Johann Zarco continues his dream run in the Premier class by securing his first ever pole position at the TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands. Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez gets to start the Dutch GP from P2 of the grid. The Italian Danilo Petrucci made an impressive run to start from P3, making it a dual front row start in a row. The rider with highest number of Dutch GP wins Valentino Rossi starts from the second row at P4. The Qualifying 1 session was the best ever 15 minutes of the year, as there were a pack of riders constantly fighting for the top two gateway spots. Scott Redding, Sam Lowes, Aleix Espargaro, Jack Miller and Loris Baz swapped the top 2 spots for a number of times just before Scott Redding and Sam Lowes, as they went into Q2 at the end of the session.
The Q2 was yet again a dramatic wet session and Valentino Rossi got to the pace very quickly as he went on top for a provisional pole with a 1'48.856. Soon after, Marc Marquez, Danilo Petrucci, Jonas Folger and Scott Redding got their pace and made for an interesting Qualifying session. At the end with just a minute and a half remaining, Johann Zarco took the rostrum from a potential Marquez as he claimed his career first MotoGP pole position. He was followed by Marc Marquez and Danilo Petrucci in the front row of the grid.
Valentino Rossi starts from P4, while Scott Redding and Jonas Folger complete the second row of the grid. The top ten is completed by Alvaro Bautista, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso and Sam Lowes. Sam Lowes' Aprilia RS GP had a pretty bad engine blow affecting his Q2 and great pace in the second half of the day. Championship leader Maverick Viñales didn't find his usual confidence as he starts the race from P11 on the grid. He is followed by the fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa in P12 and 2016 Dutch TT winner Jack Miller at P13. Ducati factory rider Jorge Lorenzo still suffers with his Desmo GP17, as he starts at a relatively low P21 tomorrow.
The Dutch MotoGP goes live tomorrow at 4.30PM IST from the TT Circuit Assen. We hope the weather Gods show some mercy tomorrow as the track is devilishly dangerous under wet conditions, since we witnessed a nasty high side in Moto2 earlier today courtesy Lorenzo Baldassari. We are as excited as you all are for the Assen GP tomorrow. Till then, stay tuned to BikesMedia for further updates on the 2017 MotoGP World Championship.By: Aravind Rb