Aleix Espargaro takes Assen pole in rain affected Q2

The MotoGP race at the Iveco Daily TT Assen will see Aleix Espargaro get away from pole position on the grid on Saturday, ahead of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa on row one, after light rain disrupted Q2.

A group of riders were bunched up in an early dash from pit lane as they sensed light rain could become heavier right at the beginning of the Q2 run, with NGM Forward Racing’s Espargaro initially hanging behind that group and judging the conditions best for the first pole of his Grand Prix career.

The 1’38.789 time which took pole was over five seconds slower than the FP4 pace, whilst Repsol Honda pair Marquez and Pedrosa managed to get onto the front row despite trailing Espargaro by 1.4s and 1.9s respectively.

Another good effort from Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) put him at the front of the second row, where he will be joined by Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) – who sneaked through from Q1 and took advantage for fifth despite struggling in free practice.

Crutchlow’s compatriot and former teammate Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) completes row two, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who are all on the third row.

Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) were all four seconds down on the pole time and will therefore all be on the fourth row.

Several riders even switched to wet tires before the end of the session as the rain got heavier, but fortunately there were no crashes despite the tricky conditions.

Lineup

Pos.	Rider	Num.	Nation	Team	Constructor	Time
1	Aleix Espargaro	41	ESP	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	YAMAHA	1'38.789
2	Marc Marquez	93	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	HONDA	1'40.194
3	Dani Pedrosa	26	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	HONDA	1'40.732
4	Andrea Iannone	29	ITA	Pramac Racing	DUCATI	1'40.786
5	Cal Crutchlow	35	GBR	Ducati Team	DUCATI	1'40.796
6	Bradley Smith	38	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	YAMAHA	1'40.818
7	Andrea Dovizioso	4	ITA	Ducati Team	DUCATI	1'41.140
8	Stefan Bradl	6	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	HONDA	1'41.982
9	Jorge Lorenzo	99	ESP	Yamaha Factory Racing	YAMAHA	1'42.259
10	Alvaro Bautista	19	ESP	Go & Fun Honda Gresini	HONDA	1'42.884
11	Pol Espargaro	44	ESP	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	YAMAHA	1'43.085
12	Valentino Rossi	46	ITA	Yamaha Factory	YAMAHA	1'43.625
13	Karel Abraham	17	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	HONDA	1'34.907
14	Hiroshi Aoyama	7	JPN	Drive M7 Aspar	HONDA	1'34.930
15	Yonny Hernandez	68	COL	Pramac Racing	DUCATI	1'35.056
16	Scott Redding	45	GBR	Go & Fun Honda Gresini	HONDA	1'35.059
17	Danilo Petrucci	9	ITA	IodaRacing Project	IODA-SUTER	1'35.346
18	Colin Edwards	5	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	YAMAHA	1'35.484
19	Broc Parkes	23	AUS	Paul Bird Motorsport	PBM	1'35.513
20	Hector Barbera	8	ESP	Avintia Racing MotoGP	FTR-KAWASAKI	1'35.631
21	Michael Laverty	70	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART & PBM	1'35.731
22	Nicky Hayden	69	USA	Drive M7 Aspar	HONDA	1'35.792
23	Mike Di Meglio	63	FRA	Avintia Racing MotoGP	FTR-KAWASAKI	1'35.980