Red flag complicates Friday Practice at Assen
TT Circuit AssenThe riders battles tight margins and hot conditions on the opening day of action for the Dutch Grand Prix
Europe’s heat wave continued as the TT Circuit Assen experienced record-breaking temperatures, pushing even some outright MotoGP temperature records as the riders battled the tricky conditions.
Joan Mir again raised some eyebrows as he set the fastest time through the first sector in the morning, ending Free Practice 1 in seventh place and only 0.240s shy of first. Sitting inside the top ten as the red flag came out after a strong session, Mir would fall foul of timing and slip to 12th overall – giving up direct passage to Q2. Mir’s best time of 1’31.825 put him just 0.125s from the top ten and 0.7s from fastest of the day Bezzecchi. Having set the majority of his times alone, the #36 still has some margin to play with on Saturday.
Pro Honda LCR rider Diogo Moreira enjoyed a positive Friday at the Cathedral of Speed, showing strong pace from the opening Free Practice session and consistently running in the top 10. The Brazilian fought hard to secure a direct place in Q2, but was unable to put together the lap he needed in the closing stages of Practice.
Starting Friday with a best lap of 1’33.267, Luca Marini cut 0.8s from his quickest single lap but struggled to make an impact in the final moments of Practice after the red flag was lifted. Wrapping up Friday in 18th overall, the Dutch GP weekend is looking more complicated than the Italian and his Honda HRC Castrol team were predicting but the #10 remains confident in finding improvements as the weekend progresses, exactly as happened last weekend in Brno.
Cal Crutchlow, who continues to fill in for Castrol Honda LCR's Johann Zarco, completed a productive day on Dutch soil, despite encountering some difficulties during the morning session. In the afternoon he was able to put together a series of consistent laps, gathering valuable data and continuing to improve ahead of Saturday's qualifying and Sprint race.
I expected to struggle here with the layout, and the last sector is still where we need to improve the most. In the first sector we are strong, so we need to understand how to adapt the bike. I was able to make the lap time alone today which isn’t easy, sure we missed out in the end with the red flag situation which can always happen. Tomorrow Q1 will be tight like always but I am confident that the team can make something more to fight for that top two because we were close to achieving our goal of the top ten.
I expected to struggle here with the layout, and the last sector is still where we need to improve the most. In the first sector we are strong, so we need to understand how to adapt the bike. I was able to make the lap time alone today which isn’t easy, sure we missed out in the end with the red flag situation which can always happen. Tomorrow Q1 will be tight like always but I am confident that the team can make something more to fight for that top two because we were close to achieving our goal of the top ten.
The hot conditions were fine. It felt good for a few laps, but it was difficult to understand the track because the grip was really challenging at the beginning. We're happy with the job we did today. We narrowly missed out on Q2, but we're ready to fight and give it another shot tomorrow.
The hot conditions were fine. It felt good for a few laps, but it was difficult to understand the track because the grip was really challenging at the beginning. We're happy with the job we did today. We narrowly missed out on Q2, but we're ready to fight and give it another shot tomorrow.
A tough day, no two ways about it. Some bad luck also which limited my running in the morning and then the flags in the afternoon. Even with this, we are further than we want to be and need to improve a few points, especially in the last sector. It’s possible to go to Q2 but we need to work a lot, already we have improved the rear grip today. Sure, it was hot today, but I don’t think the weather is having a huge impact on our situation. My fitness is something I do not doubt, so I am ready for whatever happens with the sky.
A tough day, no two ways about it. Some bad luck also which limited my running in the morning and then the flags in the afternoon. Even with this, we are further than we want to be and need to improve a few points, especially in the last sector. It’s possible to go to Q2 but we need to work a lot, already we have improved the rear grip today. Sure, it was hot today, but I don’t think the weather is having a huge impact on our situation. My fitness is something I do not doubt, so I am ready for whatever happens with the sky.
In FP1 we had a small issue and I had to stop, so we lost a bit of track time. I tried to stay consistent throughout the day, and overall I felt quite good. The heat makes it really tough, and this is a very physical track with so many changes of direction. That's where I struggled the most. We’ll see tomorrow.
In FP1 we had a small issue and I had to stop, so we lost a bit of track time. I tried to stay consistent throughout the day, and overall I felt quite good. The heat makes it really tough, and this is a very physical track with so many changes of direction. That's where I struggled the most. We’ll see tomorrow.
