MotoGP 2016: Dovizioso claims pole amidst tricky conditions at Assen

Saying that the qualifying at the Netherlands round of 2016 MotoGP season was full of surprises would be an understatement. The qualifying session at the TT Circuit Assen was full of chaos, and was littered with crashes while also unfolding a lot of drama. Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati emerged as the fastest man during the qualifiers as the Italian clinched his fourth pole position in premier class at Assen. Dovizioso will be joined by Valentino Rossi of Yamaha and Scott Redding of Pramac Ducati on the first grid.

The FP4 and Q1 sessions were marred by the rains resulting in a number of riders crashing out. In Q2, the track started to dry out, although the conditions were still tricky. Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda, who had topped the FP4, crashed out uneventfully on Turn 8 of his first lap, moments after Maverick Vinales of Suzuki. Marquez, however, snatched a service scooter from a journalist to get back to the pits for his second bike. Once back on the track, Marquez was able to clock the fourth fastest time of the session.

Meantime, Dovizioso put a masterclass by setting a lap time of 1’45.246 to take pole by 0.7s from Rossi. British rider Redding was a further second down on Dovizioso’s lap time and will start third from the grid – his first start from front grid in the premier class. His compatriot, Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda managed to secure 5^th place on the grid.

Reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha struggled to make any impression on his chief rivals as he only managed to finish 11^th fastest. Dani Pedrosa of Repsol Honda had even a worse day at work as he couldn’t even cut it to the Q2. In Q1 he finished 6^th owing to a crash, which means he will start 16^th tomorrow. Ducati’s Andrea Iannone, who topped practice sessions on Friday, was 9^th fastest, although he will be starting from last position on the grid, thanks to the penalty from last race where he took Lorenzo out. All told, if the weather remains as chaotic as today, it would be anyone’s race to win…

2016 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying (25/06/2016)
TT Circuit Assen – 4,545km, 18 turns

1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO(Ducati Team DUCATI) Q2 1'45.246
2. Valentino ROSSI(Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA) Q2 1'45.961
3. Scott REDDING(OCTO Pramac Yakhnich DUCATI) Q2 1'46.312
4. Marc MARQUEZ(Repsol Honda Team HONDA) Q2 1'46.430
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW(LCR Honda HONDA) Q2 1'46.568
6. Yonny HERNANDEZ(Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI) Q2 1'46.828
7. Pol ESPARGARO(Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA) Q2 1'46.997
8. Aleix ESPARGARO(Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI) Q2 1'47.118
9. Andrea IANNONE(Ducati Team DUCATI) Q2 1'47.567
10. Danillo PETRUCCI(OCTO Pramac Yakhnich DUCATI) Q2 1'47.601
11. Jorge LORENZO(Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA) Q2 1'47.897
12. Maverick VIÑALES(Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI) Q2 1'48.415
13. Hector BARBERA(Avintia Racing DUCATI) Q1 1'48.830
14. Bradley SMITH(Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA) Q1 1'48.909
15. Alvaro BAUTISTA(Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA) Q1 1'49.163
16. Dani PEDROSA(Repsol Honda Team HONDA) Q1 1'49.364
17. Eugene LAVERTY(Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI) Q1 1'49.678
18. Stefan BRADL(Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA) Q1 1'49.685
19. Jack MILLER(Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA) Q1 1'49.775
20. Tito Rabbat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA) Q1 1'49.779
21. Michele PIRRO(OCTO Pramac Yakhnich DUCATI)Q2 1'50.204