Brilliant Bagnaia storms to a magical first pole of 2024

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has secured an unbelievable first pole position of the year after destroying the previous lap record. The Italian continues his perfect weekend at the Motul TT Assen after pulling off a magical 1:30.540 on his second run. However, Bagnaia did not have it easy as the Italian was kept honest by Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who gave it everything on his final lap of the session - missing out by a mere 0.081s. Joining the title rivals on the front row will be Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) after using a fresh set of soft tyres to cap off a brilliant qualifying at Assen.

Lap records obliterated early on

It was a thrilling Q1 with an abundance of talent fighting for the final two spots up for grabs in Q2. It was a frantic end to the session with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) topping Q1 before crashing on his final lap. Acosta was joined in Q2 by Fabio Di Giannantonion (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), who looked strong throughout the entire session. Once Q2 got underway the lap record fell instantly as Bagnaia hit the top before Martin responded seconds later to set a 1:30.877.

In the closing stages, Bagnaia gave it everything on his second row and would cross the line to create history after setting a 1:30.540. This gave the #1 a gap of over three tenths with Di Giannantonio slotting into third position. The drama would continue into the final minute with Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) now becoming the latest rider to crash at turn 7.

An action-packed Grand Prix awaits

Back on the second row of the grid was the late-charging Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), who found a heap of the time on a last fast lap to place fourth. The #73 was ahead of Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro, who will start from a strong fifth on the grid after an eventful qualifying. Di Giannantonio rounds off an impressive second row after the Italian was fast straight out of the pit box.

Marc Marquez is forced to start from seventh on the grid after a late crash put an end to the #93’s qualifying with work to do in the Sprint and on Sunday. The eight-time World Champion will start alongside Franco Morbidelli who caps off a great morning for the Prima Pramac Racing squad in eighth, ahead of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The South African will round off the third row, less than one second adrift from pole position.

Meanwhile, there are some big names missing including Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), who was able to repair his machine in time for Q2 but will start from 10^th a handful of places ahead of Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team’s Marco Bezzecchi, who will start from 15^th after suffering from a crash at turn 5 at the end of Q1.

There is still plenty of action left on Saturday as all eyes now turn to the Tissot Sprint at 15:00 local time (UTC +2), so make sure you don’t miss anything on motogp.com!

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