The crashes galore at Assen clearly show how incredibly tricky the conditions were today. For just the fourth time in his premier class career, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) has secured a pole starting position.
Dovizioso’s great display of skill led him to set a 1m 45.246s to take pole over Rossi’s 1m 45.961s. Both Andrea and Rossi are known for their abilities to tackle harsh conditions. For Andrea, this is his third pole for Ducati, last being back at Qatar in 2015. Britain's Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) secured a great front row start on his Ducati in third as he finished the lap in 1m 46.312s. This is also the first time Scott has secured a start in the front row of the MotoGP grid.
Regarding the crashes, Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) crashed at turn five on his out lap. His fall was quickly followed by Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who came off at turn eight. Shortly after, Marc grabbed a scooter to get back to the pits as quick as possible. Marc secured fourth place on the grid. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) will start in fifth followed by Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP) in sixth.
Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo qualified to take 11th place on the Movistar Yamaha, 2.6s behind the leader Dovizioso’s time. Assen can prove to be an excellent opportunity for Rossi to close in on the 22-point gap in the standings since both Marquez and Lorenzo have had less than ideal times.
Qualifying results:
1. Andrea Dovizioso
2. Valentino Rossi
3. Scott Redding
4. Marc Marquez
5. Cal Crutchlow
6. Yonny Hernandez
7. Pol Espargaro
8. Aleix Espargaro
9. Andrea Iannone
10. Danilo Petrucci
11. Jorge Lorenzo
12. Maverick Viñales
13. Hector Barbera
14. Bradley Smith
15. Alvaro Bautista
16. Dani Pedrosa
17. Eugene Laverty
18. Stefan Bradl
19. Jack Miller
20. Tito Rabat, and
21. Michele Pirro
