Marquez second fastest at wet TT Assen, Pedrosa on fourth row
Qualifying day at the Dutch TT dawned wet as expected, with all of the day’s sessions affected by rain to greater or lesser extents.
Marc Marquez set the third fastest time in FP3 on a wet track and the seventh fastest in FP4 in mixed conditions before attaining a very important front-row start position during qualifying, on a wet-but-drying surface. Marc set a series of fastest laps throughout the 15-minute stint and was pushed off provisional pole only by Johann Zarco at the very end, by just 0.065 seconds.
Dani Pedrosa had to settle for a fourth-row start after struggling all day with a lack of grip, finding it hard to put enough heat into the tyres in today’s challenging weather conditions.
Weather forecasts indicate dry conditions for tomorrow’s MotoGP race, which will get underway at 1 p.m. local time.
Marc Marquez
“Today was one of those days when you have to take some risks because you ‘need’ to be there. Toward the end of the session, a dry line started to form and we were able to be faster and faster. At the very end I missed the chance to do another lap when I took the flag by a couple of seconds. But okay, we’re on the front row, which was the main target for today. The team did a great job and I’m happy. Tomorrow we’ll see what weather we have. You never know here; it can change every five minutes. Our opponents are strong in both wet and dry, but we’re not so far off and tomorrow we’ll try to start well, stay with them, and fight for the podium.”
Dani Pedrosa
“It was impossible for me to ride normally today, as I couldn’t put any temperature in the tyres, especially the rear and especially on the full wet. I had no grip at all; the tyres were too hard for me. We tried everything on the bike, everything on the tyres, everything on track, but unfortunately there was nothing to do. For tomorrow, of course we must adapt to the situation, which isn’t the best for me at this track, but I’ll try to focus on the race and do as well as possible.”
Qualifying Results (Wet Session)
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|
Location Information
Assen is the only venue to have held a round of the Motorcycle World Championship every year since its creation in 1949. The circuit was purpose built for the Dutch TT in 1955, with previous events having been held on public roads. The track is narrow, with rapid changes in… read more.
| Length | 4.542 kilometres / 2.822 miles |
| Width | 14 metres |
| Left corners | 6 |
| Right corners | 12 |
| Longest straight | 0.487 kilometres / 0.303 miles |
| Constructed | 1955 |
| Modified | 2012 |
TT Circuit Assen, De Haar, Assen, The Netherlands - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 31.504s (178.6km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) |
| Race Lap | 1m 32.500s (176.7km/h) Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 2022) |
| Race Time | 40m 25.205s (175.2km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) |
| 2023 Race Winner | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |
| 2023 Sprint Winner | Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) |
