Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales completed a Friday MotoGP clean sweep by topping a rain-disrupted second Assen practice that featured a massive crash for Marc Marquez.
Vinales’ best effort was just under two tenths of a second off his top time from FP1, and allowed him to top FP2 by a tenth and a half over KTM’s Miguel Oliveira.
Rain had already reared its head in the lead-up to the session, but the track was plenty dry enough for slicks at the start, allowing Vinales to re-establish himself at the top of the times.
And just moments after he did so, Marquez suffered his massive highside at the fast Duikersloot right-hander, thrown high up into the air off his RC213V and landing hard on the asphalt – albeit, mercifully, on his knees rather than the injured right arm and shoulder.
How much more punishment can that right-arm of Marc Márquez take?! #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/DfbkrXB662
— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) June 25, 2021
A few minutes later, as a winded Marquez returned to his pit garage, the rain returned and swiftly intensified, limiting running for the second half of the session and precluding any improvements.
Fabio Quartararo would complete the top three behind Vinales and Oliveira, while Marquez’s pre-crash time ended up good enough for fourth place.
Joan Mir (Suzuki), Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati), Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Jack Miller (Ducati) were next up in the order, although Miller currently faces having to go through Q1 based on combined practice times – with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), Pol Espargaro (Honda) and Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM) on course to go to Q2 directly instead.
Marquez’s Honda team-mate Espargaro crashed moments after the six-time champion at Turn 5, albeit in much less dramatic circumstances.
Petronas Yamaha stand-in Garrett Gerloff finished 21st out of 22, having improved to 2.5s off the pace.
The team’s regular rider, Franco Morbidelli, has undergone a “successful” operation on his knee earlier today.
Practice 2 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maverick Viñales | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1m33.241s | ||
| 2 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.159s | +0.159s | 1m33.4s |
| 3 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.091s | +0.25s | 1m33.491s |
| 4 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.069s | +0.319s | 1m33.56s |
| 5 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.141s | +0.46s | 1m33.701s |
| 6 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.007s | +0.467s | 1m33.708s |
| 7 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.252s | +0.719s | 1m33.96s |
| 8 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.106s | +0.825s | 1m34.066s |
| 9 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.015s | +0.84s | 1m34.081s |
| 10 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.015s | +0.855s | 1m34.096s |
| 11 | Danilo Petrucci | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.038s | +0.893s | 1m34.134s |
| 12 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.205s | +1.098s | 1m34.339s |
| 13 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.019s | +1.117s | 1m34.358s |
| 14 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.103s | +1.22s | 1m34.461s |
| 15 | Iker Lecuona | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.078s | +1.298s | 1m34.539s |
| 16 | Enea Bastianini | Avintia Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | +0.119s | +1.417s | 1m34.658s |
| 17 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.108s | +1.525s | 1m34.766s |
| 18 | Valentino Rossi | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.011s | +1.536s | 1m34.777s |
| 19 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.055s | +1.591s | 1m34.832s |
| 20 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.894s | +2.485s | 1m35.726s |
| 21 | Garrett Gerloff | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.018s | +2.503s | 1m35.744s |
| 22 | Luca Marini | SKY VR46 Avintia Team | Ducati | +0.472s | +2.975s | 1m36.216s |
