Rossi Fastest In FP1 On New Frame

Jun 25, 2015
2 min read

Friday morning at Assen was always set to be an interesting affair as many of the riders had new parts to test.

Marc Marquez had the 2014 Honda frame to test as HRC try and reel in the power of the RC213V's engine. The Spaniard lies 69 points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi and needs a win this weekend if he is to have any hope of fighting for this year's title. Marquez's session got off to the worst possible start as he crashed coming through turn 16 on his out lap. Luckily his bike wasn't too badly damaged and he was able to rejoin to go 2nd quickest by the end of the session with a 1:34.552. The revisions in chassis spec seem to have helped somewhat, and Marquez stated following the Barcelona test that it allowed him to push. Whether it will help him come race day remains to be seen.

Team-mate Dani Pedrosa hasn't had quite the same issues as Marquez as his smoother style masks the Honda's aggressive engine braking. He has still struggled with power delivery and ran the new-spec exhaust trialed by Marquez last time out in Barcelona. He looked far more comfortable having led the session for some time before dropping to 3rd with a 1:34.570.

Yamaha have a new frame this weekend that they tested at Aragon last week and it definitely seems to have made an impact. Valentino Rossi opted to run the new frame from the outset and it saw him in good stead posting comparable laps to the leaders. The Italian took to the top of the time sheets in the final 12-minutes or so of the session and didn't relinquish, posting consistently quick times. He ended the session top with a 1:34.357 after circulating the Dutch circuit 20 times.

Jorge Lorenzo wasn't as blistering as in previous weekends, but that could be in part down to the fact that he did some back-to-back running on the old and new frame. The Spaniard was 4th with a 1:34.772.

Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith enjoyed a good morning for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. The former of which completed the top five whilst the Briton was just a few hundredths back in 6th. Tech 3 have gone well in Assen in the past, so keep an eye out for them as the weekend progresses.

Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro had a somewhat low-key morning in 7th and 8th respectively. This should be a circuit that will see the Suzuki duo go well at as a strong chassis is required here, of which the GSX-RR has, and use of the softer option tyre will help massively come qualifying.

Andrea Dovizioso and and Danilo Petrucci completed the top ten, whilst Jack Miller impressed in 11th.

FP1 Top Ten:

1st Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1:34.357

2nd Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, 1:34.552

3rd Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, 1:34.570

4th Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1:34.772

5th Pol Espargaro, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1:34.927

6th Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1:35.042

7th Maverick Vinales, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 1:35.050

8th Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 1:35.175

9th Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team, 1:35.223

10th Yonny Hernandez, Pramac Racing Ducati, 1:35.271