Assen Sunday guide for MotoGP
Assen, 1 July 2018: Marc Márquez has qualified on pole position for the first time in the premier class at Assen. This is the 75th pole position in his Grand Prix career and the 47th in the MotoGP class on what is his 98th start. However, he will start from pole position for the first time this year as he set the pole in Texas but started from Row 2 due to a penalty.
Over the last seven years, only Casey Stoner (2012) and Valentino Rossi (2015) have won the MotoGP™ race at the Dutch TT from pole position.
Cal Crutchlow starts from second on the grid and is top Independent team rider, which is his second front row start this year after he qualified on pole position in Jerez.
Third, on the grid, which is his second front row start of 2018, Valentino Rossi is the most successful rider across all classes on the grid at Assen with ten wins: 1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, and 8 x MotoGP. Nine of these came from the first two rows on the grid.
Yamaha hasn’t won since Valentino Rossi (17 successive races) took victory at Assen last season, which is the longest sequence without a win since the 18 races that included the last two races of 2002 and the 16 races of 2003.
Heading the second row on the grid as the highest-placed Ducati rider is Andrea Dovizioso, who will be aiming to become the second Ducati rider to win at the Dutch TT in the premier class, along with Casey Stoner (2008).
Álex Rins starts from fifth place on the grid, equalling his best qualifying result in the MotoGP™ class from Argentina earlier this year. This is the best qualifying result for a Suzuki rider at this track since Aleix Espargaró was second in 2015.
Maverick Viñales, who crashed out of the race last year in Assen on the twelfth lap at the last chicane, completes the second row. Viñales has had just one podium finish in his last nine starts.
Aleix Espargaró has qualified seventh, which is his best qualifying result since he was also seventh in Argentina earlier this year.
After passing through Q1 for the third first time since Aragón last year, Johann Zarco, who was on pole for the first time in the premier class last year at Assen, has qualified in eighth place – the third successive time he’s failed to qualify on the first two rows.
Andrea Iannone completed the third row of the grid, which is his worst qualifying result since he was 12th in Argentine earlier this year.
The winner of the last two races, Jorge Lorenzo starts from tenth and will be aiming to become the second Ducati rider to win three races in a row, along with Casey Stoner.
Danilo Petrucci, who was on the podium for the third time in the premier class last year at the Dutch TT, has qualified in 11th on the grid, which is his worst qualifying result since he was 18th at Argentina this year.
Álvaro Bautista has qualified 12th, which is his best qualifying result since he was ninth in Aragón last year.
Moto2
Francesco Bagnaia, who took his first GP victory at Assen in Moto3 two years ago, has qualified on pole position for the second time in Moto2 after Le Mans earlier this year, and the third time overall on what is his 95th Grand Prix start.
In second place on the grid is Marcel Schrötter, which is the third successive front row start of the season. He will be aiming to stand on the podium for the first time of his Grand Prix career.
Luca Marini is on the front row for the first time of his Grand Prix career. Over his last two visits to Assen, Marini has always failed to score any points, crashing out of the race in both 2016 and 2017.
Álex Márquez, who won the Moto3™ race in 2014 at Assen, heads the second row of the grid. His best result across the line at the Dutch TT in the Moto2™ class is a sixth-place finish last year.
In fifth place on the grid is Xavi Vierge, which is his best qualifying result since he was second at Le Mans earlier this year.
Sam Lowes, who is one of only two riders to have stood on the podium in Moto2™ at Assen along with Dominique Aegerter, starts from sixth on the grid – his best qualifying result since he was second in Austin this season.
Barcelona winner Fabio Quartartaro starts from seventh and will be aiming to become the second French rider to win back-to-back races in the Moto2™ class, along with Johann Zarco, and the third rider to win with Speed Up at Assen along with Andrea Iannone (2010) and Anthony West (2014).
Moto3
Jorge Martín has qualified on pole position for the fifth time this year and the 14thtime in the Moto3 class, becoming the rider with most pole positions in the class ahead of Alex Rins, who has 13.
Enea Bastianini starts from second on the grid, which is his third front row start at the Dutch TT in the Moto3 class. Over the last four years, he has managed to score points only once at Assen, crossing the line in sixth in 2015.
Nicolò Bulega completes the front row of the grid as the highest placed KTM rider, which is his best dry-weather qualifying result since he was also third last year in Germany. This is also his third successive front row start at Assen. He will be aiming for a first podium finish since he was third in Japan two years ago.
No Moto3 rider has won at the Dutch TT after qualifying on pole since the introduction of the category in 2012. Alex Márquez, in 2014, is the only rider to win in the class at the Dutch TT after qualifying on the front row.
Heading the second row is Arón Canet, which is the third successive time he has qualified on the first two rows on the grid. Canet, who took victory last year, is the only rider currently competing in Moto3™ to have won at the Dutch TT.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta has qualified in fifth place on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was fourth at Sepang back in 2016 and his best qualifying result in dry-weather conditions on what is his 44th Grand Prix start.
John McPhee, who crossed the line in third place last year – his most recent podium – starts from sixth on the grid, which is his best result since he was third at Argentina earlier this year.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi has qualified in ninth place on the grid, which is the third time this year he has failed to qualify on the first two rows on the grid.
