Marco Bezzecchi consolidated his position at the head of the timesheets during Friday Practice for the MotoGP Dutch TT at Assen, while there was more misery for Marc Marquez after ending his day in the gravel trap.

A year on from clinching a maiden MotoGP podium result mid-way through his rookie season, Bezzecchi has returned to Assen as a title contender on the VR46 Ducati.

Already a double race winner this year, Bezzecchi appears to be in with a good shout of a third at Assen after comfortably out-performing his rivals in both P1 and P2, the Italian ending his day with a 1m 32.063s best.

He chased by the man who replaced him for second in the overall standings last time out in Germany, with Jorge Martin recovering to second after having an earlier run hampered by his airbag activating as he rounded Ruskenhoek.

Jack Miller posted a late improvement to haul his KTM into a provisional top three after practice, with defending champion Pecco Bagnaia revealing his hand in the closing stages too as he rebounded to fourth.

Maverick Vinales completed a positive day for Aprilia generally to finish his day fifth, with Aleix Espargaro seventh - despite being baulked on his final lap by a dithering Franco Morbidelli - and the RNF bikes just outside the top ten, Raul Fernandez getting the better of Miguel Oliveira in 12th and 13th respectively.

Between the factory RSV4s was Fabio Quartararo, the Monster Energy Yamaha Racing rider enjoying arguably his most positive start to a weekend this season, less than +0.3s off the top spot.

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Rounding out the last of the automatic Q2 qualifiers, Brad Binder, Luca Marini and Alex Marquez squeezed into the top ten in eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.

Among those with work to do in Q1 tomorrow now, Johann Zarco was just a tenth off safety en route to 11th, while Takaaki Nakagami slipped from sixth in P1 to 14th in P2 while still leading the muted Honda charge.

There is also work to do for Enea Bastianini, the Italian struggling to find his groove in only his third race weekend of the season since returning from injury.

He was faring better than an embattled Marquez endured a torrid day, languishing near the bottom of the timesheets throughout and appearing to struggle with discomfort from his cracked rib.

His frustration was then compounded further with three minutes remaining when the Repsol Honda let go at Turn 3, leaving him to watch the remainder of the session from the sidelines as his slipped to 19th on the timesheets.

MotoGP Dutch TT Assen | Combined Practice Results [P1+P2]