Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez has taken the charge of Assen timesheets in an impossibly-tight third practice where the top five riders are covered by 0.062s and the top ten by half a second.
Marquez used a medium/soft Michelin combination to set a 1’33.341 on his 21st of 23 laps but he was pushed as hard as possible by a resurgent Maverick Vinales who ended just 0.001s behind.
The Movistar Yamaha man has found some pace using a set of carbon Ohlins forks he had discarded earlier in the year, and has also been practicing with a full tank of fuel to improve his early-race pace.
Britain’s Cal Crutchlow mirrored Marquez’ tyre combination to finish 0.006s behind his HRC stablemate but it was bad news for the final factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa who slumped to 15th place and will have to go through qualifying one.
A late stop for a new soft rear gave Valentino Rossi the grip required to bag fourth place with a 1'33.388 while Andrea Iannone took fifth on a 1'33.403.
Danilo Petrucci finds himself as the leading Ducati in sixth place as the Bologna men struggle to find pace through the fast and flowing fourth sector. Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso are also in trouble on the run to the line with the Italian the quickest but still three-tenths down on fastest man Marquez.
Lorenzo, who tried the hard rear this morning but wasn't able to match his pace from yesterday, finished just behind Petrucci with Dovizioso only making into qualifying two by right by the skin of his teeth in tenth.
He was pushed down by times from Alvaro Bautista in ninth and Aleix Espargaro in eighth and it was the elder Espargaro's effort on the Aprilia which pushed the younger, KTM-mounted Pol Espargaro out of Q2.
Johann Zarco's woes continue as he ended the morning in 12th, one place ahead of Jack Miller. Alex Rins showed early pace on the soft rear but couldn't up his game to anything higher than 14th but it was still enough to best Pedrosa.
Franco Morbidelli was taken to the medical centre after a whopping 120mph get-off at the Ruskenhoek.