2024 Dutch MotoGP, Assen - Friday Practice Results

* Rookie

Francesco Bagnaia completed a perfect sweep of Friday practice for the 2024 Dutch MotoGP at Assen.

The reigning champion finished 0.065s ahead of Maverick Vinales with Alex Marquez snatching a late third place in the afternoon hour.

But rookie star Pedro Acosta was unable to crack the top ten and must take part in Saturday’s Qualifying 1.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro finished the session on a stretcher after a heavy accident at the final chicane.

Fastest in FP1, reigning champion Bagnaia picked up where he left off in the afternoon, posting a string of improvements to stay on top.

Marc Marquez - second to Bagnaia this morning - went onto soft tyres early for a time attack just after the midway stage but couldn’t dislodge his future team-mate.

Instead, it was Aprilia’s Vinales who finally toppled Bagnaia, with just over ten minutes to go, pushing 0.340s clear.

But Bagnaia quickly responded, while Marc Marquez - after searching for a tow - lost the front through the ultra-fast penultimate corner and ran wide.

A crowd of riders were waiting for Bagnaia on his final run and he opted to return to the pits without trying for a faster time.

Title leader Jorge Martin looked agitated by the handling of his Pramac Ducati, then suffered a huge scare when he was clipped by Jack Miller.

Martin had slowed ahead of the Australian, who had also backed off and was looking behind when their paths crossed. Fortunately, both stayed on board, but Miller’s bike suffered some aero damage.

Joan Mir (Repsol Honda), Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and finally Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) fell in the closing stages.

Espargaro was brutally kicked from his bucking RS-GP at the final chicane and carried away by marshals in obvious discomfort.

* Rookie

The factory Ducati team’s newly announced 2025 rider line-up of Francesco Bagnaia and incoming team-mate Marc Marquez topped the timesheets during opening practice for the Dutch MotoGP at Assen.

However, VR46's Fabio di Giannantonio led the way when the session ended, only to be stripped of his best lap for exceeding track limits, demoting him to seventh.

That also promoted Raul Fernandez to a surprise third for Trackhouse on the 2023 Aprilia, after briefly featuring in P1, with Fabio Quartararo likewise impressing with fourth place for Yamaha.

Team-mate Alex Rins revealed on Thursday that the Yamaha riders have one new engine each from the recent Valencia test. Rins was 16th this morning.

Factory Aprilia team-mates Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro were fifth and sixth.

Espargaro toppled over as he tried to pull away from the pits at the start of the 45 minutes, then promptly pulled off track with a technical issue, causing him to miss the opening stages.

Alex Marquez made it two Gresini machines in the top three in the closing stages before being bumped down to eighth, but only 0.366s from Bagnaia.

Brad Binder was the fastest KTM in ninth ahead of Pramac Ducati title leader Jorge Martin, now confirmed as an Aprilia rider for 2025.

Martin starts the weekend a reduced 18 points clear of Bagnaia.

2023 Assen Sprint winner and lap record holder Marco Bezzecchi ran off at highspeed through the penultimate corner, rejoining without harm. The VR46 and future factory Aprilia rider finished the session in 12th.

Rookie star Pedro Acosta took to the turn one run-off on several occasions on his way to 14th.

Takaaki Nakagami was the leading Honda down in 18th place.