MotoGP Dutch GP: Martin tops Aprilia 1-2-3-4 in qualifying

Jorge Martin claimed pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix, leading 1-2-3-4 result for Aprilia in qualifying.

The Spaniard set a blistering time of 1m30.812s on his factory Aprilia, pipping the Trackhouse-entered RS-GP of Ai Ogura by just 0.011s.

The top six riders were separated by just 0.143 in another closely-fought qualifying session in the last year of the 1000cc rule cycle.

The battle for pole position largely boiled down to a straight fight between the two official Aprilias of Martin and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi.

The Italian, who missed the Czech GP after a race ban for pushing a marshal, set the initial pace with a time of 1m30.853.

However, Martin managed to go fractionally quicker during the same run, giving himself a narrow advantage heading into the final part of the session.

With just a few minutes remaining in qualifying, Raul Fernandez briefly moved to the top spot of the timesheets with a 1m30.796s, but his lap time was quickly deleted for a track limit infringement.

With Bezzecchi failing to improve on his first run, Martin held on to claim his maiden pole position of the season, bouncing back from two difficult weekends in Balaton Park and Brno.

Ai Ogura, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Czech GP pole sitter Ogura was one of the few riders to go quicker on his final run, shuffling down points leader Bezzecchi to third place.

Fernandez ended up fourth after his best time was deleted, but he nevertheless helped Aprilia lock out the top four spots on the grid.

Francesco Bagnaia was once again Ducati’s best-placed rider at Assen, ending up just a tenth of the outright pace in fifth. Fabio di Giannantonio qualified sixth for VR46, while reigning champion Marc Marquez had to settle for seventh after losing multiple lap times to track limits infringements.

Further back, Pedro Acosta wound up eighth after encountering yet more technical problems on his factory KTM, the Spaniard parking his bike in the final minutes of the session.

Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir were the lone representatives for Yamaha and Honda in Q2, both making their way from the opening leg of qualifying to finish ninth and 10th respectively, ahead of Tech3’s Enea Bastianini. 

Despite being declared fit by MotoGP’s doctor Angel Charte, Gresini’s Alex Marquez elected to sit out qualifying to focus on his recovery, leaving him 12th on the grid.

His team-mate Fermin Aldeguer has already been ruled out of the weekend after suffering a fracture to his vertebra in a crash on Friday.

Franco Morbidelli ended up 13th for VR46, while Diogo Moreira’s Q2 streak came to an end as he could only qualify 14th aboard the LCR Honda. The duo will be joined on the fifth row of the grid by KTM’s Brad Binder.

The 22-bike field was propped up by Pramac rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu, who ended up behind both Yamaha wildcard Augusto Fernandez and Johann Zarco’s stand-in Cal Crutchlow (LCR).

Q2

All Stats

 

Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89		Aprilia	9	1'30.812		180.055	310
2	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79		Aprilia	9	+0.011 1'30.823	0.011	180.033	308
3	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72		Aprilia	9	+0.033 1'30.845	0.022	179.990	310
4	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	9	+0.103 1'30.915	0.070	179.851	307
5	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63		Ducati	8	+0.118 1'30.930	0.015	179.821	308
6	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	9	+0.143 1'30.955	0.025	179.772	308
7	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93		Ducati	9	+0.319 1'31.131	0.176	179.425	308
8	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37		KTM	7	+0.412 1'31.224	0.093	179.242	306
9	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	5	+0.504 1'31.316	0.092	179.061	303
10	J. Mir Honda HRC	36		Honda	5	+0.692 1'31.504	0.188	178.693	305
11	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23		KTM	9	+0.792 1'31.604	0.100	178.498	309
12	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	0
View full results

Q1

All Stats

 

Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	8	1'31.271		179.150	305
2	J. Mir Honda HRC	36		Honda	7	+0.044 1'31.315	0.044	179.063	312
3	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21		Ducati	7	+0.155 1'31.426	0.111	178.846	305
4	D. Moreira Team LCR	11		Honda	4	+0.447 1'31.718	0.292	178.276	308
5	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	8	+0.651 1'31.922	0.204	177.881	306
6	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	9	+0.814 1'32.085	0.163	177.566	305
7	L. Marini Honda HRC	10		Honda	7	+0.891 1'32.162	0.077	177.418	311
8	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43		Yamaha	7	+1.096 1'32.367	0.205	177.024	304
9	M. Viñales Tech 3	12		KTM	7	+1.519 1'32.790	0.423	176.217	304
10	A. Fernandez Yamaha Factory Racing	47		Yamaha	7	+1.616 1'32.887	0.097	176.033	304
11	C. Crutchlow Team LCR	35		Honda	8	+1.707 1'32.978	0.091	175.860	310
12	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7		Yamaha	6	+1.854 1'33.125	0.147	175.583	301
View full results