Dutch MotoGP: Francesco Bagnaia leads FP1 ahead of Marc Marquez

MotoGP FP1 at Assen got off to a dreadful start for Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro as the Catalunya sprint winner had to pull off track just moments after exiting pit lane.

Espargaro found an escape route back to the pits as he received aid from marshals trackside.

At the top of the leaderboard, Francesco Bagnaia was exchanging fastest times with Marc Marquez.

Bagnaia was the first rider to set a sub 1m 33s lap as he put two tenths between himself and the eight-time world champion.

However, Bagnaia lost his lap time due to exceeding track limits, while Marquez narrowly dipped under the 1m 33s barrier to take over top spot.

Bagnaia’s deleted lap time saw him pushed down to seventh which quickly became ninth as Fabio Quartararo and Marco Bezzecchi jumped ahead of him.

Bezzecchi then very close to losing control of his GP23 Ducati as he suffered a huge head shake on the entry to turns 14 and 15.

Continuing his stunning form, Raul Fernandez managed to overhaul Marquez with a time of 1:32.962s.

However, Alex Marquez then put over a tenth between himself and Fernandez as the track continued to offer more grip.

Regaining top spot was Bagnaia who put nearly two tenths between himself and Alex Marquez.

Bagnaia then pumped in another superb lap as he went over two tenths quicker than his previous best. 

Bagnaia threatened to improve his time once again, however, it was Raul Fernandez and Alex Marquez who found time as they moved into third and fifth.

Marc Marquez, who was already second, then got within a tenth of Bagnaia’s time before Fabio Di Giannantonio went quickest overall.

Di Giannantonio eventually lost his fastest lap due to exceeding track limits, which handed top spto back to Bagnaia.