Marquez 2nd on Assen grid, Pedrosa 5th after Q2 crash

The drama continued in Assen at the Dutch TT today with another day of changeable conditions.

In the final minutes of this morning’s wet-dry FP3 session, Marc Marquez suffered a big crash in turn 13 in his first exit on slick tyres on the drying track. Fortunately, he escaped serious injury but after further checks at Clinica Mobile, it was confirmed he had a small fracture in the intermediate phalanx of the little finger on the right hand and also in the first row phalanx of the big toe in his right foot. Unfazed, Marc went back on track for FP4 and finished fastest. He then executed a great Qualifying session securing his third front row start of the season, in second position, with a time of 1’34.755 on his final lap of 9.

For teammate Dani Pedrosa, it has been a frustrating end to his day. Dani, finishing 5th – just 0,248 seconds from Marc in FP4, was leading in Qualifying when he crashed in turn 7 midway through Q2. He arrived back in the garage with just two minutes left of the session, still leading by 0.3 with a time of 1’35.006, and opted not to go back on track. In the dying moments he was dislodged from the top spot and will start tomorrow’s 26 lap race from 5th on the grid.

Marc Marquez – 2nd – 1’34.755
“The session went pretty well. It was very important that we took part in qualifying and got this position on the grid, as before FP4 we did not expect to get a spot on the front row. We were certainly not expecting second, because the pain in my finger was really affecting me. When I put my glove on it hurt a lot, as did my back – my foot wasn’t as bad, fortunately. I tried to stay focused on the bike, despite the bruises, and we managed to get a good time. Today we were able to ride a hot lap, tomorrow we will have to see how we manage over 26 laps. The weather will also be a very important factor, because here it has been constantly changing this weekend”

Dani Pedrosa – 5th – 1’35.006
“We haven’t had any sessions that have really been good for putting in laps and trying out things with the bike. The conditions of the track and the weather haven’t really allowed us to improve the setup, because we’ve had very few laps on a completely dry track. However, in qualifying we were able to run a faster pace than in the rest of the practice sessions here. Despite the crash, the feeling is a lot better than it was yesterday. So, we will see if tomorrow we can get a good start and have a strong race”

Source: Repsol Honda Team