Pecco Bagnaia’s chances of narrowing Jorge Martin’s 18-point lead in the MotoGP championship appear promising at the Dutch TT following a strong performance at Assen on Friday. Bagnaia, the reigning champion, led the morning session for the first time in his MotoGP career and continued his success in the afternoon session, securing the top spot with a new track record time of 1m31.340s. Meanwhile, Martin had a subdued morning and finished fifth in the afternoon, nearly half a second behind Bagnaia.
During the afternoon session, Martin encountered a potentially dangerous situation when Jack Miller’s KTM clipped his Pramac Ducati, causing Miller to lose a wing. Martin’s slow pace on the racing line may result in a penalty. Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro, riding for Aprilia, claimed second and fourth place respectively, with Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez impressively sandwiched between them.
Unfortunately, Espargaro’s session ended abruptly with a severe crash at the final chicane. He collided headfirst with the screen of his bike and landed heavily on his lower back in the gravel. Medical staff attended to him and transported him away from the scene on a stretcher.
In sixth place was Marc Maquez, trailing his brother by two tenths of a second. Brad Binder was the only KTM rider to secure a spot in Q2 so far. Pedro Acosta had a disappointing opening day, finishing in 15th place. Despite crashing his Ducati in the final minutes, Enea Bastianini advanced directly to Q2, a feat he narrowly avoided in previous attempts.
Raul Fernandez, riding a year-old Trackhouse Aprilia, and Martin’s teammate Franco Morbidelli completed the initial Q2 lineup. Fabio Quartararo narrowly missed out on a Q2 spot, but showcased Yamaha’s latest engine with an 11th place finish. His teammate Alex Rins finished 14th. Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio, representing VR46 Ducati, were separated by the two Yamaha riders, with Di Giannantonio suffering from track-limits violations that affected his performance.
Joan Mir experienced a crash during the session, joining Repsol Honda teammate Luca Marini at the bottom of the field. They were followed by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori and struggling Tech3 rider Augusto Fernandez.