Espargaro brothers Pol and Aleix topped the opening MotoGP free practice timesheets at Assen this morning with late laps that edged former world champion Jorge Lorenzo into third but ensured a Yamaha lock-out of the top three positions.
Movistar rider Lorenzo had been sitting pretty at the top of the sheets with a 1’34.736, less than a tenth ahead of Marc Marquez but he was bumped first by Aleix on the soft-tyred Forward NGM bike with a 1’34.719 before Pol, on the Monster Yamaha, rocked into the number one spot on a 1’34.530 despite being held up in the last sector by Andrea Dovizioso.
Marquez recovered from an early trip into the gravel trap at De Bult to set the fastest Honda time in fourth on a 1’34.770 before the Yamahas come mob handed again with Bradley Smith in fifth.
The British rider had led early on with a 1’34.915 on his 13th lap but he couldn’t go any quicker and slipped down the order but was still quicker than Valentino Rossi in sixth place whose best was a 1.34.974, also set on his 13th lap.
Ducati’s Dovizioso used the Open class soft tyre to set the seventh-best time of 1.35.069 and go ahead of Dani Pedrosa on the second works Honda. The Spaniard is more than half a second off the pace.
Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, equipped with satellite but works Hondas, were ninth and tenth with Andrea Iannone the next of the Ducatis, putting his satellite Pramac Desmosedici in 11th on a 1’35.888.
Cal Crutchlow ended behind Colin Edwards in 13th, one place ahead of Scott Redding. Nicky Hayden struggled to 19th place which means Leon Camier is probably checking his phone every four seconds.
Michael Laverty’s PBM Aprilia is sporting a new exhaust this weekend which he hopes will give him an extra ten per cent in the midrange. The Irishman ended in 21st.
