FP1

Friday morning already started with a delay due to weather conditions, which affected all classes. And as if that wasn’t already enough, the session started with a crash: Marc Marquez suffered a scary accident just 23 minutes into Free Practice 1. The Spanish rider lost control at Turn 15, also known as Ramshoek – one of the fastest and most dangerous corners at the Assen circuit. He was violently thrown off his bike in a highside and hit the ground hard.

The cause of the crash, according to team manager Davide Tardozzi, was possibly downshifting too quickly, which may have caused the rear wheel to lock up and send the bike into a spin. Marquez walked away, but it was clear he was in pain, holding his left elbow and hand as he returned to the pit box. At that moment, it looked like his morning might be over.

But, as Marc often proves, he is built differently. With 19 minutes left in the session, he was back on track – as if nothing had happened. And with just over 12 minutes to go, he put in a stunning lap to jump to P1 with a time of 1:32.216, which shocked everyone in the paddock. It was truly a classic Marc Marquez moment.

Behind him, Maverick Viñales looked fast and consistent, finishing the session in second. Marco Bezzecchi was close behind in third, showing strong pace early in the weekend. These three riders – all from different manufacturers – made up the top three.

The rest of the top six included other strong names. Francesco Bagnaia placed fourth, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was fifth, continuing his impressive form. Fabio Quartararo finished sixth and was the fastest Yamaha rider in the session.

Other riders further down the order were trying to build rhythm, but many of them faced challenges, especially with the cold and tricky track conditions in the morning. Several riders had close calls, but they escaped without serious crashes in FP1.

PR

If FP1 was dramatic, the afternoon Practice session was complete chaos. The session was stopped twice by red flags and saw at least 10 riders crash at different parts of the circuit. It turned into one of the most crash-filled practice sessions of the season so far.

The first red flag came when Ai Ogura had a big crash at Turn 11. He was thrown off the bike and landed hard, but thankfully, he escaped without injury. The crash forced the session to pause while marshals cleared the track.

Just before Ogura’s crash, the list of incidents was already growing. Alex Marquez crashed at Turn 1, while his teammate Fermin Aldeguer lost the front at Turn 7. That same corner also caught out Aleix Espargaró, who went down shortly after.

Then came the first big shock: Marc Marquez crashed again, this time at Turn 7. He tucked the front of his Ducati and slid into the gravel. It was his second crash of the day, and once again, he looked uncomfortable afterward.

The red flags came out again later when Lorenzo Savadori crashed at Turn 8. Meanwhile, Franco Morbidelli crashed at Turn 12, and both Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini crashed in the Geert Timmer chicane, near the end of the lap.

It was chaos, but once the session resumed, riders went into time attack mode, trying to secure a top 10 position. This is important because a top-10 result guarantees direct access to Q2 in Saturday qualifying, avoiding the risky Q1 session.

With 10 minutes to go, Bagnaia hit the top with a time of 1:31.410, just ahead of Marquez. Then Bezzecchi briefly took over P1, but Alex Marquez jumped to the top not long after. As the end of the session approached and it looked like things might stay that way, Fabio Quartararo pulled off an incredible lap.

Quartararo clocked a 1:31.156, jumping to P1 and giving Yamaha something to celebrate after a difficult season. It was one of his best Fridays in a long time.

Pedro Acosta quietly climbed into third place, while Bezzecchi ended up fourth and Bagnaia in fifth. Despite his two crashes, Marc Marquez still finished sixth – an impressive result under the circumstances.

Further back, Fabio Di Giannantonio finished seventh with another late push. Viñales settled for eighth after looking strong in FP1. Franco Morbidelli, despite his crash, ended up ninth, and Johann Zarco rounded out the top ten, just ahead of Raul Fernandez, who missed Q2 by a slim margin.