Saturday Assen MotoGP round up – MotoGP/2/3/E

MotoGP 2023

Round Eight – Assen

Saturday

MotoGP Qualifying

Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) set a stunning new lap record to take pole at Assen overnight in what was an action packed qualifying session.

It was an all-Italian front row as Bezzecchi headed Bagnaia and Marini, with Quartararo just missing out on the front row by 0.041.

Brad Binder qualified fifth ahead of the Aprilia pairing of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales.

An early crash for Jorge Martin proved costly as the Sachsenring winner will start from tenth and jonining him on the fourth row is Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller.

Jack Miller’s charge in qualifying interrupted by a front end issue on the KTM that caused troublesome vibrations.

MotoGP Qualifying Results

MotoGP Sprint Race

It was a manic start and particularly so for Brad Binder as the South African shot to the inside line and was immediately up into third behind Bagnaia and Bezzecchi. Binder didn’t wait long to attack, slicing through into second and then chasing Pecco hard. Bezzecchi came right back at Binder though and then took station behind Bagnaia.

It took until lap ten for Bezzecchi to get the better of Bagnaia but once through he put the hammer down.

As Bezzecchi inched away from Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo started closing on third placed Brad Binder.

With three laps to go, Bagnaia took nearly four-tenths out of Bezzecchi’s lead, just as Aleix Espargaro joined the party in the fight for third.

Bezzecchi responded to Bagnaia’s challenge by putting his head down again to stretch away to a convincing win.

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Onto the last lap it first looked as though Quartararo was going to make a move on Binder, but then the South African was the rider on the move. Homing in on Bagnaia in the fight for second, he was close but not quite close enough to make a final chicane dive… but the drama wasn’t over.

After a track limits warning earlier in the Sprint, Binder was given a Long Lap just at the flag after heading onto the green one too many times, which becomes a three-second penalty.

That penalty relegated Binder from third to fifth and promoted Quartararo onto the podium. A major breakthrough for the Frenchman as previously he had scored only a single point over the first seven Sprints of the season.

Aleix Espargaro was promoted to fourth because of the Binder penalty.

Jorge Martin took sixth for some damage limitation after only qualifying tenth, but he’ll want a lot more on Sunday. Likewise Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), who took seventh from seventh on the grid.

Enea Bastianini (Ducato Lenovo Team) was next up as he made some serious progress when the lights went out despite a tough qualifying, and he was the protagonist of a moment at the final chicane with Marini as he attacked and the Mooney VR46 rider straight-lined the chicane. Marini copped a time penalty that dropped him to tenth behind Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP).

Jack Miller was in a busy pack for most of the race before ultimately finishing 11th ahead of Takaaki Nakagami and Johann Zarco.

MotoGP Sprint Race Results

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marco Bezzecchi – P1

“I’m very happy: I started very well, then I tried to resist to Pecco in the first corner, but I went wide and Brad overtook me too. I tried not to waste time and get to the front. After I overtook Pecco, I pushed hard because I knew he could recover. I was keeping an eye on the board, especially the last three laps, but I tried to keep calm and finish strong. I managed the tire well, I’m satisfied, but tomorrow will be different with the M, I’m not so perfect. I will work with the Team to be able to do well tomorrow. In the Sprint, I’ve always struggled more than in the GP, so this victory has a special flavour. Also, the Dutch fans are really nice and I was very happy to celebrate on the straight with them.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P2

“For sure I tried to be close to Marco but today he was doing a great job, he was too fast for me and able to use the rear tyre better. I tried in half the race to close the gap but in the last laps, I was a bit on the limit with the rear tyre and feeling a bit of chatter, so it was better to lift off and just arrive at the finish because Brad was getting closer. In the championship, we have opened the gap a bit more and that was important. Tomorrow’s race will be longer and it will be important not to take too many risks. We have to improve something on my bike because I still need some more turning; normally in the long race, we have some other options but we’ll wait and see tomorrow.”

Fabio Quartararo – P3

“It was a great Sprint. I‘m happy in one way, but I‘m also a little bit frustrated. I was behind Brad all the race. I felt I had a bit more pace than him, but I had no opportunity to overtake. But the upside is that I finished in a good way, we were really close to the top guys, so I‘m happy. I hope that tomorrow, in the longer Race, we can be up there. I was also on the track limit from the beginning, so I was trying to be really careful. It‘s part of the game, but I do feel sorry for Brad because I don‘t like to get these types of podiums. But I always give my 100 per cent and take what I can get. In this case it‘s P3, and it does feel good.”

Aleix Espargaro – P4

“It was a good race. I lost a bit of time at the start with Zarco. I think he was a little too aggressive, but we know that this can happen in the sprint race. I was able to recover quickly enough and then, once I reached the group battling for the podium, I struggled a bit with the feeling at the front. I may have been faster than them in certain points, but I didn’t have the margin to overtake them. I think in the long race tomorrow I’ll have more chances.”

Brad Binder – P5

“I did my best and I think I did a pretty good race. I would have loved to have been on the podium but the reality was that I touched the green. I had no idea and it must have been by a couple of millimetres. Somehow I missed on my dashboard that I had a warning already. It’s over for now and tomorrow I’ll give myself a few more centimetres! Overall, it’s a bit frustrating because you don’t know you are touching that area and it means you are fuming after the race! But I touched it, and I’d actually lost the front end in the corner before on two occasions and I think that put me a little bit more out than usual. Anyway, tomorrow is another day!”

Maverick Vinales – P7

“I’m pleased. It was a good race because we were fast and able to overtake well. When I was able to maintain my pace, I lapped around the 32 and a half mark, which is a pace that would let me make a play for the podium. I also had a good start, but I braked too hard on the first corner and got caught up in the mele which cost me positions, but then I recovered extremely well. Naturally, there are still some things we need to figure out to improve, but we have the pace to stay at the front.”

Enea Bastianini – P8

“It was a very difficult day; I suffered a lot this morning so I wasn’t satisfied at all. This afternoon in the race we tried to make some changes, we went a bit in the dark but we did well. The bike improved, I got a good start, I made up positions lap-by-lap, and eighth place from 18th on the grid is a result that cheers me up a bit. Physically it was quite difficult and tomorrow will be even worse; however, I will give 100% as always. As for what happened this morning, I lost the front at turn 1 and Marc also, and then at turn 4 we were both watching the other riders, Marc didn’t see me and touched me, but we spoke after, Marc said he’s sorry so it’s all OK.”

Luca Marini – P10

“A real shame, for the position and for the penalty for the last chicane. I have struggled a lot today, especially with the front tire. I don’t know the real reason, but I had a clear change in riding feeling compared to this morning. I had a bad start and then I was unable to recover. I was not competitive in the fast corners, mainly at 7 and 15, and I was in trouble. Let’s go back to the data for the warm up and the race.”

Jack Miller – P11

“Quali was tricky. We had quite a lot of vibration so we’re just trying to understand why. I felt really comfortable on Friday but missed that final bit of confidence for Q2 which kinda went into the race. It was chaos on the first lap but we were able to get through it all. My pace was OK and if we can find a bit more stability heading into corners for tomorrow then we’ll be right there. It’s so tight out there. We just have to be better tomorrow.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P12

“It’s a difficult situation for everybody, I’ve tried my best, but we still haven’t found the feeling to push for the top positions. We need to keep working and understand our base”.

Augusto Fernandez – P14

“It has been a tough day, especially in qualifying. We continued to struggle with the time attack, we tried things to improve this, but in the end, it did not really work out. We refocused for the Sprint, with our base that works. It was nice to get the feeling back, I was able to overtake and recover some places until P14, so I am happy about that. The aim tomorrow will be the same, take a good start and overtake as much as I can.”

Franco Morbidelli – P15

“So far, it‘s a difficult weekend for us. I‘m not finding the right feeling with the bike, and I‘m slow in some sections of the track. I lost a lot of time there, and I can‘t do anything to recover. But we have some solutions for tomorrow. Let‘s see if they will pay off.”

Lorenzo Savadori – P16

“I’m happy with my sprint race. We all started extremely aggressively, with knives in our teeth, and I lost a bit of ground with overtakes and counter-overtakes. In any case, I had fun. It’s great to battle with the fast factory riders. Our pace isn’t bad. In the race tomorrow, I hope to be able to take another step forward. We are testing some new details on the RS-GP and the ability to be fast is definitely positive.”

Marc Marquez – P17

“I made a really good start to the race; I was able to make up a lot of positions in the first lap. Then I settled down a bit and just found my pace, focusing on myself. I was suffering a bit more today with the rib, especially in regard to breathing and using the pectoral in the best way. The goal for tomorrow is to finish the race. I also want to apologies to Enea for this morning, it was my mistake.”

Raul Fernandez – P18

“I’m happy that there were no mistakes, I did a good Qualifying and did my time along. I think we could have had more potential but I had a lot of traffic. The Sprint Race was crazy like always, I was behind Marc (Marquez) when Fabio (Di Giannantonio) crashed, his bike came on the track and I lost a lot of time, about two to three seconds to the group. We couldn’t do much there, and when I tried to overtake Franco (Morbidelli), I went wide. So, at this moment I tried to clean the tyre and not do any mistakes for us to take a little bit more information and data for tomorrow’s race where we will try to fight for points.”

Miguel Oliveira – P19

“Well, the race started off pretty well for me, and I was making progress and made up some positions. But then, between turn 10 and 11, I was overtaken by Johann (Zarco) and was pushed wide and five riders passed through. After that, braking into the first corner I overtook Marc (Marquez) who was on the outside, Alex (Marquez) then came and passed both of us so I kind of got sandwiched in between them and had to release the brake to avoid crashing into Alex. And that sums up my race today. We have to think of something for the main race for my shoulder and I’ll try my best for tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – P20

“I am really happy with how the day, and the weekend, has gone so far. We are improving with every run we do on the bike which is the goal. In Quali I found almost seventh tenths compared to Friday and I am getting closer and closer to the other Hondas. I’m happy with this. In the Sprint I made a good start but I played it safe in the opening corners. My pace improved over the race and I was able to overtake Bradl on the last lap. We need to check a few things tonight with the team, and hopefully I can make another step on Sunday.”

Jonas Folger – P21

“We took a good start but I don’t think that I ever got it all together during the race. At some moments, I was struggling to turn the bike, in other moments, I did not manage to close the front, so I lost a bit of confidence. Tomorrow is probably my last race, so I want to get it right. To do that, we have to work hard tonight to improve a few things, because I want to be able to stay with the front guys, at least with Lecuona, and do a better race than today.”

Stefan Bradl – P22

“Honestly, I can’t say I’m happy because you always want more as a rider, and we are facing a tough situation. I feel I can’t ride the bike how I want, and it’s quite frustrating when I finish the race. We’ll try to change some details and let’s see what happens”.

MotoGP Championship Points

Moto2 Qualifying

Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp)denied Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) pole by just 0.009s at Assen overnight.

Ai Ogura (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) holds the all-time lap record after Practice 3, and the Japanese rider bagged P3 on the grid in an incredible return to form.

Moto2 Qualifying Results

Moto3 Qualifying

David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) set a scintillating 1,34.181 to take pole position at the Motul TT Assen by 0.291s, securing his maiden pole in style.

Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) found a big step forward with his CFMoto machine that helped propel him to the middle of the front row ahead of Sunday’s race.

Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) rounds out the front row.

Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) failed to deliver after a tough Q1 session saw the no. 96 end up dead last on the grid.

Moto3 Qualifying Results

MotoE Race One

Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) took the lead early on in race one and then pushed at the front to hold off points leader Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team), with Torres then left to contend with a charging Randy Krummenacher (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE). But the Spaniard was able to just stay ahead, taking another valuable 20 points as Ferrari cut the gap to just 13.

MotoE Race One Results

MotoE Race Two

Once again, Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) couldn’t quite get the better of Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE). The Italian completed the double in style to move within eight points of Torres as the Spaniard was forced to settle for second, with Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) slicing through from P10 to complete the rostrum.

MotoE Race Two Results

MotoE Championship Points

2023 Assen MotoGP Weekend Schedule
Times in AEST

2023 MotoGP Calendar