An impressive morning performance by Pol Espargaro marked a positive start to the ninth round of the World Championship, as both he and his teammate Marc Marquez occupy preliminary places in the top ten after the opening day in the Netherlands.
On Friday, the conditions at the TT Circuit Assen deteriorated during the course of the day, with mild morning temperatures giving way to spraying rain in the afternoon. The Repsol Honda Team did a good job bypassing the conditions to make the most of the clear track time. The morning times would prove to be crucial as the falls and afternoon rain were upset for both riders.
Pol Espargaro’s weekend in Assen got off to a strong start as he worked through Free Practice 1 and was within the first two except for a few minutes in the first session. With a 1’33.183 he finished the opening session of the day 0.111 seconds behind first place and ensured a good morale boost for the entire weekend. A harmless fall at Turn 5 and subsequent rain meant that Espargaro was unable to improve his FP1 time in the afternoon, but ended the day in second overall. In the end, Friday in Assen turned out to be an overwhelmingly positive start to the weekend for the # 44.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda team garage, Marc Marquez went straight back to work after his emotional victory in Germany. A productive first session helped Marquez lay a foundation for the Dutch weekend and improve his time in FP2 almost immediately. Unfortunately, a serious fall at Turn 10 in Free Practice 2 ended his afternoon prematurely. The vicious high side saw Marquez off without major injuries. He and his team worked to prevent similar falls in the future.
All eyes will be on the sky for Free Practice 3 at 9:55 a.m. local time on Saturday, June 26th tomorrow morning to see if the rain returns or if there is one last chance to get into the Q2 positions fight.