Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati dominated second practice for the 2024 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix ahead of Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, who established a new Assen lap record.
The hour-long qualifying group-deciding session was close, with the top ten separated by only 0.673 seconds.
Bagnaia set the pace with a 1m31.340s with just over 10 minutes remaining, and proved powerful enough to allow the world champion to box early at the end of the session.
Vinales of Aprilia fought him for first place at the finish, but fell just 0.065 seconds short after teammate Aleix Espargaro sustained a devastating highside at the final chicane.
This collision resulted in yellow flags and ended a number of riders’ final laps, with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Tech3 GasGas rookie Pedro Acosta standing out as Q1 entries.
Alex Marquez jumped up to third for Gresini Ducati late on, while Espargaro finished fourth despite his crash, ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin, who was involved in an unusual altercation with Jack Miller in the closing moments.
Martin rode slowly on the racing line around Turn 9’s left-hander, while Miller of KTM looked behind him.
Looking round at the last moment, Miller’s head made contact with Martin’s back and his KTM suffered some aerodynamic damage – but both stayed on their motorcycles.
Marc Marquez finished sixth on the second Gresini Ducati, with KTM’s Brad Binder seventh ahead of Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, who crashed at the end of the practice.
Raul Fernandez of Trackhouse Racing finished ninth at Assen on his 2023-spec Aprilia, while Franco Morbidelli qualified 10th on the second Pramac Ducati.
Despite receiving positive feedback on Yamaha’s new engine in a private test, 2021 world champion Quartararo finished 11th in second practice.
Both VR46 Ducatis missed the Q2 cut, with Bezzecchi finishing 12th and Di Giannantonio finishing 13th. Rins finished 14th, followed by Acosta in 15th place.
Johann Zarco of LCR Racing took the top Honda spot in 17th, while Miller finished in 18th after a collision with Martin.
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