Maverick Vinales swept Friday running at Assen for the Dutch TT thanks to an early flyer posted in second practice before a rain shower soaked the Dutch tarmac.
Spots of rain started to hit the track surface in the early stages of FP2, though not heavy enough to seriously affect grip-leading to most of the field heading out to try and complete as many dry laps as possible before the threatening rain arrived.
Vinales was the man left at the head of the timesheets as the intermittent precipitation became a shower at around a thirds-distance, meaning the early gambits would ultimately prove to be the fastest recorded throughout the sessions.
His 1:33.341s led KTM’s Miguel Oliveira by 0.159s, with factory Yamaha team-mate and series leader Fabio Quartararo third quickest.
Marc Marquez ended up fourth overall despite a heavy crash at Turn 10 not long after he had posted his best effort, the Spaniard lucky to walk away from the heavy impact.
The six-time premier class champion’s Honda lost traction as he eased onto the throttle on corner exit, a minor slide quickly transitioning to an aggressive high-side that launched Marquez through the air before hitting the tarmac on his right arm and knee.
He was fortunately able to walk away unharmed from the incident, though Honda’s woes continued as Pol Espargaro lost the front of his own RC213-V at Turn 5 just moments later, again luckily able to walk away from the slow-speed crash without injury.
Suzuki’s Joan Mir completed the top five ahead of Johann Zarco’s Pramac Ducati, with the second factory GSX-RR of Alex Rins slotting into seventh a few tenths further behind.
Jack Miller was the fastest of the factory Ducati’s in eighth ahead of Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia, while Pol completed the top ten.
Danilo Petrucci continued to enjoy the new KTM chassis he received for the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring last time out on his way to 11th ahead of top rookie Jorge Martin, with Lorenzo Savadori again looking decent on the second Aprilia in 14th overall.
Petronas SRT stand-in Garrett Gerloff managed to improve his best time from FP1 in only the half-dozen laps he managed before the rain came, the American posting a 1:35.744s to end the day 2.5 seconds down on Vinales’ benchmark in 21st ahead of Luca Marini.
| # | Rider | Team | Time | Gap / Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’33.241 | |
| 2 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’33.400 | 0.159 / 0.159 |
| 3 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’33.491 | 0.250 / 0.091 |
| 4 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’33.560 | 0.319 / 0.069 |
| 5 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’33.701 | 0.460 / 0.141 |
| 6 | Johann ZARCO | Pramac Racing | 1’33.708 | 0.467 / 0.007 |
| 7 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’33.960 | 0.719 / 0.252 |
| 8 | Jack MILLER | Ducati Lenovo Team | 1’34.066 | 0.825 / 0.106 |
| 9 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’34.081 | 0.840 / 0.015 |
| 10 | Pol ESPARGARO | Repsol Honda Team | 1’34.096 | 0.855 / 0.015 |
| 11 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing | 1’34.134 | 0.893 / 0.038 |
| 12 | Jorge MARTIN | Pramac Racing | 1’34.339 | 1.098 / 0.205 |
| 13 | Alex MARQUEZ | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’34.358 | 1.117 / 0.019 |
| 14 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’34.461 | 1.220 / 0.103 |
| 15 | Iker LECUONA | Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing | 1’34.539 | 1.298 / 0.078 |
| 16 | Enea BASTIANINI | Avintia Esponsorama | 1’34.658 | 1.417 / 0.119 |
| 17 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’34.766 | 1.525 / 0.108 |
| 18 | Valentino ROSSI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’34.777 | 1.536 / 0.011 |
| 19 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati Lenovo Team | 1’34.832 | 1.591 / 0.055 |
| 20 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’35.726 | 2.485 / 0.894 |
| 21 | Garrett GERLOFF | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’35.744 | 2.503 / 0.018 |
| 22 | Luca MARINI | SKY VR46 Avintia | 1’36.216 | 2.975 / 0.472 |
