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MotGP Assen: World champion Marquez heads Vinales in first practice

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez led the way in first practice for the Dutch TT at Assen, beating Maverick Vinales by less than two tenths of a second

Marquez spent the early part of Friday morning's 45-minute session trading the fastest time with Pramac Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci, before Vinales took over at the top midway through.

The Yamaha rider set a 1m34.550s that stood as the benchmark until the final 15 minutes, when Honda's Marquez moved back to the top with a 1m34.411s.

Amid a flurry of improvements in the final few minutes, Marquez improved to a 1m34.227s, with Vinales falling 0.177 seconds short with his best effort of 1m34.404s.

Valentino Rossi, whose most recent race victory came at Assen a year ago, made it two works Yamahas in the top three, ending up just a tenth slower Vinales and 0.286s off Marquez's benchmark.

Jack Miller - who scored his first and only MotoGP win to date at Assen in 2016 - was the quickest of the Ducati riders on his year-old Pramac machine in fourth, beating works rider Andrea Dovizioso by less than a tenth.

Jorge Lorenzo suffered a late crash at the fast Ruskenhoek section on the second factory Ducati GP18, and ended up seventh behind the lead Suzuki of Andrea Iannone.

Franco Morbidelli (Marc VDS Honda), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Petrucci completed the top 10.

Dani Pedrosa was only 14th fastest on the second works Honda, almost a second slower than team-mate Marquez.

Bradley Smith survived an early trip through the gravel to lead the KTM charge in 16th, one place ahead of leading Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro.

FP1 times

Pos Rider Team Bike Time Gap Laps
1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m34.227s - 21
2 Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha 1m34.404s 0.177s 19
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m34.513s 0.286s 20
4 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m34.548s 0.321s 20
5 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m34.637s 0.410s 19
6 Andrea Iannone Suzuki Suzuki 1m34.684s 0.457s 21
7 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati Ducati 1m34.811s 0.584s 16
8 Franco Morbidelli MVDS Honda Honda 1m34.820s 0.593s 20
9 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 1m34.898s 0.671s 19
10 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m35.037s 0.810s 18
11 Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m35.096s 0.869s 16
12 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m35.102s 0.875s 21
13 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m35.146s 0.919s 19
14 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m35.182s 0.955s 19
15 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 1m35.245s 1.018s 21
16 Bradley Smith KTM KTM 1m35.271s 1.044s 17
17 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 1m35.289s 1.062s 17
18 Pol Espargaro KTM KTM 1m35.376s 1.149s 19
19 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m35.669s 1.442s 18
20 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m35.838s 1.611s 20
21 Scott Redding Aprilia Aprilia 1m35.935s 1.708s 20
22 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda 1m35.955s 1.728s 20
23 Thomas Luthi MVDS Honda Honda 1m36.471s 2.244s 19
24 Xavier Simeon Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m36.955s 2.728s 19


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