Assen MotoGP, London Formula E and more
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MotoGP - Assen: Good job from Iannone - having reached the front of the big gaggle fighting for fourth, he's pulled away from everyone behind, including Ducati team-mate Dovizioso, who's busy with former team-mate Crutchlow.
Pedrosa and his painful hand (if you missed it earlier, he had a nasty warm-up crash) are back in eighth still, trying to pass Pol Espargaro.
Pedrosa and his painful hand (if you missed it earlier, he had a nasty warm-up crash) are back in eighth still, trying to pass Pol Espargaro.
MotoGP - Assen: While Rossi leads, a man who gave him some headaches for a spell in the mid-2000s is ever more comprehensively last. Marco Melandri's 'works' Aprilia is 16.5s adrift of even the Ioda Aprilia of Alex de Angelis in 21st.
MotoGP - Assen: Order approaching half-distance:
1 Rossi
2 Marquez +0.165s
3 Lorenzo (4s back)
4 Iannone (9s back)
5 Dovizioso
6 Crutchlow
7 P Espargaro
8 Pedrosa
9 A Espargaro
10 Smith
11 Petrucci
12 Vinales
13 Redding
14 Hernandez
15 Baz
1 Rossi
2 Marquez +0.165s
3 Lorenzo (4s back)
4 Iannone (9s back)
5 Dovizioso
6 Crutchlow
7 P Espargaro
8 Pedrosa
9 A Espargaro
10 Smith
11 Petrucci
12 Vinales
13 Redding
14 Hernandez
15 Baz
MotoGP - Assen: He may have held his ground way better than we predicted at the start, but Aleix Espargaro and his soft tyre are going backwards in the race. He's down to ninth behind Pedrosa.
MotoGP - Assen: Still stalemate - but a thrilling and tense sort of stalemate - at the front. Marquez isn't letting Rossi get more than 0.2-0.3s clear of him.
MotoGP - Assen: Lorenzo was looking like he might be caught by the Ducatis for a moment with a slightly flaky lap, but he's stabilised that gap now - though it's all left him 3.5s off Rossi and Marquez's lead battle.
MotoGP - Assen: Only one third of the distance gone and it's a two-man fight between the field's most popular riders.
Rossi heads Marquez by 0.1s and Lorenzo is now almost two seconds behind them - though frankly a podium in the Netherlands will be brilliant for Lorenzo after his last four years here.
Rossi heads Marquez by 0.1s and Lorenzo is now almost two seconds behind them - though frankly a podium in the Netherlands will be brilliant for Lorenzo after his last four years here.
MotoGP - Assen: Despite all the pressure from a very determined Marquez, Rossi hasn't allowed the Honda any hint of a chance yet.
Lorenzo is just over a second adrift of them, then pretty much everyone from fourth to 12th is together, Iannone heading the Espargaros, Dovizioso, Crutchlow, Smith, Petrucci, a sore Pedrosa and Vinales, with Redding and Hernandez just behind.
Lorenzo is just over a second adrift of them, then pretty much everyone from fourth to 12th is together, Iannone heading the Espargaros, Dovizioso, Crutchlow, Smith, Petrucci, a sore Pedrosa and Vinales, with Redding and Hernandez just behind.
MotoGP - Assen: Marquez is wriggling all over Rossi's rear tyre, and if anything they're now dropping Lorenzo a touch.
MotoGP - Assen: It's closing up at the front - Marquez is catching Rossi and bringing Lorenzo with him.
DTM - Norisring: Taking a closer look at the qualifying results - the report will be online in a moment - some Audi heavyweights will be on a charge in this afternoon's race, which starts at 3:45pm BST.
With five DTM titles between them, Ekstrom, Rockenfeller and Scheider will start 21st, 22nd and 24th respectively.
With five DTM titles between them, Ekstrom, Rockenfeller and Scheider will start 21st, 22nd and 24th respectively.
MotoGP - Assen: Rossi is escaping from Marquez at the front, with Lorenzo on the Honda's tail.
MotoGP - Assen: Barbera is leaving the scene of the crash on a stretcher, though he's sat up. Miller is stomping clear of it all.
MotoGP - Assen: Order on lap two: Rossi leads from Marquez, Lorenzo, P Espargaro, Iannone, A Espargaro, Crutchlow, Smith and Dovizioso.
Crash
MotoGP - Assen: Crash at the back of the field for Hector Barbera and Jack Miller.
MotoGP - Assen: Lorenzo is past Pol Espargaro to third. That poor qualifying is already irrelevant.
MotoGP - Assen: Marquez is swiftly through on Espargaro for second, with brother Pol then doing the same for third and Jorge Lorenzo through to fourth already.
Now Andrea Iannone passes Espargaro's Suzuki for fifth.
Rossi leads with Marquez on his back.
Now Andrea Iannone passes Espargaro's Suzuki for fifth.
Rossi leads with Marquez on his back.
Lights out
MotoGP - Assen: Rossi holds the lead and remarkably Espargaro holds second - he got a brilliant initial getaway and that meant even when the Suzuki lost gearshift momentum, it barely mattered.
Green flag
MotoGP - Assen: Dry race looks certain as the warm-up lap begins.
Expect middle of the front row man Espargaro to disappear backwards at the start again as he did from pole at Barcelona. Still no seamless shift gearbox on the Suzukis and that hurts them off the line - though the shorter run to the first corner at Assen makes it a bit less painful.
Expect middle of the front row man Espargaro to disappear backwards at the start again as he did from pole at Barcelona. Still no seamless shift gearbox on the Suzukis and that hurts them off the line - though the shorter run to the first corner at Assen makes it a bit less painful.
Checkered flag
BTCC - Croft: Those improvements did come (eventually).
Tordoff ends up quickest on a 1m24.534s, ahead of Ingram, Priaulx, Shedden, Goff and Morgan.
Plato and Turkington wind up 15th and 16th. Qualifying will be interesting.
Tordoff ends up quickest on a 1m24.534s, ahead of Ingram, Priaulx, Shedden, Goff and Morgan.
Plato and Turkington wind up 15th and 16th. Qualifying will be interesting.
Formula E – Battersea: D'Ambrosio has gone second with a 1m25.104s, which is still the better part of half a second behind the flying Buemi.
The top 10 after the four sessions is as follows:
Buemi
D'Ambrosio
Di Grassi
Piquet jr
Vergne
Prost
Turvey
Senna
Bird
Duran
The top 10 after the four sessions is as follows:
Buemi
D'Ambrosio
Di Grassi
Piquet jr
Vergne
Prost
Turvey
Senna
Bird
Duran
MotoGP - Assen: Here's the complete starting line-up for today:
1 Rossi
2 A Espargaro
3 Marquez
4 Pedrosa
5 P Espargaro
6 Iannone
7 Crutchlow
8 Lorenzo
9 Vinales
10 Dovizioso
11 Petrucci
12 Smith
13 Bradl
14 Hernandez
15 Baz
16 Redding
17 Barbera
18 di Meglio
19 Laverty
20 Miller
21 Bautista
22 Hayden
23 de Angelis
24 Melandri
1 Rossi
2 A Espargaro
3 Marquez
4 Pedrosa
5 P Espargaro
6 Iannone
7 Crutchlow
8 Lorenzo
9 Vinales
10 Dovizioso
11 Petrucci
12 Smith
13 Bradl
14 Hernandez
15 Baz
16 Redding
17 Barbera
18 di Meglio
19 Laverty
20 Miller
21 Bautista
22 Hayden
23 de Angelis
24 Melandri
Breaking news
MotoGP - Assen: Some interesting tyre choice quirks here. Pretty much everyone has a soft on the front except Marquez, who has a medium.
Mediums are the favoured choice on the rear for most, except Suzuki - Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales have a soft there.
Mediums are the favoured choice on the rear for most, except Suzuki - Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales have a soft there.
Formula E - Battersea: Buemi has just plonked it on pole with a 1m24.648s in his e.dams car. That's nearly half a second up on di Grassi's previous best from the first session.
MotoGP - Assen: Marc Marquez is on the front row today. He's shunted three times in the last five races and his title defence is wilting.
But this weekend's he's gone back to the 2014 chassis, for reasons essentially summarised as that it's more chuckable and easier to get out of trouble.
But this weekend's he's gone back to the 2014 chassis, for reasons essentially summarised as that it's more chuckable and easier to get out of trouble.
BTCC - Croft: One improver is Nicolas Hamilton - he goes 27th, ahead of Stewart Lines and Andy Wilmot, and 3.9s off the pace.
DTM - Norisring: We have a grid, after a flurry of laps in the closing minutes and indeed seconds. There was a bit on.
Vietoris has taken pole for Mercedes, ahead of Paffett and Green, whose laps were also set after the chequered flag. Fourth is di Resta, ahead of Wehrlein and Farfus.
Vietoris has taken pole for Mercedes, ahead of Paffett and Green, whose laps were also set after the chequered flag. Fourth is di Resta, ahead of Wehrlein and Farfus.
Quote
MotoGP - Assen: Rossi's pole today is only his third of the decade and until yesterday he hadn't even got on the front row all season.
"It is the right time. For me, after Argentina, after the second victory, I had some weekends where we were not at 100 per cent," he said last night.
"But the good thing is that when we suffer, we suffer well. I mean we are always on the podium and we take important points.
"From Barcelona, for me something changed, and I recovered in better shape."
"It is the right time. For me, after Argentina, after the second victory, I had some weekends where we were not at 100 per cent," he said last night.
"But the good thing is that when we suffer, we suffer well. I mean we are always on the podium and we take important points.
"From Barcelona, for me something changed, and I recovered in better shape."
BTCC - Croft: Another Smith, Jeff this time, goes fourth - the Eurotech Honda drivers are enjoying Croft today it seems.
A few more green dots on the timing screens suggest most improvements are imminent. Awful internet in the media centre means following it closely is difficult.
A few more green dots on the timing screens suggest most improvements are imminent. Awful internet in the media centre means following it closely is difficult.
BTCC - Croft: Around 10 minutes remaining and Aron Smith vaults to fourth in his Team BMR VW.
DTM - Norisring: Two minutes left, Wehrlein leads Martin and Paffett.
MotoGP - Assen: Twenty minutes to go until the start.
After a, frankly, rubbish beginning to his year, Jorge Lorenzo has led every single racing lap since Jerez at the start of May. That's four whole grands prix in front. And that's brought him to within a point of championship leading team-mate Valentino Rossi.
But since winning here in 2010, Lorenzo hasn't enjoyed Assen much.
Taken out by Marco Simoncelli in 2011, taken out by Alvaro Bautista in 2012, he smashed his collarbone in a practice shunt in 2013 but remarkably still raced and finished fifth (re-smashing the bone in Germany at the next round proved more problematic in the long term). Spooked by that, he struggled to a sad 13th in the damp last year.
He's only eighth on the grid today, saying he simply didn't do an "explosive lap" in an incredibly close qualifying that ended with the top 13 in a second.
After a, frankly, rubbish beginning to his year, Jorge Lorenzo has led every single racing lap since Jerez at the start of May. That's four whole grands prix in front. And that's brought him to within a point of championship leading team-mate Valentino Rossi.
But since winning here in 2010, Lorenzo hasn't enjoyed Assen much.
Taken out by Marco Simoncelli in 2011, taken out by Alvaro Bautista in 2012, he smashed his collarbone in a practice shunt in 2013 but remarkably still raced and finished fifth (re-smashing the bone in Germany at the next round proved more problematic in the long term). Spooked by that, he struggled to a sad 13th in the damp last year.
He's only eighth on the grid today, saying he simply didn't do an "explosive lap" in an incredibly close qualifying that ended with the top 13 in a second.
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, Assen MotoGP 2015
Formula E - Battersea: Heidfeld is quickest in session three, but his 1m26.128s is only good enough to put him P8 on the grid.
DTM - Norisring: Brits di Resta and Green - who was last - have jumped up to first and second with four minutes to go. Turn 1 is still the wettest part of the track, lots of drivers overshooting in there slightly.
DTM - Norisring: Pitlane is busier and a motorway on a bank holiday Friday afternoon, but on track, having already fitted his slicks, Wittmann goes fastest. Times will tumble over the remaining five minutes.
BTCC - Croft: More than halfway into the session now, and there's been no change at the front. Are the quick boys on race runs?
Morgan's just gone sixth in his Ciceley Mercedes, but that's the only improvement in the top 10.
Morgan's just gone sixth in his Ciceley Mercedes, but that's the only improvement in the top 10.
DTM - Norisring: We have cars pitting for slicks, led by reigning champion Wittmann. Seven minutes remaining, Vietoris is on top, ahead of Rockenfeller and Wehrlein.
DTM - Norisring: Times are down into the 54-second bracket, with Juncadella currently on top from Wickens, Tomczyk and Farfus. Drivers are actively using the wet line along the front straight, rather than the dry line, to keep their wets cool. We have 11 minutes remaining, have to think someone will throw slicks on.
Moto2 - Assen: Here's the result from that one:
1 Johann Zarco
2 Tito Rabat
3 Sam Lowes
4 Alex Rins
5 Tom Luthi
Which leaves the points looking like this:
1 Zarco 159
2 Rabat 114
3 Lowes 96
4 Luthi 89
5 Rins 87
1 Johann Zarco
2 Tito Rabat
3 Sam Lowes
4 Alex Rins
5 Tom Luthi
Which leaves the points looking like this:
1 Zarco 159
2 Rabat 114
3 Lowes 96
4 Luthi 89
5 Rins 87
DTM - Norisring: With such a short lap and 24 cars on track during this 20 minute session and conditions improving, we won't post every position update. As the times are going to tumble on the drying track.
By: Matt Beer, AUTOSPORT staff, Scott Mitchell, Mitchell Adam, Gary Watkins, Jack Benyon, Marcus Simmons
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