MotoGP - Crash orgy in MotoGP training at Assen, Marc Marquez again injured

Fabio Quartararo is the fastest man on track in MotoGP practice at Assen . However, the session is overshadowed by several heavy crashes. Marc Marquez , who had already crashed earlier in the day, even had to be supported after his crash.

The result: Quartararo was 0.102 seconds faster than Alex Marquez with a time of 1:31.156 minutes. Third place went to Pedro Acosta ahead of Marco Bezzecchi. Ducati stars Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Fabio Di Giannantonio finished seventh, followed by Maverick Vinales and Franco Morbidelli. Johann Zarco snagged the last spot for direct entry into Q2.

Fermin Aldeguer (12th) and Brad Binder (18th) will have to compete in Q1.

Crashes, defects & incidents: Alex Marquez crashed on his first fast lap at turn one. He slid on his Ducati under braking and landed in the gravel trap. Marquez escaped unscathed, but his bike had to be recovered by the marshals.

Alex Marquez's crash was just the beginning of a veritable flood of crashes. In the first ten minutes, five more riders went down: Fermin Aldeguer, Aleix Espargaro (both at Turn 7), Franco Morbidelli (Turn 12), Johann Zarco, and Enea Bastianini (both at Turn 16).

Shortly before the halfway point of the session, Ai Ogura flew off at Turn 11. His Aprilia exploded in a ball of fire, and a red flag interruption was the logical choice. After eight minutes, practice was able to resume.

Lorenzo Savadori then crashed heavily at the exit of turn eight. He hit the asphalt hard after a highside but escaped unscathed. His Aprilia remained on the track, forcing the session to be suspended again. A quick restart was planned but aborted at the last second. Numerous riders who were already on their way to the pit exit had to push their bikes back through the pit lane. The session resumed after a ten-minute break.

The final crash of the session was Marc Marquez's. He was caught in turn seven. Marquez, who had already crashed heavily earlier in the day, was visibly shaken and had to be pulled off the track while exiting the gravel trap, but returned to the pits shortly afterwards.

The weather: As in the first free practice session, Assen was cloudy and cool during the MotoGP practice session in the afternoon. With overcast skies, the outside temperature reached just 18 degrees, while the track temperature reached 26 degrees.