Assen qualifying sees Sergio Garcia line up 16th, with Alonso Lopez 24th

Sergio Garcia Dols and Alonso Lopez achieve their initial goal of reaching Q2, but will start from 16th and 24th on the grid as a result of traffic and a sanction, respectively.

The Estrella Galicia 0,0 Moto3 riders took part in the third Free Practice session and qualifying for the Dutch TT on Saturday, held at the historic Assen TT Circuit.

Temperatures increased significantly compared to Friday, climbing to 30ºC (ambient) and 43ºC (track) in qualifying.

Sergio Garcia (1:42.428) will take off from 16th on the grid, with Alonso Lopez 24th (1:44.718). On pole is Italian rider Niccolo Antonelli, with a time of 1:41.232.

Sunday’s schedule sees a warmup for the Moto3 riders at 8:40am local time, with the race itself getting underway at 11am.

Alonso López
“Today became difficult again, because we didn’t have the opportunity to consolidate the true pace we have with a good lap. This hindered us, despite the fact that we got into Q2 again. We will also start from further back on the grid due to the penalty from FP2. However, I don’t think that any of this can prevent us from having a good race, because the gap in times between the other riders is very tight. It will be very important to handle the first laps of the race well.”

Sergio García
“We started FP3 very well, riding at a good pace and making it directly into Q2. The feeling with the bike was very good and we were well prepared for Q2. However, qualifying went bad for me then, because I couldn’t set a clean lap. Now we have to improve our performance at that decisive moment. I think the race will have a big group at the front.”