Practice report

MotoGP Dutch GP: Bezzecchi tops FP1, Marquez 21st

VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi topped first practice for the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix, as Marc Marquez’s new approach left him a distant 21st on his Honda.

A year on from his maiden MotoGP podium at the Dutch venue, Bezzecchi kicked off the 2023 Assen weekend by leading the field by 0.314 seconds having taken control of FP1 early on.

Bezzecchi went top with a 1m33.961s with around seven minutes of the session gone and began a succession of standings-topping laps, culminating in a 1m33.289s.

This would go unchallenged until the final 16 minutes, when Bezzecchi improved again to a 1m32.725s.

Fitting a fresh soft rear tyre for the final few moments of the session, Bezzecchi found more time to end the morning with a 1m32.246s.

He would not be tested as the final few laps of the session were posted, with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales his nearest challenger on a 1m32.560s.

Alex Marquez completed the top three on his Gresini Ducati ahead of Pramac’s Johann Zarco, who suffered a high-speed crash going through Turn 15 with 16 minutes to go.

Despite his fast get-off, Zarco was able to re-join the session on his second Ducati to go fourth ahead of fellow Frenchman Fabio Quartararo.

The Yamaha rider is carrying injury into the Assen round after breaking the big toe on his left foot in a running incident while in Amsterdam earlier this week.

Despite this, Quartararo enjoyed a solid morning on his M1 to end up fifth, 0.558s off the pace, with VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini trailing him.

Takaaki Nakagami was the top Honda rider by a considerable margin on his LCR-run RC213V in seventh, with German GP winner Jorge Martin eighth on the sister Pramac Ducati.

Jack Miller was ninth on the first of the KTMs, with Aleix Espargaro splitting him on his Aprilia from team-mate Brad Binder on the second factory team RC16.

Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia was only 12th at the chequered flag after a scrappy session on his factory Ducati.

The Italian suffered several moments throughout the 45-minute session, with a fast headshake going through Turn 13 in the closing stages leaving him visibly frustrated.

After a bruising Sachsenring weekend which consisted of five crashes, an injured Marc Marquez has come to Assen with a more cautious approach.

Fitting a fresh soft rear tyre for a late time attack, Marquez’s reserved run on his Honda showed as he could only muster a 1m34.111s to end FP1 1.8s off the pace in 21st ahead of only Iker Lecuiona as he deputises for the injured Joan Mir.

MotoGP Dutch GP FP1 results

Cla	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Marco Bezzecchi	Ducati	1'32.246
2	Maverick Viñales	Aprilia	1'32.560	0.314	0.314
3	Alex Marquez	Ducati	1'32.614	0.368	0.054
4	Johann Zarco	Ducati	1'32.762	0.516	0.148
5	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'32.804	0.558	0.042
6	Luca Marini	Ducati	1'32.881	0.635	0.077
7	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'32.981	0.735	0.100
8	Jorge Martin	Ducati	1'33.067	0.821	0.086
9	Jack Miller	KTM	1'33.087	0.841	0.020
10	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'33.421	1.175	0.334
11	Brad Binder	KTM	1'33.486	1.240	0.065
12	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'33.498	1.252	0.012
13	Augusto Fernandez	KTM	1'33.588	1.342	0.090
14	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Ducati	1'33.633	1.387	0.045
15	Miguel Oliveira	Aprilia	1'33.673	1.427	0.040
16	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'33.893	1.647	0.220
17	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	1'33.902	1.656	0.009
18	Raúl Fernández	Aprilia	1'33.941	1.695	0.039
19	Stefan Bradl	Honda	1'33.989	1.743	0.048
20	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia	1'34.055	1.809	0.066
21	Marc Marquez	Honda	1'34.111	1.865	0.056
22	Iker Lecuona	Honda	1'34.363	2.117	0.252
23	Jonas Folger	KTM	1'34.741	2.495	0.378
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