Mixed fortunes on Friday at Assen for the Repsol Honda Team
A conservative Marc Marquez ended the opening day in Assen in seventh, after suffering a heavy fall in FP1 Jorge Lorenzo has been forced to withdraw from the Dutch GP.
Cool morning proceedings gave way to warm running in the afternoon at the 2019 Dutch GP. Marc Marquez started the day with sixth place in Free Practice 1. Improving his time by over a second, the reigning MotoGP World Champion finished the day seventh overall. Once again, the pace of the top ten was within a second and Marquez remains confident in his approach come Sunday.
Jorge Lorenzo’s Dutch GP was unfortunately cut short by a crash at Turn 7 during Free Practice 1. The five-time World Champion fell heavily and suffered a stable fracture to the T6 vertebra. An MRI was performed after, revealing a trabecular fracture in the T8 vertebra as well confirming the T6 fracture. He will soon travel to his home in Lugano, Switzerland.
Running resumes in Assen for the MotoGP class at 09:55 Saturday, June 29, with Free Practice 3.
Marc Marquez
“Seventh on Friday isn’t a panic, we are working for the race and looking to analyse everything. Different tyres and all of these things, working for Sunday. There are four or five riders with a similar pace at the moment but we are there, that’s important. We keep working. It was also very special today to be alongside some of Honda’s legends to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Honda Racing. I’m very sorry for Lorenzo and wish him a speedy recovery.”
Jorge Lorenzo
“Due to the fall I fractured both my T6 and T8 vertebrae. The injury does not allow me to race here in Assen or at the Sachsenring. Tomorrow morning I will fly to Lugano and do all the possible treatments to get ready to go to Brno.”
Dutch TT Combined Free Practice Classification
| 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) |
