Johann Zarco secured his first ever pole position in the MotoGP category in a wet Saturday afternoon qualifying session for the Dutch GP in Assen.
With rain falling for the majority of the day, the track was beginning to dry out when Zarco took full opportunity of the colitis at hand to finish a fraction of a second faster than Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez. Danilo Petrucci, who has been fast all weekend long in Assen, will round out the front row.
Row two sees Yamaha rider Valentino Ross, who was half a second down on Zarco, and he will be joined on the second row by Scott Redding and Zarco's teammate, Jonas Folger. But, we have to look all the way down to P11 to find our championship leader, Maverick Vinales…
“Today was a very complicated day to get it right for both the riders and the mechanics,” explained Yamaha's Massimo Meregalli. “The change in conditions - and even the different conditions between track sectors - kept everyone on their toes. Valentino did a great job adapting to the different situations per session and his confidence really showed when he set a couple of fast times in Q2. It was too bad he lost some time during one of his hot laps because, had he been able to complete it without any obstacles, he could have secured a place on the first row.”
“Maverick had a very good feeling on the bike this morning, but unfortunately the qualifying didn't go as we expected. He couldn't push the way he wanted to. The team will work hard to find a solution to the problems he experienced this afternoon, so he can have a good start from the fourth row. For him the beginning of the race will be crucial and hopefully he will hit the front of the field early on. We will exploit the time in the warm up session to fine-tune the bikes for the race, regardless of the weather conditions.”
Alvaro Bautista, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso will complete row three with Jorge Lorenzo all the way down in 21st position.
GP of The Netherlands – Qualifying classification:
1. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'46.141
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team - 1'46.206 +0.065
3. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'46.526 +0.385
4. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'46.705 +0.564
5. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'47.574 +1.433
6. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'47.663 +1.522
7. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'47.812 +1.671
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda - 1'48.042 +1.901
9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team - 1'48.079 +1.938
10. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'48.128 +1.987
11. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'48.266 +2.125
12. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team - 1'49.623 +3.482
13. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'47.217 (Q1)
14. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'47.234 (Q1)
15. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'47.277 (Q1)
16. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'47.649 (Q1)
17. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'47.804 (Q1)
18. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'47.947 (Q1)
19. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'47.957 (Q1)
20. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'48.080 (Q1)
21. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team - 1'48.219 (Q1)
22. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'48.448 (Q1)
23. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'48.700 (Q1)
