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MotoGP Assen: Danilo Petrucci edges narrow FP1 before failure

Pramac Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci led a delayed opening practice session for MotoGP's Assen round, although he ended the morning with an apparent engine failure

The session was stopped after just four minutes of running when Andrea Dovizioso's factory Ducati suffered a problem and laid oil on the track.

Dovizioso's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Tech3 Yamaha rider Jonas Folger both crashed on their outlaps, with the latter requiring a brief trip to the medical centre but passed fit to continue.

Times dropped rapidly when the session resumed after a delay of some 30 minutes, with the other Tech3 rider Johann Zarco moving to the top of the times at the halfway point on a 1m35.504s.

That was beaten shortly after by Maverick Vinales on the works Yamaha, the Spaniard posting a 1m35.263s, which remained the benchmark until the final five minutes as Folger improved to a 1m35.052s.

Cal Crutchlow was first to dip below the 1m35s barrier on the LCR Honda, taking over the top spot briefly before Zarco retook the place with a 1m34.806s.

The Frenchman was only bettered by Petrucci, who lapped the TT circuit in 1m34.680s to end the session fastest by 0.126s, although his GP17 Ducati appeared to suffer an engine failure shortly afterwards.

Behind Zarco, Crutchlow made one more improvement to end up third, just 0.007s clear of Dovizioso in fourth.

Valentino Rossi's final lap was enough to promote him to P5, 0.161s off the pace, after the Italian had spent much of the session outside the top 10.

Andrea Iannone was sixth fastest for Suzuki, ahead of Dani Pedrosa on the best of the works Hondas, Folger, Lorenzo's factory Ducati and Karel Abraham's Aspar Ducati.

Vinales didn't improve his time in the final 15 minutes and therefore slipped to 12th, 0.583s off the pace, one place ahead of Marc Marquez on the second Honda.

On his return to competitive MotoGP action Suzuki rider Alex Rins was 18th fastest, 1.197s off the pace, while Bradley Smith - who sat out the last round at Barcelona with a hand injury - propped up the timesheets in 23rd on his KTM.

Following the delay to FP1, the second session will take place 10 minutes later than originally scheduled at 2.15pm local time.

FP1 TIMES:

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap Laps
1 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m34.680s 21
2 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 0.126s 20
3 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 0.142s 20
4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 0.149s 17
5 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 0.161s 22
6 Andrea Iannone Suzuki Suzuki 0.234s 22
7 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 0.256s 21
8 Jonas Folger Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 0.372s 19
9 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati Ducati 0.475s 20
10 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati Ducati 0.503s 20
11 Jack Miller MVDS Honda Honda 0.513s 17
12 Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha 0.583s 22
13 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 0.602s 23
14 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati Ducati 0.701s 21
15 Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati Ducati 0.848s 21
16 Pol Espargaro KTM KTM 0.882s 20
17 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 1.042s 20
18 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 1.197s 23
19 Sam Lowes Aprilia Aprilia 1.218s 18
20 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati Ducati 1.236s 23
21 Tito Rabat MVDS Honda Honda 1.724s 24
22 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati Ducati 2.139s 20
23 Bradley Smith KTM KTM 2.923s 19


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