Aprilia rider Jorge Martin claimed his first-ever pole position in Noale colours during MotoGP qualifying at Assen.
The Spaniard recorded a 1:30.812s, three tenths shy of the lap record, but edged out the field by the narrowest of margins as Aprilia stole the headlines.
For the first time in the team’s history, Aprilia locked out the front row, with Martin’s closest challenger, Brno pole sitter Ai Ogura, lapping just 0.011s slower.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the front row, further emphasising how close the field was after lapping just 0.033s off pole.
Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez claimed fourth place, putting all Aprilia riders in the highest possible positions for both races.
Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia qualified as the leading Ducati rider in fifth, followed by VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Bagnaia’s team-mate Marc Marquez could only manage seventh after having multiple laps deleted for exceeding track limits.
Despite lapping 0.4s off the pace, KTM rider Pedro Acosta qualified eighth, though his session was cut short due to the bike cutting out.
Fabio Quartararo secured an impressive ninth for Yamaha, followed by Honda’s Joan Mir and Tech3 rider Enea Bastianini.
Gresini’s Alex Marquez opted not to set a time as a safety precaution due to his current injuries.
Franco Morbidelli narrowly missed out on a Q2 spot as he was up on his entire lap before the final sector, ultimately leaving him to start from 13th on the grid.
LCR Honda rider Diogo Moreira qualified in 14th spot despite crashing out in his final time attack.
Brad Binder and Alex Rins qualified 15th and 16th, respectively, ahead of factory Honda rider Luca Marini.
Jack Miller posted a time to put him in 18th, lapping half a second quicker than Tech3 rider Maverick Vinales.
Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez qualified 20th, ahead of LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow and full-time Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Discussion about this post