Rennie Scaysbrook | June 25, 2021
Friday
MotoGP
Recovering from a low point in his career when he finished last in Germany, Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha) put on a smoke show in Assen on the first day of the Dutch MotoGP 2021 and set the fastest time in FP1 and FP2.
The Spaniard used this weekend to try out teammate Fabio Quartararo’s attitudes after admitting that he and his team were lost with their attitudes, culminating in the German MotoGP low point where he finished last and Quartararo finished third.
Vinales wants to bury the demons after the German catastrophe and was in the lead in Assen on Friday.
In 1: 33.072, the Dutch TT race winner of 2019, Vinales, is 0.111 seconds ahead of Saturday. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) finished second while Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) finished third on a rainy afternoon in the Netherlands.
Many time improvements were seen during the opening changeover of a busy FP2 as drivers tried to get a quick banker lap on the books while rain threatened. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Oliveira, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) were all faster than in FP1, before it turned into a dramatic one for Sachsenring winner Marquez Drama came.
In the middle of turn 11, Marc Marquez’s RC213V spat it out violently. The eight-time world champion suffered a brutal highsider who could run away – but it was a big one. Marquez went back to his box and conferred with his team, but did not go back for the remainder of the session. Shortly thereafter, Pol Espargaro, team-mate of the Repsol Honda team, was also uninjured in turn five.
After a hectic opening of 15 minutes of FP2, it started to rain again on the TT Circuit Assen. Vinales was still the fastest of Pol Espargaro, with Oliveira now P3 over Quartararo. The rain then fell heavier and the drivers who had decided to go outside were able to do a handful of laps in the adverse conditions. So the last order of the day remained unchanged.
Garrett Gerloff (Petronas Yamaha) replaced the injured Franco Morbidelli and finished the day 21st, 2.5 seconds behind Vinales on his first visit to Assen.
Dutch MotoGP results 2021 – Friday
| 1 | Maverick Vinales | (Sweet potato) | 1: 33.072 |
| 2 | Pol Espargaro | (You) | + 0.111 |
| 3 | Miguel Oliveira | (KTM) | + 0.328 |
| 4th | Fabio Quartararo | (Sweet potato) | + 0.419 |
| 5 | Alex kidneys | (Suz) | + 0.429 |
| 6th | Marc Marquez | (You) | +0.488 |
| 7th | Joan Mir | (Suz) | + 0.629 |
| 8th | Johann Zarco | (Duke) | + 0.636 |
| 9 | Danilo Petrucci | (KTM) | + 0.867 |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaro | (April) | + 0.921 |
Moto2
Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) leads the combined Moto2 classification on the first day in Assen when it rained in the afternoon because the intermediate class had to endure a bit wet weather at the end of the game. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was second fastest, 0.143 seconds behind Augusto Fernandez 1: 36.744. World championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completes the top three.
Augusto Fernandez returned to P1 in Assen on Friday.
Joe Roberts (Italtrans Kalex) finished the day in ninth place while Cameron Beaubier (American Racing Kalex) finished in 18th place.
Dutch Moto2 results 2021 – Friday
| 1 | Augusto Fernandez | (Cal) | 1: 36.744 |
| 2 | Raul Fernandez | (Cal) | + 0.143 |
| 3 | Remy gardener | (Cal) | + 0.388 |
| 4th | Jorge Navarro | (Forest) | + 0.525 |
| 5 | Simone Corsi | (VAT) | + 0.652 |
| 6th | Somkiat Chantra | (Cal) | + 0.740 |
| 7th | Marco Bezzecchi | (Cal) | + 0.797 |
| 8th | Stefano Manzi | (Cal) | + 0.812 |
| 9 | Joe Roberts | (Cal) | + 0.878 |
| 10 | F. Di Giannantonio | (Cal) | + 0.966 |
Moto3
Despite a serious crash in FP2 at the Motul TT Assen, Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) led the overall standings in the Moto3 class with a 1: 41.568. The Japanese and second fastest Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) improved in the afternoon session and relegated FP1 pacesetter Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) to P3.
Suzuki went down but rose again to top the Friday times in Moto3.
Dutch Moto3 results 2021 – Friday
| 1 | Tatsuki Suzuki | (You) | 1: 41.568 |
| 2 | Darryn Binder | (You) | + 0.089 |
| 3 | Dennis Foggia | (You) | + 0.180 |
| 4th | Andrea Migno | (You) | + 0.518 |
| 5 | Romano Fenati | (House) | + 0.645 |
| 6th | Gabriel Rodrigo | (You) | + 0.654 |
| 7th | Niccolo Antonelli | (KTM) | + 0.780 |
| 8th | Pedro Acosta | (KTM) | + 0.789 |
| 9 | Jaume Masia | (KTM) | + 0.853 |
| 10 | John McPhee | (You) | + 0.872 |
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