Assen MotoGP: Pedrosa sets blistering pace in second practice

Honda teammate Marc Marquez had looked set to finish on top after having dominated the session from the start, but Pedrosa went quickest in the dying moments with a time of 1:33.450.

Marquez had gone fastest very early in the session with a lap of 1:33.589, which beat the pole position record set by Casey Stoner in 2012.

Pedrosa's best was the fastest time around the Dutch circuit, however, bettering the practice record set last year by Marquez.

Valentino Rossi, quickest in the morning, was third for Yamaha, ahead of the Ducati of Andrea Iannone and Cal Crutchlow on the LCR Honda.

Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo finished down in sixth place.

With a chance of rain tomorrow, most of the field was very busy carrying out race preparation for Saturday.

Lorenzo, who switched to the new Yamaha chassis for the second session after having used the old one in the morning, set the early pace from Marquez.

It took the winner of the last four races just two laps before he bettered Rossi's best from the first session.

Iannone made his first appearance at the head of the times a minute later, the Ducati rider setting a new best of 1:34.302.

The Italian's joy was short-lived, however, with Marquez flying to first place with a stunning 1:33.589 lap.

First Rossi and then Pedrosa got closer to Marquez's time, the Italian regaining second place with seven minutes left.

But with less than two minutes left, Pedrosa shot to the top of the times with a 1:33.450.