2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round Eight – Motul TT Assen
MotoGP riders reflect on the opening day of practice at Assen
Francesco Bagnaia – P1
“We are reaping the rewards of the work done since the start of the year. We started off well and made only a few adjustments on the bike, which turned out to be the right ones. We needed it, as we hadn’t topped the FP timesheets for a long time and this makes me happy. Today’s temperatures were clearly lower compared to last year so, should things stay this way, the soft tyre could also turn out to be a good option. It’s up to us to make the right choice after a few more laps under our belts tomorrow. When things go the right way, Assen is a fantastic track and it’s incredible to attack all those long corners in fourth and fifth gear. It’s a unique feeling.”
Maverick Vinales – P2
“I feel like I am at an extremely high level. In terms of riding, I feel great on the bike and I was able to express the full potential of the RS-GP24. My time is below the track record, so we have improved a great deal since last year. I am extremely satisfied with my race pace and I think we’ll have an outstanding chance tomorrow.”
Alex Marquez – P3
“We felt good straight away on the Ducati and we worked well, too. The goal was the direct seed to Q2 and to get there with the third quickest time is surely a great boost. We still need something to sort out in terms of race pace and we have some things to try with the front tyre, but aside from that we’re happy. Everyone will improve so we cannot relax. Right now, Bagnaia is two steps ahead of everyone else, at least. We’ll try to improve some more.”
Aleix Espargaro – P4
“I had a fall at the end of the practice session, it’s a pity because the day was going very well until that moment. I felt competitive on the bike, this is not an easy track, we carry a lot of speed and the aero puts more weight on the front year after year. Overall, I’m happy even if I have a lot of pain in my lower back and on my neck. Tomorrow it will be even worse, but it is not as bad as it could have been.”
Marc Marquez – P6
“I got on the bike this morning and it felt as if this break never happened. I felt comfortable straight away, which I can’t say the same for the afternoon. We know why and we’ll work on that tomorrow. Pecco and Maverick are ahead of the rest, especially the former. It’ll be difficult to reach his level, but we can also learn from him.”
Enea Bastianini – P8
“Too bad for the crash. It was my mistake, as my boot got stuck in the gear lever while downshifting and I ended up with the wrong gear, then went wide and crash. Having said that, the day went well as we kept improving and, in the end, we had a good pace. Some laps got cancelled because apparently there’s a spot on the track that, despite not being on the green strip, is still considered beyond the track limits, and we need to understand why. Time attack wise, we’re in a good place: surely, Pecco has something extra at the moment, but I must be happy with my performance.”
Raul Fernandez – P9
“The result today was really important because now we will have time enough to work some more before the Qualifying 2 tomorrow morning. That was good and also we’ll have two sets of tires left because when I have to go through Q1 I always lose one set, so it means the chances are better to fight for a decent place on the grid. I’m very happy overall, my arm was working well after the surgery and I felt really good. I hit two yellow flags in the last time attack and I have margin to improve, which is great to know. I’m delighted, knowing on Friday that I am already in Q2 for Saturday.”
Fabio Quartararo – P11
“We had a few yellow flags, but we know that our current position is somewhere between 9th and 12th. We have to try to step it up a little bit to get into Q2 more easily. Unfortunately, we are out of Q2 today. The new engine works pretty well, but here in Assen, this is not a track where this engine will make a big difference. For me, at tracks like Austria and Misano this engine will be better. We are also still working on turning and the agility. We have to do the best possible qualifying tomorrow and the best Sprint race possible.
“Honestly, I’m super happy that Pramac Racing is joining Yamaha. Last year they won the Team Title. We take this opportunity to work with them, and to have two more Yamahas on track next year is amazing, to be faster and collect more data. So, I am super happy that Pramac will join us.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P12
“I almost made it to the Top 10, but I’m struggling. I have the same problems as in previous races, especially on the time attack with new tires. On the pace, it’s better, but it will be difficult to get into Q2, a really tough Q1 awaits us. Let’s check the data, let’s try to make a step forward, even in terms of riding. On this type of track, a change in the riding style can make a big difference.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P13
“Not a great day, the feeling is good but I missed the access to the Q2. We were very fast with used tyres, but with new tyres I struggle more. Also, just when I put the tires on for the flying lap, I had some problems with the bike1, which I preferred, and I had to go out on the track with the bike2. A real shame, not everything worked out well. Even on my best lap, I had a great partial, I made a mistake at turn 12 and I lost the lap time. Let’s go back to the data and prepare ourselves as best as possible for tomorrow’s Q1, it will be very tight.”
Alex Rins – P14
“It was a little bit better than it was this morning. FP1 was a bit chaotic for us. We struggled with the traction control and spent most of the session to try to set up the electronics in a better way. But this afternoon, we improved a little bit. I had time to work on the set-up, and we changed the bike a bit. I was feeling a little bit better and a bit more comfortable, but we’re still far from the top 10. Let’s see tomorrow. We need to keep working. Let’s see if we can get closer and closer to our rivals and do a good QP so we can start the Sprint and Race in a good way.
“I’m quite excited that the Pramac Racing Team is joining us. We will have more data in the future to work with if we have two more bikes on track, so it’s good news. I already know from previous seasons that it is great to have data coming in from other riders with different riding styles, so it is going to be important.”
Pedro Acosta – P15
“It was not the easiest of the day, and Practice was a bit messy with the Miller-Martin moment, and the yellow flag at the end. The bike has felt a bit unstable today so we have some areas to improve, which is the most important thing for me. Brad Binder was competitive today, so we will analyse his data so we can arrive well prepared tomorrow. In terms of lap times, I think that we have more speed than we are showing now, so let’s see if we can put things together tonight and have a good day tomorrow.”
Miguel Oliveira – P16
“It was a bit windy today and tricky overall. We made a change to the bike, trying to help me in the fast corners but I’m still losing a lot as I can’t turn the bike. What we did during the session was not enough – we need to make a bigger change for tomorrow and hopefully find some speed. The other Aprilia’s are going well, so we can hopefully find that speed too and try to get a good grid place in Qualifying.”
Johann Zarco – P17
“I’m working hard on adapting and changing some details of my riding style to be faster with the current bike, but there are still some limitations. I’m focused on providing information to the crew to help develop the bike. We’d like to see some positives ahead of tomorrow’s sessions”.
Jack Miller – P18
“Always good to be in Assen for the Dutch GP. Not the best start to our weekend to say the least. We had a few issues early on in both practice sessions and one thing just lead to another but anyway. I feel like we left a lot on the table today, we’ll go again tomorrow.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P19
“It’s been a tough first day; we are struggling. This morning, I missed some confidence on the bike, and we are working hard to fix that area. But as always, we’ll face tomorrow’s qualifying and Sprint giving our maximum, determined to overcome these challenges and show our best performance”.
Augusto Fernandez – P21
“It has been a difficult day overall. We have tried a few things on the bike that we had in mind, the feeling was not so bad, but we were really slow. We have a lot of work to do tonight, a lot of areas where to improve, so let’s try our best for tomorrow.”
Joan Mir – P22
“The crash today upset our plan a bit, I was unharmed, but the second bike was not setup like the first, so it was very difficult to push for a lap at the end. I had just put in a new tyre to push for a time in the top ten when I fell. We did a lot of work in the morning which was good and were able to make more steps in the afternoon before the fall. Tomorrow there’s work to do if we want to achieve our full potential but everyone is pushing together.”
Luca Marini – P23
“Today we worked on taking the maximum out of our package, looking to improve with adjustments. I was aiming for more because the gap is a bit big, but everyone here is very fast this weekend. We need to make a step tomorrow and the team have already begun working so I am sure we can do it. Our feeling is good, we just need more performance. We are making progress, as are the others, so we have to look for a big step.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Team Director
“It’s disappointing to have missed out on Q2, which was our target for this afternoon, though the gaps between the riders are quite small here today. The top-15 riders are within 0.9s, and the yellow flags at the end meant our riders lost some opportunities to push for a top-10 position. Both riders noticed an improvement with the new engine, but the Assen track happens to be one of the few tracks where this does not make a lot of a difference because of its lay-out. But we have to rally together to get in the best shape possible for tomorrow’s Q1 as well as the Sprint.
“However, the biggest news of today is probably the confirmation that Pramac Racing is joining Yamaha. We are all looking forward to starting to collaborate with them in 2025. They will make a great addition. Having two extra Factory bikes will benefit our team too, as it increases the data pool and it aids bike development.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“I’m quite enthusiastic after this first day here in Assen. First of all, I’m very pleased with the weather so far because this is always a question mark. The temperature is fantastic. Raul had a great feeling with the bike today and he went straight into Q2 in the Practice session, so we are very happy with that. Miguel struggled a little bit with the soft tire, yellow flags and the feeling with the bike. With the medium tire, he was faster and did a 1:32.4. Then he put a soft tire in for the time attack but there were many yellow flags and he didn’t really find the right spot to do a fast lap time. No big drama, no big complaints and good speed so, I’m happy with that. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow in Qualifying and the Sprint race.”
Friday MotoGP Report
The battle for direct entry to Q2 did not disappoint in the hour-long practice session on Friday afternoon. Ending the day at the top of the timesheets is Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who completed a perfect day in the Netherlands.
Bagnaia set a blistering time early on in Practice before improving later in the session, setting a brilliant 1:31.340. In a remarkable stat, Bagnaia going fastest in the first session on Friday was also the first time he’s ever done that in the premier class, despite two premier class World Championships and a full CV by nearly every metric.
Nevertheless, it was close at the top by the end of the all-important afternoon Practice session, with Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) claiming second after improving yet again on his final fast lap – ending the day only 0.065s shy of Bagnaia.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) had a positive end to Friday after a magnificent lap put him in the top three, leading the chasing pack but with a small deficit to the top duo… and one he’ll be looking to bridge on Saturday.
It was a dramatic session throughout which all came down to the final 15-minute time attack. Bagnaia was at the top as red sectors began to pop up everywhere, and it was Viñales who took over for the first time this weekend. Bagnaia soon responded on his next flying lap, however, securing that P1.
There would be drama heading into the final run elsewhere though, with Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) having a close moment with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), but utlimately no hard done.
Further back, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) took fourth and showed great pace throughout the session – completing over 20 laps. However, Aleix suffered a crash in the closing minutes at the final corner, ending his session just before the flag came out. He’s been given the all clear and passed fit to race, but remains a little bruised. Behind the Spaniard was compatriot Martin, who rounded out the top five.
Sixth place went the way of Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), who had an incredible front-end save during the session.
Brad Binder was next up, flying the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing flag inside the top 10 with his team-mate Miller down in 18th place at the end of Friday.
Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) held onto eighth place and a spot inside Q2 despite suffering from a crash of his own with three-minutes to go.
Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) took ninth as his solid form continues to hold, with Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) taking the final spot inside the top 10 and the final direct entry spot into Q2.
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was the rider in P11 just missing out, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and his team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio. They’ll be some of the first looking to attack in Q1 to move through.
MotoGP Practice Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | F Bagnaia | Duc | 1m31.340 |
2 | M Viñales | Apr | +0.065 |
3 | A Marquez | Duc | +0.320 |
4 | A Espargaro | Apr | +0.472 |
5 | J Martin | Duc | +0.489 |
6 | M Marquez | Duc | +0.511 |
7 | B Binder | Ktm | +0.526 |
8 | E Bastianini | Duc | +0.530 |
9 | R Fernandez | Apr | +0.569 |
10 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +0.673 |
11 | F Quartararo | Yam | +0.714 |
12 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | +0.828 |
13 | F Giannantonio | Duc | +0.833 |
14 | A Rins | Yam | +0.863 |
15 | P Acosta | Ktm | +0.904 |
16 | M Oliveira | Apr | +1.148 |
17 | J Zarco | Hon | +1.390 |
18 | J Miller | Ktm | +1.766 |
19 | T Nakagami | Hon | +1.787 |
20 | L Savadori | Apr | +1.966 |
21 | A Fernandez | Ktm | +2.004 |
22 | J Mir | Hon | +2.015 |
23 | L Marini | Hon | +2.221 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | Martin | 171 |
2 | Bagnaia | 153 |
3 | Marquez | 136 |
4 | Bastianini | 114 |
5 | Acosta | 101 |
6 | Viñales | 100 |
7 | Binder | 85 |
8 | Espargaro | 82 |
9 | Di Giannantonio | 74 |
10 | Marquez | 51 |
11 | Bezzecchi | 45 |
12 | Fernandez | 32 |
13 | Quartararo | 32 |
14 | Morbidelli | 31 |
15 | Oliveira | 31 |
16 | Miller | 27 |
17 | Fernandez | 13 |
18 | Mir | 13 |
19 | Zarco | 9 |
20 | Rins | 8 |
21 | Nakagami | 8 |
22 | Pedrosa | 7 |
23 | Marini | 0 |
24 | Bradl | 0 |
Moto2
Friday’s Motul TT Assen Moto2 honours went the way of Fermin Aldeguer (Folladore SpeedUp Racing) as the Spaniard set a new intermediate class lap record – a 1:35.912 – to lead Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) and Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing). However, the latter endured a Turn 7 highside which resulted in the American suffering a right collarbone fracture, ruling him unfit for Saturday and Sunday’s action.
World Championship leader, Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI), ended Friday a close fourth as under three tenths split the leading quartet heading into Saturday’s all-important Practice 2 and qualifying sessions.
Home stars Bo Bendsneyder (Preicanos Racing Team) and Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP) have placed themselves inside the provisional automatic Q2 places in P12 and P14 respectively, with both aiming to stay there when Practice 2 on Saturday morning draws to a close.
Seann Agius finished the opening day 20th on the time-sheets, 1.2-seconds behind outright pacesetter Fermin Aldeguer.
Moto2 Practice One Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | F Aldeguer | Bos | 1m35.912 |
2 | A Ogura | Bos | +0.072 |
3 | J Roberts | Kal | +0.271 |
4 | S Garcia | Bos | +0.283 |
5 | T Arbolino | Kal | +0.370 |
6 | A Canet | Kal | +0.374 |
7 | A Lopez | Bos | +0.471 |
8 | M Gonzalez | Kal | +0.635 |
9 | S Chantra | Kal | +0.638 |
10 | A Arenas | Kal | +0.693 |
11 | M Ramirez | Kal | +0.782 |
12 | B Bendsneyder | Kal | +0.839 |
13 | J Dixon | Kal | +0.861 |
14 | Z Goorbergh | Kal | +0.867 |
15 | J Alcoba | Kal | +0.877 |
16 | D Foggia | Kal | +0.921 |
17 | B Baltus | Kal | +1.018 |
18 | C Vietti | Kal | +1.024 |
19 | D Muñoz | Kal | +1.220 |
20 | S Agius | Kal | +1.222 |
21 | D Moreira | Kal | +1.305 |
22 | D Binder | Kal | +1.314 |
23 | I Guevara | Kal | +1.418 |
24 | A Sasaki | Kal | +1.877 |
25 | J Masia | Kal | +1.933 |
26 | X Cardelus | Kal | +1.981 |
27 | M Schrotter | Kal | +2.006 |
28 | M Aji | Kal | +2.520 |
29 | X Artigas | For | +3.192 |
30 | A Escrig | For | +3.194 |
Moto2 Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | GARCIA Sergio | 122 |
2 | ROBERTS Joe | 115 |
3 | OGURA Ai | 99 |
4 | LOPEZ Alonso | 79 |
5 | GONZALEZ Manuel | 66 |
6 | ALDEGUER Fermin | 63 |
7 | CANET Aron | 58 |
8 | ARENAS Albert | 48 |
9 | ALCOBA Jeremy | 43 |
10 | VIETTI Celestino | 38 |
11 | RAMIREZ Marcos | 35 |
12 | CHANTRA Somkiat | 35 |
13 | ARBOLINO Tony | 33 |
14 | BALTUS Barry | 23 |
15 | DIXON Jake | 20 |
16 | GUEVARA Izan | 18 |
17 | AGIUS Senna | 16 |
18 | SALAC Filip | 14 |
19 | VD GOORBERGH Zonta | 13 |
20 | FOGGIA Dennis | 10 |
21 | MOREIRA Diogo | 7 |
22 | NAVARRO Jorge | 6 |
23 | ÖNCÜ Deniz | 6 |
24 | BINDER Darryn | 5 |
25 | MASIA Jaume | 3 |
26 | BENDSNEYDER Bo | 2 |
27 | AJI Mario | 2 |
28 | FERRARI Matteo | 1 |
29 | CARDELUS Xavi | 0 |
30 | PASINI Mattia | 0 |
31 | ESCRIG Alex | 0 |
32 | ARTIGAS Xavier | 0 |
33 | MUÑOZ Daniel | 0 |
34 | SASAKI Ayumu | 0 |
Moto3
Home hero Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) bagged top spot on Day 1 at Assen as the Dutchman set a 1:40.259 to head the lightweight class field by 0.294s. Ryusei Yamanaka and his MT Helmets – MSI teammate Ivan Ortola enjoyed fruitful Fridays as the Japanese and Spaniard head into Saturday’s action in P2 and P3 respectively.
Joel Kelso made a good start to the weekend, ranking seventh at the end of Friday.
World Championship leader David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) crashed, unhurt, twice in the afternoon’s Practice 1 session, with the Colombian ending a trickier-than-expected day in P9.
Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), the rider second in the title race, goes into Practice 2 sitting 10th as the top two in the standings hunt to cut the current deficit to Veijer.
Australian rookie Jacob Roulstone headed to the Netherlands with good memories from the TT Assen, after he finished in third and fourth last season in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. As usual, Friday morning session was all about adapting to the track with the Moto3 bike, and there was nothing too worrying or unusual about seeing the rookie take P22 of FP1. Once that first session in the bag, the young rookie was able to level it up in the afternoon session, improving to 1’41.119 (+0.860) to close the opening day in thirteenth, provisionally qualified in Q2.
Jacob Roulstone – P13
“Not too bad for our first day in Assen. In the morning, I struggled a bit with myself, I was not confident on the bike, but we had a good study between the two sessions and then I felt much better in P1. I still have a few things to sort out, including my positioning on the bike, but overall I am happy with today.”
Moto3 Practice One Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | C Veijer | Hus | 1m40.259 |
2 | R Yamanaka | Ktm | +0.294 |
3 | I Ortola | Ktm | +0.310 |
4 | A Fernandez | Hon | +0.344 |
5 | J Rueda | Ktm | +0.367 |
6 | A Piqueras | Hon | +0.429 |
7 | J Kelso | Ktm | +0.530 |
8 | L Lunetta | Hon | +0.606 |
9 | D Alonso | Cfm | +0.645 |
10 | D Holgado | Gas | +0.648 |
11 | T Suzuki | Hus | +0.662 |
12 | S Ogden | Hon | +0.856 |
13 | J Roulstone | Gas | +0.860 |
14 | S Nepa | Ktm | +0.867 |
15 | T Furusato | Hon | +0.869 |
16 | D Muñoz | Ktm | +1.166 |
17 | F Farioli | Hon | +1.277 |
18 | R Rossi | Ktm | +1.428 |
19 | M Bertelle | Hon | +1.447 |
20 | N Carraro | Ktm | +1.448 |
21 | J Esteban | Cfm | +1.464 |
22 | D Almansa | Hon | +1.530 |
23 | J Whatley | Hon | +1.726 |
24 | T Buasri | Hon | +2.118 |
25 | N Dettwiler | Ktm | +2.251 |
26 | X Zurutuza | Ktm | +2.725 |
Moto3 Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | ALONSO David | 143 |
2 | HOLGADO Daniel | 106 |
3 | VEIJER Collin | 95 |
4 | ORTOLA Ivan | 80 |
5 | MUÑOZ David | 60 |
6 | YAMANAKA Ryusei | 56 |
7 | KELSO Joel | 46 |
8 | RUEDA Jose Antonio | 45 |
9 | FERNANDEZ Adrian | 45 |
10 | ROULSTONE Jacob | 42 |
11 | PIQUERAS Angel | 41 |
12 | ESTEBAN Joel | 35 |
13 | FURUSATO Taiyo | 31 |
14 | SUZUKI Tatsuki | 31 |
15 | NEPA Stefano | 29 |
16 | LUNETTA Luca | 24 |
17 | ROSSI Riccardo | 16 |
18 | CARRARO Nicola | 15 |
19 | BERTELLE Matteo | 14 |
20 | FARIOLI Filippo | 11 |
21 | OGDEN Scott | 5 |
22 | ZURUTUZA Xabi | 3 |
MotoE Qualifying
Alessandro Zaccone (Tech3 E-Racing) will launch from pole position for a second consecutive race weekend as the Italian claimed a Friday P1 at the Motul TT Assen. Zaccone’s advantage over second place Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) was a healthy 0.338s at the flag, with third place Kevin Zannoni (Openbank Aspar Team) coming through Q1 to sit 0.571s away from the #61’s impressive 1:39.444 lap record pole time.
Meanwhile, Championship leader Mattia Casadei (LCR E-Team) had to settle for a P9 starting slot, giving him work to do when the lights go out.
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | A Zaccone | Duc | 1m39.444 |
2 | H Garzo | Duc | +0.338 |
3 | K Zannoni | Duc | +0.571 |
4 | J Torres | Duc | +0.664 |
5 | N Spinelli | Duc | +0.706 |
6 | E Granado | Duc | +0.708 |
7 | L Tulovic | Duc | +0.963 |
8 | M Pons | Duc | +0.975 |
9 | M Casadei | Duc | +1.263 |
10 | A Mantovani | Duc | +1.804 |
Q1 | |||
11 | O Gutierrez | Duc | (*) 0.172 |
12 | M Roccoli | Duc | (*) 0.251 |
13 | M Ferrari | Duc | (*) 0.440 |
14 | A Finello | Duc | (*) 1.160 |
15 | C Davies | Duc | (*) 1.423 |
16 | M Herrera | Duc | (*) 1.791 |
17 | K Manfredi | Duc | (*) 1.922 |
18 | A Pontone | Duc | (*) 2.821 |
2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)
Rnd | Date | Location |
9 | 30 Jun | Netherlands TT Circuit Assen |
10 | 07 Jul | Germany Sachsenring |
11 | 04 Aug | Great Britain Silverstone Circuit |
12 | 18 Aug | Austria Red Bull Ring-Spielberg |
13 | 01 Sep | Aragon MotorLand Aragón |
14 | 08 Sep | San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Misano |
15 | 22 Sep | Kazakhstan Sokol International Racetrack |
16 | 29 Sep | Indonesia Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit |
17 | 06 Oct | Japan Mobility Resort Motegi |
18 | 20 Oct | Australia Phillip Island |
19 | 27 Oct | Thailand Chang International Circuit |
20 | 03 Nov | Malaysia Sepang International Circuit |
21 | 17 Nov | Comunitat Valenciana Circuit Ricardo Tormo |