Bagnaia Dominates Friday Practice Amidst Drama at 2024 Dutch MotoGP in Assen

Results from Friday's practice sessions at the 2024 Dutch MotoGP in Assen, which is the seventh round of the 2024 world championship series.

Results from the second practice session of the 2024 Dutch MotoGP in Assen

* Novice

Francesco Bagnaia dominated both Friday practice sessions for the 2024 Dutch MotoGP held in Assen.

The current titleholder edged out Maverick Vinales by 0.065 seconds, while Alex Marquez secured a last-minute third place during the afternoon session.

However, newcomer sensation Pedro Acosta couldn’t secure a spot in the top ten and will need to compete in Saturday’s first qualifying session.

Aleix Espargaro from Aprilia ended the session being carried off on a stretcher following a severe crash at the last chicane.

Leading the first practice session, defending titleholder Bagnaia continued his strong performance in the afternoon, consistently improving his times to maintain his lead.

Marc Marquez, who was second to Bagnaia earlier today, switched to soft tires for a time attack just past the halfway point but was unable to surpass his future teammate.

In the final ten minutes, it was Vinales from Aprilia who managed to surpass Bagnaia, establishing a lead of 0.340 seconds.

However, Bagnaia swiftly countered. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez, who had been looking for a slipstream, lost control of his front tire at the extremely fast second-to-last corner and veered off the track.

A group of riders had gathered as Bagnaia was about to start his last attempt, prompting him to head back to the pits instead of going for a quicker lap.

Jorge Martin, the leading racer, appeared visibly frustrated with how his Pramac Ducati was performing. He then experienced a frightening moment when Jack Miller made contact with him.

Martin reduced his speed in front of the Australian rider, who had also decelerated and was glancing back when they intersected. Luckily, neither of them fell off, though Miller’s motorcycle incurred some aerodynamic damage.

In the final moments, Joan Mir from Repsol Honda, Enea Bastianini riding for Ducati, and Aleix Espargaro on Aprilia all experienced crashes.

Espargaro was violently thrown from his unstable RS-GP at the last chicane and was taken away by marshals, clearly in pain.

Results of the First Practice Session for the 2024 Dutch MotoGP in Assen

* Novice

The newly revealed 2025 rider roster for the factory Ducati team, which includes Francesco Bagnaia and new teammate Marc Marquez, led the timing charts in the first practice session for the Dutch MotoGP at Assen.

Fabio di Giannantonio of VR46 initially finished the session on top, but a violation of track limits caused his fastest lap to be annulled, dropping him down to seventh place.

This development elevated Raul Fernandez to an unexpected third place for Trackhouse on the 2023 Aprilia, after he momentarily held the lead in P1. Fabio Quartararo also delivered a notable performance, securing fourth place for Yamaha.

On Thursday, Alex Rins shared that each Yamaha rider has received a new engine following the recent test in Valencia. This morning, Rins ranked 16th.

Factory Aprilia riders Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro secured the fifth and sixth positions.

At the beginning of the 45-minute session, Espargaro lost his balance and fell while attempting to leave the pit area. Shortly after, he experienced a technical problem that forced him to exit the track, resulting in him missing the initial part of the session.

In the final moments, Alex Marquez had two Gresini bikes in the top three positions, but he was eventually pushed down to eighth place, just 0.366 seconds behind Bagnaia.

Brad Binder was the quickest KTM rider, finishing in ninth place, ahead of Pramac Ducati's championship leader Jorge Martin, who has now been confirmed as an Aprilia rider for the 2025 season.

Martin begins the weekend with his lead over Bagnaia trimmed to 18 points.

Marco Bezzecchi, who claimed victory in the 2023 Assen Sprint and set a lap record, veered off the track at high speed in the second-to-last corner but managed to rejoin safely. Representing VR46 and set to join the factory Aprilia team in the future, he concluded the session in 12th place

Newcomer Pedro Acosta repeatedly used the turn one run-off area during his journey to finishing 14th.

Takaaki Nakagami was the top-performing Honda rider, finishing in 18th position.

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