Race ready Marquez secures fourth on the grid
Marc Marquez saves another incredible moment on his way to head the second row of the grid for Sunday’s Dutch GP.
Saturday’s action at ‘The Cathedral’ started in typically exciting fashion as the MotoGP World Championship fought for the top ten places in Free Practice 3. A late charge moved reigning champion Marc Marquez up to third in the session with a 1’32.688 and granted him direct passage into Q2.
Setting a 1’32.731 around the 4.5km TT Circuit Assen, Marquez was able to secure fourth as track temperature reached 49°C and the all time lap record was obliterated. Marquez’s penultimate flying lap was upset by a massive moment at Turn 1, the Repsol Honda Team rider performing one of his trademark saves to remain upright.
This is the first time Marquez has not started on the front row of the grid for a MotoGP race in 2019. Having worked with Sunday’s race in mind all weekend, Marquez is confident in his ability to fight his way forward.
Marc Marquez will line up as the lone representative for the Repsol Honda Team on Sunday for the 26-lap MotoGP race after Jorge Lorenzo was declared unfit after his fall in FP1.
Marc Marquez
“I’m happy with the race pace and we knew before the Qualifying that it would be tough as there is more competition than normal. It looks like in the morning it is a little tricky but then in the afternoon when the conditions get warmer we are there. I think it’s going to be a very close race tomorrow and there are four or five of us with good pace. Normally it’s a circuit where we struggle, but in Mugello normally we struggle and we got second and in Montmelo we struggled and won.”
Dutch Grand Prix Qualification Results
| 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) |
