Ducati Lenovo Team secures direct seed to Q2 at Assen with Francesco Bagnaia fifth and Marc Márquez sixth

• Alex Márquez is second with the Ducati machine of the Gresini Racing Team

The Ducati Lenovo Team has wrapped up an intense Friday at the TT Circuit Assen, which is hosting the Grand Prix of the Netherlands – the tenth event of the season. Francesco Bagnaia finished the Practice session in fifth place, with Marc Márquez just 0.045 seconds behind his teammate in sixth position.

In an afternoon session marked by a flurry of crashes and two red flag interruptions, Bagnaia moved up to first place with five minutes remaining and ultimately ended up fifth, 0.254 seconds adrift of today’s quickest lap-time. Márquez, who had topped the morning timesheets, suffered two crashes – one in each session – both without major consequences. The second, which occurred in the final stages of Practice, took away his chance to attempt one final time attack.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will resume action tomorrow morning at 10:10 local time (GMT +2) for Free Practice 2, followed by Q2 at 11:15 and the 13-lap, tenth Sprint of the season, scheduled to get underway at 15:00.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 5th
“This track surely helps. I’m happy because I felt quite good, even though I’m still struggling in a couple of corners. The feeling is good, and we need to keep working in the same direction. Despite a not-perfect time attack, I was very consistent on used tyres. It’s hard to predict how the conditions will evolve, as it’s quite cold and windy – which made it impossible to use the medium tyre. With the work done today, we have a clear idea on how to improve, and for the rest, we’ll see.”

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 6th
“I’m good. It was a tough day physically because of the two crashes, especially the first one, which was quite strange since I was only on my third lap and not pushing. The second one happened during the time attack – and those things can happen. Fitness-wise, I’m not at 100%, but I just need a longer warm-up to be ready. On the technical side, I felt very good, especially considering I struggled here last year. The feeling is good.”