Bezzecchi dominates on Friday in Assen and a hard fall marks the return of Álex Márquez

The Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), leader of the MotoGP World Championship, confirmed this Friday his candidacy for victory in the Grand Prix of the Netherlands after also dominating the Practice at the Assen circuit, a session marked by the very hard fall of Álex Márquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), which forced the red flag to be shown with just over three minutes remaining.

After also being the fastest in the morning, Bezzecchi once again set the pace in the decisive session on Friday (01:31.123) and closed the day as an absolute reference for the Dutch weekend. The Italian was lowering records throughout the session until setting the best time of the day and confirming Aprilia’s great moment just a week after the earthquake in Brno, with a penalty included for him and being left out of Sunday’s long race.

The transalpine had already warned from the beginning. After an FP1 dominated with authority, he lowered the time again in Practice and made it clear that Assen can be a key stage to relaunch his candidacy for the title after the blow suffered in the last round.

Additionally, Aprilia displayed collective muscle for much of the session. Jorge Martín (Aprilia Racing) came to take first place by initially breaking the 1:32 barrier and for many minutes Noale’s bikes took the top positions. The man from Madrid finally finished within the group that goes directly to Q2 despite suffering a fall in the fast turn 11 in the final stretch, without major consequences but without being able to seek a better final lap.

The session was completely conditioned by the accident of Álex Márquez (from the Ducati satellite team, Gresini Racing) with just over three minutes remaining. The Catalan driver had already suffered a previous fall at Turn 5 at the start of the session, but in his second incident, at Turn 11, the impact was much harder.

Márquez, who was returning to action after missing the last three events due to his collarbone injury, was left lying in the gravel and Race Direction showed a red flag to allow medical attention. The pilot left the area on his own, helped by the marshals and doctors, although with clear signs of pain in his right shoulder and was taken to the medical center to be evaluated. The repetition left worrying images due to the blow in an area that had previously given him problems.

It was not the only Spanish scare of the day. His teammate Fermín Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who was completing a solid session and had become the best Ducati during part of the training, suffered a bad fall between turns 11 and 12. The Murcian rolled violently on the gravel after reaching the escape area with speed and also had to go to the medical center and later be transferred to a hospital.

In sports, the best Spaniard of the day was Raúl Fernández (Aprilia), who put in a great performance to finish second, only behind Bezzecchi. Pedro Acosta (KTM) also confirmed the good feelings shown during much of the session and finished third after taking advantage of the last attempt to secure a direct place in Q2 and break Noale’s monopoly.

Marc Márquez (Ducati), who had shown speed during the central part of the training and was provisionally third, did not go out to look for a last lap after the restart after the red flag caused by his brother and closed the day within the Top 10, just behind his teammate Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who saved the cut with a decisive last lap and finished as the best Ducati on Friday.

Along with them, Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), as well as Martín himself, also sealed their direct pass to Q2, confirming a particularly open day and with several brands represented in the lead.

In Moto2, the Colombian David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team) was the fastest in an eventful Practice by setting a 1:36.154 and issuing the first serious warning of the weekend. The World Championship leader, Manuel González (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), finished second and Tony Arbolino (REDS Fantic Racing) third, in a very tight session in which Daniel Holgado and Álex Escrig also became among the fastest and secured direct access to Q2 along with Izan Guevara, Arón Canet and Adrián Huertas.

And in the small Moto3 category, the Australian Joel Kelso (GRYD – Mlav Racing) dominated Practice with authority and presented a candidacy for pole position with the best time on Friday. Adrián Cruces was the most outstanding Spaniard in fifth position, while Álvaro Carpe, David Almansa, Marcos Uriarte and Brian Uriarte also managed to finish in the top ten to advance directly to Q2.