Fabio Quartararo Beats Ducati to Secure Pole Position in Assen

Sunny morning this Saturday at the Assen circuit, a stark contrast to Friday's conditions where rain and low temperatures led to a series of crashes. Among them were two falls by Marc Márquez, resulting in bruises on his left arm and pelvic area, with visible signs of pain each time he dismounted his bike. The morning's free practice was topped by Fabio Quartararo, who had already been the fastest on Friday, asserting his bid for pole, followed by Pecco Bagnaia, Pedro Acosta, and Marc Márquez in fifth.

In Q1, many alternatives were seen, and it became clear that with these temperatures, up to three fast laps could be made on the same tyre. The top three from the repechage achieved their times in the final moments with the clock at zero: Raúl Fernández, Fermín Aldeguer, who advanced to Q2, and Joan Mir, who missed out by a mere four-thousandths of a second.

The Balearic rider will lead the fifth row of the grid from the 13th position, accompanied by Jack Miller and Lorenzo Savadori. The sixth row will feature KTM's Binder and Bastianini, alongside Oliveira. From the seventh line, Álex Rins, Ogura, who crashed, and Aleix Espargaró, competing in Assen as a replacement for the injured Luca Marini.

The favourites for pole were once again the usual Ducati suspects, although attention had to be paid to Quartararo, who had already shown how fast he could be over a single lap with the Yamaha. In the first attempt at a fast lap, Marc Márquez's weaknesses were exposed as he persistently sought the slipstream of his teammate Bagnaia for the first time this season, indicating some vulnerability on this track. The Cervera rider's strategy paid off on the first lap, where he improved on the Italian, although Quartararo was the fastest in that initial attempt.

The final tyre was yet to come, where times were expected to drop further, as demonstrated by Álex Márquez, who was the first to lap in 1'31, a time where the pole should be. Cervera's time was first beaten by Bagnaia and then by an on-form Quartararo, who with a spectacular final sector, snatched the lead from the Ducatis with a time of 1'30.651. "We managed to do a good lap, it was an 'all-in' because I left nothing behind," commented the French rider after securing his fourth pole of the season, although he has yet to convert it into a victory. "I will try to fight for at least a podium in the race, as we struggle a bit more with used tyres."

Quartararo will lead a front row with Bagnaia and Álex Márquez, while Marc will have to start from the second row, in fourth position, despite also lapping in the 1'30s. It will be the second time this year that the Cervera rider does not start from the top three positions, although he has shown more race pace than single-lap speed over the weekend.

He will share the second row with Ducati's number 93, Aprilia's Italian Maco Bezzecchi, and his compatriot Franco Morbidelli. Two more Ducatis will head the third row, rookie Fermín Aldeguer, who came from Q1, and Fabio Di Giannantonio, meaning all six Ducatis qualified in the top eight positions, highlighting both Quartararo's pole and Bezzecchi's fifth place.

Those who could not challenge the Italian bikes were the KTM riders, as both Pedro Acosta, ninth, and Maverick Viñales, tenth, continue to face the handicap of finding a fast lap with the soft tyre. Completing that fourth row will be Raúl Fernández and Johann Zarco, the only Honda representative in Q2, who will start 12th.