Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo Tops Assen Friday, Rins Narrowly Misses Out on Q2

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo opened the TT Assen weekend by securing 1st place in the Practice session, promoting straight to Q2. Álex Rins made solid progress over the course of the Friday but just missed out on the Practice top 10. He wrapped up the afternoon session in 13th position and will take part in tomorrow's Q1.

TT Circuit Assen (the Netherlands), 27th June 2025

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team sprang into action at the TT Circuit Assen for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands Friday sessions. Fabio Quartararo is a fan of the Dutch track and made it known by finishing the Practice in 1st position and securing a place in tomorrow's Q2. Álex Rins found a solid time improvement in an eventful afternoon session. He placed 13th in the final rankings, putting him on the Q1-entry list.

Quartararo set the sixth-fastest time in the morning FP1 and was feeling positive about securing a place inside the top 10 in the afternoon. Though the Practice saw numerous crashes and was interrupted by a red flag situation twice, El Diablo was laser focused. He topped the live timing a few times while using the Practice to tweak his set-up before the time attack. After the second red flag there were 13 and a half minutes left, and the Yamaha man made them count. He set his best time, a 1'31.156s, on lap 28/29. It earned him first place, with a 0.102s margin to second.

Rins ended FP1 in 10th place and was hoping to repeat the feat in the afternoon. He used the afternoon session to find a time improvement as he knew the shoot-out at the end would be fierce. The iconic TT Circuit Assen proved tricky for many, resulting in several crashes during the Practice. The number 42 was unshaken, though, and made progress. In the final minutes, he temporarily climbed up to seventh with a 1'31.831s, posted on lap 23/28. But the times kept dropping in the final stages. Unable to get a clean hot lap in, Rins ultimately ended the session in 13th position, 0.675s from first.

The teammates will be back in action for FP2 held tomorrow from 10:10-10:40 (GMT+2). The qualifying sessions will follow from 10:50-11:30, and the 13-lap Sprint will start at 15:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"The numerous crashes show that the conditions were not so easy – it was a fair bit colder than expected, though that will likely improve throughout the weekend. Still, the level was high today. The top-17 riders are within 0.9s, so even the smallest margin counts. Fabio did a great job today. He likes this circuit, and topping today's results is a nice confidence boost for tomorrow. Álex made good progress today too. He is understandably disappointed to miss out on Q2 by 0.055s, but he is in good shape to try again tomorrow in Q1. Assen always produces good entertainment, so we expect an exciting Sprint full of action."

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"It was a good lap time. With how we started this morning, I didn't expect to ride like this in the afternoon. It was a really nice Practice; I felt great on the bike. I ran into some traffic, so in the end we only did one time attack, and it was positive. I feel good, and hopefully tomorrow we can make another step. I think the pace looks quite good. This is positive for the Sprint tomorrow. It will get warmer during this weekend, and we will have to manage this and take care of our rear tyre – that will be crucial."

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"It was quite difficult to keep the mind clear, but I think we did a good job overall. It's difficult when you see all your mates, your MotoGP colleagues, crash. I started a bit more cautiously, because it takes a long time for us to warm the medium tyre here in this temperature. When I was struggling for four laps, I went back to the box and put in the softs. We knew it was going to be difficult, but it was not bad. We need to improve our pace a bit. In the time attack I gave it my maximum, but I'm out of Q2. I'm a bit disappointed, but I was missing one clear lap today. My ideal time here is 0.3s faster than my best lap time, so tomorrow we need to complete one clear lap and keep going. We can do it!"