Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro has booked his place in MotoGP™ Q2 at the Motul TT Assen with the fastest lap of FP3, but it was hardly a trouble-free session for the Spaniard. Having been penalised after FP2, Espargaro needed a good performance to lift himself off the bottom of the pile, and would set a 1:32.164 to top the Saturday morning session at the TT Circuit Assen despite a late crash. World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo was only 0.041 seconds slower on his Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ entry, with Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins taking third.

Espargaro’s Friday had ended with the cancellation of his last run in FP2 as punishment for a technical breach, the effect of which was to put him to the very bottom of the timesheet. Fortunately for him, dry conditions greeted riders for FP3 and the Aprilia pilot banked a 1:33.428 on his second flying lap to go third-quickest on combined times. Espargaro and team-mate Maverick Viñales were riding in tandem, the latter going top with an early 1:32.960 before clocking a 1:32.911 at the quarter-hour mark.

Everyone turned up the wick for the second runs, Espargaro resetting the fastest lap to a 1:32.518, then Viñales a 1:32.487, and Espargaro again with a 1:32.164. Quartararo split them with a 1:32.205 with around eight minutes to go in the 45-minute session, before Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) jumped from 15th to third on a 1:32.440.

The final five minutes were full of drama, with red and orange sectors all over the timing screen, and yellow flags around much of the Assen circuit. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) had a slow spill at De Strubben (Turn 5) before Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) had a fast off at the Ruskenhoek (Turn 7), and Espargaro lost the front at Ossebroeken (Turn 3) inside the final two minutes – all three riders okay.

The wash-up was that Espargaro retained first position despite not improving on his final run, and Quartararo held onto second despite a 1:32.166 – just 0.002 seconds slower than the #41 Aprilia rider’s fastest lap – being crossed out due to one of the many yellow flags. Rins claimed third with a late 1:32.320 after Viñales had a 1:32.221 cancelled because of yellow flags as well. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) grabbed fourth with a 1:32.355 after the chequered flag, and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) claimed fifth on a 1:32.382.

Bagnaia would be classified sixth due to the lap time set on his penultimate run, Viñales got put back to seventh due to the lap cancellation, and Jorge Martin finished eighth on a 1:32.592. Martin’s Pramac team-mate Zarco still made it into Q2 in ninth position, with fellow Desmosedici rider Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) also earning a bye past Q1.

Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) just missed out on the top 10, as did Di Giannantonio in 12th and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) in 13th, the latter at least picking himself up after a fast early crash at Ramshoek (Turn 15). Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took 16th after spill just a handful of minutes into the session at Stekkenwal, and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) ended up 17th after losing the front at the high-speed Ruskenhoek with around a dozen minutes to go.

Riders and teams will now focus on tuning up for the race when FP4 gets underway on Saturday at 13:30 (GMT +2), before Q1 from 14:10 and Q2 from 14:35. Don’t miss it!

MotoGP™ Top 10:
1. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) – 1:32.164
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.041
3. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.156
4. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 0.191
5. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.218
6. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.276
7. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.323
8. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.428
9. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.562
10. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.714