Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) tasted the champagne once again after being promoted to P3 during Assen's Tissot Sprint. The surge of form from the Frenchman has come one year on from his last MotoGP™ victory at the Sachsenring and gives potential podium hopes to the Yamaha squad ahead of Sunday's Dutch GP. Find out more in 10 things you need to know ahead of race day at the Motul TT Assen.
1- Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) has qualified on pole for the second time in MotoGP™ along with Thailand last year, setting a new all-time lap record. He is the 13th different polesitter over the last 13 Grands Prix here. After taking his first Sprint win, he will be aiming to take his third MotoGP™ win on Sunday (along with Argentina and France this year).
2- Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) has qualified second which is the seventh time so far this year he has qualified within the top three; the only time he failed was in Spain when he qualified fifth. On three occasions, he went on to finish on the podium, including two wins in Portugal and in Italy. After taking his seventh Sprint podium in second place, he will be aiming to take his fourth GP win of the season (along with Portugal, Spain, and Italy) to equal Andrea Dovizioso in third on the list of the most successful Italian riders in the premier class.
3- Despite a crash in Q2, Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) has qualified third, which is the fourth time he qualified within the top three so far this year. He finished P10 in the Sprint (following a 0.5-second penalty due to shortcut at Turn 17), but will be aiming to stand on the podium for the second time in MotoGP™ along with Americas this year.
4- This is the fourth successive pole for Ducati: three with Bagnaia (France, Italy and Germany) and one with Bezzecchi. This is the second Ducati 1-2-3 in qualifying so far this year along with Argentina. With Bezzecchi, Bagnaia and Marini, this is the 48th successive race where there is at least one Ducati rider within the top three in qualifying as well as the first Italian 1-2-3 in qualifying since Italy last year.
5- Fabio Quartararo has qualified fourth for his best qualifying result since he also qualified fourth in Valencia last year. After previously scoring one single point from seven Sprints, he finally took his first Sprint podium in P3. He will now be aiming to win a Grand Prix for the first time since Germany last year (just over one year ago).
6- Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has qualified fifth for his second-best qualifying so far this season after Spain when he qualified fourth and finished the race in second, his most recent podium. He was classified fifth in the Sprint at Assen following a Long Lap equivalent 3-second penalty for exceeding track limits. But he’ll now be aiming to take his third MotoGP™ win along with Brno in 2020 and Austria in 2021.
7- Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) has qualified sixth, equalling his second-best qualifying of the season so far from Americas after Spain, when he was on pole. He finished fourth in the Sprint and will now be aiming to finish on the podium for the first time since Aragon last year (P3) and to take his second GP win along with Argentina last year.
8- Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) qualified seventh after returning to Q2 following two races where he missed the cut. He finished P7 in the Sprint and is in the running to make MotoGP™ history on Sunday by taking Grand Prix wins with three different factories after already winning with Suzuki and Yamaha. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jack Miller, who qualified 12th, could also achieve the feat with KTM having won with Honda and Ducati.
9- After crashing in Q2, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) has qualified 10th for his second-worst qualifying so far this year after Americas when he qualified 12th. He finished P6 in the Sprint and will now be aiming to take wins for the first time in back-to-back MotoGP™ races. As for his teammate Zarco, if he finishes on the podium, it would be for the first time in four successive MotoGP™ races.
10- Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has qualified 17th for his worst qualifying result since he qualified 20th at the Dutch TT back in 2021. He finished P17 in the Sprint and will now be aiming to finish his first Grand Prix race since Malaysia last year when he was P7.