MotoGP Assen, Pre-qualifying: Aprilia sends a message to Ducati, scare for Alex Marquez

Aprilia on fire in pre-qualifying at the TT Circuit too: two RS-GP26s ahead, then Acosta and Bagnaia. Crashes for Aldeguer and Marquez Jr, both taken to the Medical Center.

MotoGP Friday at Assen ends with two Aprilias occupying the top two positions on the timesheets. The fastest of all was once again Marco Bezzecchi, who edged out Raul Fernandez’s SuperFile Trackhouse RS-GP26 by 177 thousandths. Sector T4 seems to be the strong point of the Noale machine. Third time for Pedro Acosta on KTM, with Ai Ogura on Aprilia and Pecco Bagnaia on Ducati rounding out the top five.

Just over three minutes from the end of the session, the red flag came out due to a nasty crash for Alex Marquez at Turn 11. The BK8 Gresini rider was quickly assisted, and it was a big relief to see he was conscious and able to walk. He was then taken to the Medical Center, where his teammate Fermin Aldeguer had already gone earlier after crashing between Turns 11 and 12 with about 15 minutes remaining in Practice. Updates on their conditions are awaited.

Also earning direct access to Q2 were Marc Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin, and Alex Marquez himself. Martin also suffered a crash, occurring about 4'30" from the end of MotoGP pre-qualifying at the TT Circuit.

Franco Morbidelli missed the top 10 by a few thousandths and is forced into Q1, but he risks a penalty for impeding Bastianini during the fellow Italian’s time attack. He was riding slowly on the racing line and ruined the KTM Tech3 rider’s lap. Inevitably, he came under investigation. It’s not the first time he has been involved in such situations in recent years.

All the Hondas and all the Yamahas are in Q1 as well. There’s a lot of frustration for Fabio Quartararo, who after the checkered flag looked truly distraught about his situation (HERE the video).

Remember that from the Dutch Grand Prix onwards, Front High Devices—namely the front ride-height devices that helped riders at the start—can no longer be used. Originally the ban was to take effect only in 2027 with the new technical regulations, but it was decided to bring it forward with the aim of increasing safety.

Corrado Cecchinelli, MotoGP technology director, explained to Sky Sport what should change from Assen on: "The holeshot is a mechanical device that allows the bike to be lowered at the start up to a certain point, typically until the first braking. Removing it should slow riders for Turn 1, since the device allowed them to accelerate better and arrive there much faster. Now they should arrive about 30 km/h slower in a fairly fast start, in general we’re talking tens of km/h less than before. In addition, by making the bike a bit harder to control under acceleration, we should also see a more strung-out group. Also, today if Turn 1 isn’t sharp enough for braking to disengage the device, riders are forced to do it themselves with a somewhat unnatural braking. This seems to have caused issues, so we should achieve a noticeable effect".