While since the start of the year Valentino has not achieved extraordinary performances in general on Fridays, he achieved a much more promising one on the Assen circuit by mingling with the leaders during the first two sessions. This is all the more important for the Italian campionissimo as if it rains on Saturday morning, he will automatically qualify for Q2.
The tests which recently took place in Barcelona and the arrival of a new Yamaha chassis had a beneficial effect on Vale's results, which as of Friday morning was ranked in fifth position, behind Danilo Petrucci, Johann zarco, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso. It had been a long time since Vale had such a good FP1, which could only give him and his team confidence.
The afternoon confirmed the good morning performance, with the sixth time 0.700 behind his teammate Maverick Vinales. It was an important first step towards qualification in Q2, the Dutch weather not being very optimistic for FP3 on Saturday morning.
A good performance on Sunday will be useful to Rossi, who after three consecutive podiums in the first three races in Qatar, Argentina and the United States, suffered a setback with his Le Mans crash while fighting for victory .
For Valentino Rossi, “ This first day was tough, as always at Assen, but in the end it was very positive for me because I was in the top 5 this morning and in sixth position this afternoon.
“It was very important to stay in the top 10 for Q2 tomorrow because it looks like the weather will be worse then.
“We were very lucky because we had two dry sessions, which at Assen is not always the case. We were able to work on the chassis and my feeling with the bike is not that bad.
“Of course we still have work to do. The balance of the bike is not yet 100%, but for a Friday it was good. »
Results of the first day:
1. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 33.130
2. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 33.497s +0.367
3. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 33.782s +0.652
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.790s +0.660
5. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 33.828s +0.698
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 33.830s +0.700
7. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.890s +0.760
8. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 33.986s +0.856
9. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 34.103 +0.973
10. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 34.148s +1.018
11. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 34.299
12. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 34.337s +1.207
13. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 34.491s +1.361
14. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 34.523s +1.393
15. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 34.596s +1.466
16. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 34.605s +1.475
17. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 34.617s +1.487
18. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 34.759s +1.629
19. Alex Rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 34.923s +1.793
20. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 35.039s +1.909
21. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 35.185s +2.055
22. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 35.373s +2.243
23. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 36.334s +3.204
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 111 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 104
3 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 88
4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 84
5 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 83
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 75
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 59
8 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 51
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 45
10 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 42
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 34
12 Scott REDDING-Ducati 33
13 Jack MILLER-Honda 30
14 Loris BAZ-Ducati 23
15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 21
16 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 21
