Espargaro on top as Assen action opens

Aleix Espargaro was quickest rider on track – in record pace – in the second practice run at the Iveco Daily TT Assen for the MotoGP™ class on Thursday, in front of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.

Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) produced the fastest ever lap of the current Assen track (1:33.653) towards the end of FP2 on a soft rear tire, the Spaniard beating Casey Stoner’s 2012 lap record (1:33.713).

FP1 saw Espargaro come in second to younger brother Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). The older of the brothers was one of the six riders in the 1:34s during the first session and he missed out on top spot by just 0.189s.

Aleix Espargaro is continuing to use his original chassis for 2014 while teammate Colin Edwards has been running a new Forward-made version.

Regarding his record pace he said, “I was not expecting that. To go in the 1:33s on the first day is really fast. I love this track, it’s one of my favourites on the calendar. I’ve had good results here before.

“With the front tire we are a little bit lost. We tried all three front tires and we still don’t know which direction to go. With the rear I can be fast with both, but it’s strange, the soft tire drops less than the hard. Maybe we can race with the soft as I was third with a 15-lap rear tire.”

Repsol Honda’s young World Champion Marquez was second overall, a 0.211 gap behind Espargaro, with Dani Pedrosa in third place (0.416s) at a track which is usually regarded to favour Yamaha.

“It went pretty well and I’m happy, because last year we suffered a lot at this track,” Marquez commented. “I think this is a good track for both Honda and Yamaha; they were better here last year but maybe this year we have taken a step forward and I feel very comfortable and happy with the pace that I have. We’ll see tomorrow, because it seems that we’re not so strong in the low temperatures, but I am convinced that we can match the competitors’ level.”

Pedrosa added, “We were fortunate to have two dry sessions here in Assen. In the morning the track was cooler but in the afternoon we had a very good track temperature, which allowed us to improve our feeling a little and in general we had good conditions for riding. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what condition the track is in, and then hope for a good qualifying session.”

The fastest factory Yamaha lap was set by Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) in fourth place, just under half a second off P1 pace.

Another good showing from Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone left him fifth, despite a run-off track in both Thursday sessions for the Italian.

Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) were classed in sixth and seventh respectively, with an identical 1:34.286 lap time.

Pol Espargaro was eighth after riding fastest in FP1, with Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completing the top 10.

Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) was down in 17th as he continues to ride with wrist problems, while in 22nd place Danilo Petrucci (IodaRacing Project) returned for the first time since Jerez following a wrist injury of his own.

In the second Moto2™ session of the day on Thursday at the Iveco Daily TT Assen Tito Rabat led the way, with Sam Lowes and Dominique Aegerter just behind him on the timesheet.

Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) registered an impressive 1:37.869 lap and demonstrated a strong race pace to underline his strength on the first day of practice in the Netherlands.

Rabat did not have such a good time in FP1 due to technical problems and a brief ride the wrong way down pit lane which resulted in a fine from Race Direction.

In FP2 with another new livery rookie Lowes (Speed Up) impressed again in second place (0.081s) at a circuit where he has previous experience, while Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) was third overall – having recently tried a MotoGP™ machine with Avintia Racing in the post-Barcelona race test.

Completing the top five were FP1’s fastest rider Jonas Folger (AGR Team) and Spaniard Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2), both just under half a second behind Rabat.

FP2 for the Moto3 class riders at the Iveco Daily TT Assen saw Enea Bastianini set the pace, ahead of Jack Miller and Isaac Viñales.

Rookie Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3) took more than a second off the previous lap record pace, putting in a superb late 1:42.366 to stun the rest of the field.

Championship leader Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was fastest in FP1 and improved in the afternoon, the Australian way ahead of his rivals before Bastianini’s late hot lap left Miller 0.206s off P1.

Viñales (Calvo Team) was almost half a second down on Bastianini’s time in a sunny afternoon session with the threatening rain ultimately not materializing.

–From motogp.com

MotoGP Practice Times (courtesy Repsol Honda)

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