Victory in the Catalonia Grand Prix, victory in the Mugello sprint, victory in the Italian Grand Prix – Francesco Bagnaia is without doubt the man of the hour in MotoGP at the moment. No other rider has scored anywhere near as many points as the defending champion in the last two race weekends, especially as he threw away a sure victory in the Barcelona sprint on the last lap and could have collected even more points. A trend that seems inevitable to continue at the MotoGP classic in Assen.
In 1:31.340 minutes, the number 1 car smashed the previous lap record set by VR46 Academy colleague Marco Bezzecchi from last year’s qualifying on Friday afternoon, securing the best time of the day, which only Maverick Vinales could even remotely challenge. But just how much Bagnaia really dominated on Friday in Assen is shown above all by another statistic – more precisely, a look at the ranking of the first free practice session.
Francesco Bagnaia writes MotoGP history: First time at the front in FP1
The Ducati star had finished in first place there – for the very first time since the San Marino Grand Prix in 2018, when he was still driving in Moto2 for the Sky Racing Team VR46. “This morning I led an FP1 for the first time in MotoGP, that’s an incredible fact,” laughed Bagnaia when asked about it in his media round on Friday evening. “Of course, that’s also because I’ve never driven a ‘time attack’ in FP1 before. But it’s still nice to have achieved that now.”
Bagnaia has so far been considered a late starter in MotoGP, who only reaches his peak on race Sunday. This has often pushed the two-time world champion into Q1 in the past, three times in the last six race weekends of the 2023 season alone. “Last year I had big problems with the stability of the bike on Fridays,” recalls the Turin native, who always had the right answer ready on Sunday. Nevertheless, he initially took these problems with him into the current season, but a few weeks ago the trend changed: “I could never push myself to the limit, I never felt comfortable. In Jerez we made a major change and from then on we were always competitive on Friday too.”
Francesco Bagnaia top favourite after MotoGP Friday in Assen
“The work we have done since the start of the season is now bearing fruit and giving me a better feeling to start on Friday,” Bagnaia rejoiced, revealing: “Last year I always went into the weekend with a deficit and had a lot of work ahead of me. That wasn’t easy, so it’s especially helpful now to get into the weekend well. We always know which way we have to go now. We start with two different bikes and I’ll then decide on one. After that we’ll just work on the details.”
“What we always did up until Sunday last year to improve my feeling, we managed to do today before the start. I immediately felt very good and was able to do what I wanted with the bike,” the Ducati rider immediately sent a warning to his competitors. Because if Bagnaia can continue his historic upward trend on Saturday and Sunday, it will probably be difficult to beat him in the sprint and main race on the TT Circuit in Assen.
Pramac Racing caused another surprise on Friday in Assen, as the Italian racing team officially announced its switch from Ducati to Yamaha from 2025. You can find all the information here: