualifying in 2022 so far for KTM – usually remedied on race day with some serious comebacks – into Q2 and in the top 10 is solid Saturday step.

Viñales, after some serious speed in Free Practice, will have to start 11th, and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) lines up in P12.

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“I’m really happy with this pole position. Assen is a track I like, but it’s not one of the best suited to the characteristics of our bike, so to be on pole here is really important! In FP3, I struggled a little bit, but in FP4, I started to feel good again. We simply lowered the bike to get more stability, allowing me to feel more comfortable riding. We did a great job and are now ready for tomorrow’s race.”

Fabio Quartararo – P2

“My run-off in Turn 1 was because I wasn‘t focused basically, and the moment that I had at the end was because I was pushing over the limit. But it‘s qualifying: you need to push over that limit. It was great and one of the more scary qualifying sessions. When you arrive in Turn 6 and you know you lost a bit on the straight so you need to gain in that corner, that‘s a turn that you need to hold your breath for more than ever. It was fun and we enjoyed it quite a lot. I‘m really happy! In FP4, our pace was great, and in qualifying the one-lap speed was good too. We know more or less which tyre to use for tomorrow‘s race, so I feel happy. And I think this will be a fun race, and hopefully we get a great result before we go on holiday.”

Jorge Martín – P3

“A very important front row for me. Tomorrow won’t be easy, but it’s a track I like a lot and where I can do well. The feeling is good and I have a good pace. My goal is to finish in the top five.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P4

“What a great QP, I’m really happy! The Team and the Ducati guys did a great job and I immediately felt good in the dry this morning in the FP3. I really like this fast track riding the MotoGP! Then in qualifying, I went out on track with Pecco (Bagnaia), we did a great lap, then a cool down lap and a final attempt alone where I managed to repeat practically the same time. I am also satisfied with this and with the riding sensations during all sessions. We are ready for tomorrow, we can have a good race and hit a good result before the summer break.”

Aleix Espargaro – P5

“I am satisfied with our work today because in FP3 I managed to be extremely fast and go straight through to Q2, whereas in FP4 I did a long run to prepare for the race, maintaining a fast pace. Only qualifying didn’t go as I had expected. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my last two laps due to a couple of yellow flags. I’m sure that a spot on the front row would have been within my potential but I won’t make a fuss about it. The RS-GP is truly working well here in Assen.”

 Jack Miller – P6

“It wasn’t an easy qualifying session, but I’m still happy with the result. During my first outing on the soft tyre, I almost crashed and ended up wide, losing a lot of time. Unfortunately, even with the second tyre, I couldn’t complete the lap because I crashed. Anyway, I am satisfied because our bike is working well, which is the most important thing. I am optimistic for tomorrow’s race: we were competitive in FP4 on used tyres, and I felt comfortable. I am impressed by how our bike has improved since the beginning of the year. Tomorrow we’ll have to take another long lap, but I’m confident we can do well anyway”.

Johann Zarco – P7

“The pace was not there today to make the front row, we did the best we could. Tomorrow I wouldn’t mind if we had to do the race in the wet, we still have to make a small step forward to be able to fight for the top positions.”

Miguel Oliveira – P8

“A good session in FP4 and we modified the bike to help us change direction a bit more. It worked out pretty well. We have good pace and speed with the hard rear tire. I felt we had a lot of potential in Q1 and we made it to Q2 which was super-nice. I only had one tire left so I saved it to the last run but there were yellow flags and I was a victim of that, but we were good enough for P8. I think it can be a really interesting race tomorrow and I believe we can be in a good position to attack from start to finish.”

Alex Rins – P9

“Overall it was a good day, my pace was nice and FP3 especially went really well for me. I feel that we have a good bike for tomorrow’s race, I feel pretty comfortable, and now we need to see what the weather will do. Our race is the last of the day, so maybe there’s more chance of some rain, but we’ll have to deal with whatever comes. I’m not feeling much pain this weekend, which is good, so I want to choose my tyre wisely and go for a good result.”

Brad Binder – P10

“Pretty good today. I’m happy to have gone through to Q2 and I think that’s the first time in five races that we’ve managed it. It’s important, and I also had strong pace in FP4 and felt good. Everything’s looking good for tomorrow and I want to put a decent race together. I need to put more effort into the first sector but overall the team worked really well and I’m happy with our base setting here. Tomorrow will be a tough race here and it always is at Assen but I’m excited to see how we will get on.”

Maverick Vinales – P11

“Our race pace is good – extremely good – so the possibilities are there for a fun race. We know that we still need to work on qualifying because when we put on the new tyre, I’m unable to be as incisive. The margins for recovering are there, so decisive overtaking will be fundamental in order not to lose too much time. I expect a long and physical race and not an easy one.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P12

“This morning in FP3 we did a good lap time and ended up P4, so we were pretty happy about the performance and the lap time. This afternoon in Q2 I was looking for a 31 lap time, but I couldn’t, there were some yellow flags and I got a track limits so my best lap time was cancelled. In qualifying we are struggling a little bit, so P12 is not a good result for us. The good thing is that we were able to try many things for the race pace in FP4 and we decided to go with the soft compound on the rear tyre. Our race pace is good, so we’ll try to keep calm, make a good start and get a good result.”

Luca Marini – P13

“A day that was anything but easy where not everything went in the right way. In Q1 I tried my best, but I was unable to improve myself in my last attempt and I failed the Q2 for just a couple of tenths. Tomorrow we will start from the middle of the group, it will not be easy to recover, but we will try. Let’s go back to the data with the Team and Ducati, the choice for the rear tyre is still open, let’s try to do a good job in the warm up and to face the race as best we can to recover places and confirm our positive trend of the last few weeks.”

Joan Mir – P14

“It’s been quite a difficult day, I got caught out with some yellow flags during FP3 and then I had to go through Q1. Unfortunately, I crashed during my second exit, so it turned out to be a tough session. I kept going instead of pitting in because, luckily, I was able to restart the bike, and I didn’t want to lose time. I finished the session, but not where I wanted to be. I did have some flashes of performance today in the dry, and I think I can do something if the race is dry. I don’t think I have podium pace, but I’ll aim for the highest finish possible.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P15

“I’m not happy. This morning we had to solve an issue and we stayed in the pit-box more than we needed. We didn’t have time to use the soft front tyre in the second time attack otherwise I think Q2 would have been within our reach. We made some adjustments in the afternoon but they didn’t work. Honestly I was hoping to start the race a lot closer to the front of the grid and now the warm up will be crucial to understand if we can be competitive or not.”

Enea Bastianini – P16

“I’m a bit disappointed because we started FP4 on the right foot. I was confident ahead of qualifying, but an issue on the first bike kind of complicated plans a bit. The feeling with bike number two was not the same so I couldn’t perform the way I wanted. Unfortunately this is a negative period but we need to get out of it, and the only way to do so is by continuing to work hard. We need a good warm up and try to be consistent in the race: the top ten is the least we should achieve.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P17

“To be honest, I’m not over the moon. I expected a bit more. But we didn’t try many different tyres compared to the others, so we have to go into that now. It looks like it can be better to use something else, as we were very focused on the medium tyre and the setup. I don’t feel super fast, but my lap time in Qualifying was a bit better, so our task from now until tomorrow is to study the tyres.”

Stefan Bradl – P18

“It was not such a bad final result in Qualifying as we were still exploring some settings with the bike in FP3 and FP4 to get a direction. Missing FP1 with rain left us a bit far away with setup but we’ve done a good job today. In Qualifying we were more or less on target and tomorrow we can be with the group, fighting and getting some positions. I need to make a good start to stay in the group and then see what happens in the race.”

Remy Gardner – P19

More fun today that’s for sure. It was good. I’m kind of enjoying it in the dry here. Obviously, the position is not great but we were really, really close to having a really good position; I think it was like half a tenth or something like that to P15. I think we’re making progress. It just doesn’t show on paper at the moment, but I still think we can have a good race tomorrow.”

Franco Morbidelli – P20

“Today was good in some moments, but then on the soft tyre I was again unable to extract the potential. I’ll keep working – on myself especially. I also need to improve on the hard tyres. Apart from Fabio and Pecco, who were really fast, we are all in the pack pace-wise. We were able to be decently fast with the hard tyre. We will try to make another step in both situations, hard and soft tyres, but especially with the soft. I‘m leaning towards the hard tyre for the race. There are some overtaking spots here. For our bike, Assen is quite good. Last time I raced here, I made many overtakes towards the end of the race. I will have to do a long-lap penalty, but it’s a track where it’s possible to overtake. I can go for it!”

Álex Márquez – P21

“It was a difficult day here at Assen and especially difficult qualifying. We had a misunderstanding and we made a mistake which cost us the qualifying. We were not far from our (Honda) colleagues, Taka and Bradl, but I was suffering a lot. It was a misunderstanding, maybe I didn’t explain very well what was happening on the bike in FP4 and we made a mistake in direction. Anyway, tomorrow we need to keep going, the race will be long and we still have warm up to keep improving. We’ll try our best from the first moment and try to get in the points.”

Lorenzo Savadori – P22

“Today I did two really good sessions. In FP3 and FP4, considering our objectives, I reduced the gap behind the leaders, and I was consistent with used tyres. In the qualifiers I didn’t find that feeling that I would have liked to push on the soft tyre. Something wasn’t working quite right. Tomorrow we’ll have a good chance to turn laps and collect data.”

Raul Fernandez – P23

“Was really difficult honestly. I think tomorrow the pace is not really that bad, especially with the hard rear tire, and I think we can get some positions and try to fight maybe for points.I think the team did a good job on the last two races and the bike setting for the race is really interesting. And I think we can fight for a good position.”

Darryn Binder – P24

“Today we’ve been lucky enough to have a completely dry day. This morning started off quite alright. At the beginning of FP3 I was just getting more laps on the dry, starting to understand the track better, because yesterday we didn’t get so many laps in these conditions. I just felt like it’s taking a bit too long to figure things out, I would have needed the extra two sessions in dry conditions yesterday. I feel like I’m behind this weekend. Slowly, but surely, I’m starting to understand what I need to work on for tomorrow, but I’m a bit disappointed with my speed today. I hope I can come back on Sunday and be a lot faster.”

Pol Espargaro – Withdrew from event

“I feel really sorry for the team, to not finish the Grand Prix was a very hard decision. I thought I was okay after the first session but yesterday in FP2 I pushed very hard and I hurt myself. I don’t know exactly what I have done but it got worse, and I have been struggling with the pain and to breathe. My main priority is to understand the situation fully and work on recovering fully during the summer.”

Assen MotoGP Qualifying Results

Assen Moto2 Qualifying

Jake Dixon took a fabulous Moto2 pole position in an unbelievably close Q2 at the Motul TT Assen, beating team-mate Albert Arenas by 0.011 seconds in a GASGAS 1-2, with Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) each only 0.020 seconds in further arrears. Ogura is in prime position, with Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) only 11th on the grid after a crash and Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) down in ninth.

Assen Moto2 Qualifying Results

Assen Moto3 Qualifying

Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) took to the top late on in Moto3 Q2, the Japanese rider denying compatriot and initial pacesetter Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) by just 0.066 to grab pole at the Motul TT Assen.

Izan Guevara (GASGAS Aspar Team) completes the front row, 0.206 off the top, with his teammate and the Championship leader, Sergio Garcia (GASGAS Aspar Team), facing a fight back from P18.

In dry conditions at the TT Circuit Assen, there were only two real contenders for pole as Sasaki vs Suzuki lit up the timing screens. The latter also suffered a crash, rider ok, but that saw him miss out on the chance to reply as Sasaki took over on pole.

Behind the Japanese duo comes Guevara and then Friday’s fastest, David Muñoz (Boe Motorsports), as the impressive rookie continued to be such and heads the second row. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) found some late time to secure fifth, ahead of fellow veteran Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

Q1 graduate Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Lorenzo Fellon (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) complete Row 3, with rookie Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) next up as the young Aussie pipped John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) after a crash for the Brit.

So where is Garcia? All the way down in P18, and he has fellow frontrunner Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) just ahead of him as the two look to make quick progress on Sunday.

Assen Moto3 Qualifying Results

Assen MotoE Race One

Dominique Aegerter had qualified on pole but the battle for the lead was initially between Granado and Casadei, who went side-by-side into the first corner. However, both ran wide exiting Haarbocht and Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) emerged in the lead, ahead of Aegerter and Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team). Granado and Casadei slotted into fourth and fifth, but both were back ahead of Pons within a lap.

Granado soon proved the master of the fast Ramshoek left-hander, overtaking Aegerter there on Lap 3 just when it looked like Ferrari might be starting to creep away, then passing the 2019 World Cup winner himself another lap later again. Ferrari reclaimed the lead from the Brazilian as they ran through the Ossebroeken section on Lap 5, but Granado got back in front later that lap at Stekkenwal.

Meanwhile, a big battle had broken out for third between Aegerter, Casadei, and Pons, but the current World Cup leader had shaken those off when he launched an attack on Ferrari. He squeezed past the Gresini rider into the Geert Timmer Chicane on Lap 6, and Ferrari dropped towards the back of the leading pack when he had two big wobbles as he tried to take second position back at the start of Lap 7, with Casadei inheriting third position.

Aegerter then got underneath Granado at Strubben, but that gave them a slow entry down the back straight and Casadei stormed by both on the run into the Ruskenhoek, before Granado then re-passed Aegerter. The Swiss rider snatched the spot back just a few corners later at the Geert Timmer Chicane though, and making a little contact as he did so and that losing Granado a handful of tenths.

Despite being back in the runner-up position with a lap to go and a World Cup lead to protect, Aegerter didn’t seem in the mood to simply collect points. He dived past Casadei at Strubben but could not make the move stick and very nearly got chucked off his Energica Ego Corsa when he opened up the throttle again. Still, the Swiss rider tried again at Ramshoek near the end of the lap, but it all came down to the final chicane.

Granado was back on their tail as Aegerter went for the lead just ahead, and the Swiss rider just about shut the door on Casadei to secure the win. Granado needed no second invitation to try his own attack, blasting just past the Italian to grab second by mere thousadnths.

After some early heroics and then excellent damage limitation, Ferrari took fourth ahead of Hector Garzo (Tech3 E-Racing) in fifth, just 0.960 seconds behind the winner. Marco Alcoba (Openbank Aspar Team) had been in the leading group on the last lap but crashed at high speed at the Ramshoek, with an x-ray clearing him of a fractured left elbow but another medical review coming on Sunday.

Pons eventually came through to finish sixth, ahead of Niccolo Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team), Bradley Smith (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team), Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40), and Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta Sic58 Squadracorse).

After a breathtaking first showdown of the weekend, Aegerter has increased his margin to 34 points, with Granado second and Ferrari another eight points behind in third.

Dominique Aegerter – P1

“The race was exciting. My start wasn’t good and I fall from pole position a little bit backwards. I was always around second or third. I knew that it was just 8 laps, so you need to stay in the front, close to the first position or in first. We had amazing battles with Casadei, Ferrari and Granado. It wasn’t easy, there were some crazy overtakes, but we need to take some risks to overtake each other and at the end it was a very good overtake in the final chicane to take the victory. Big thanks to the Dynavolt Intact MotoE Team, that made again a good bike to fight for the podium and for the victory. Tomorrow we have another chance to extend my lead in the Championship.”

Assen MotoE Race One Results

MotoE Championship Points Standings

Motul TT Assen Race Day Schedule
Times (AEST)