MotoGP Assen Qualifying: Maverick Vinales takes pole in Yamaha 1-2

June 26, 2021June 26, 2021 EMR Writer

Yamaha go 1-2 in the Assen qualifying with Vinales improving.

Yamaha take a stunning 1-2 in the MotoGP qualifying with the pair blitzing the lap record of 1:32.017, both riders are now under the previous lap record with Vinales the new holder putting in a time of 1:31.814 meaning the duo are the first-ever riders to lap under the 1:32 barrier split by just 0.071 seconds joined by Francesco Bagnaia on the front row.

It was an incredibly impressive session with Fabio Quartararo putting in an early banker lap which broke his previous lap record which was sure to secure the pole position, unfortunately for the Frenchman his teammate Maverick Vinales had other ideas. Vinales has been on fire all weekend long after finishing last in Germany, he has his father at the track with him giving him that extra boost of motivation, he has led nearly every session this weekend topping all Free Practices bar FP4 which was led by Quartararo and is the complete opposite to the rider we have seen all season long.

Vinales is a very up and down rider as we have seen, he goes from super high highs to terrible lows with last weekend and this weekend being a perfect example of this, how does a rider go from last place to pole position in just one week? We don’t know, all we know is that Vinales is on pole but if history stays to be true, this unfortunately will only be a temporary bust of form.

Joining the Yamaha duo on the front row is Francesco Bagnaia who put in a very late lap time to get onto the front row after coming from the Q1 session, the Ducati’s have struggled here all weekend long so Bagnaia getting a front-row like this is a major positive for the factory who felt they wouldn’t be too competitive here. Unfortunately, Bagnaia’s late speed came at the expense of Takaaki Nakagami who look set to take a front-row start before he was bested by the Italian, Nakagami instead will head row two ahead of Johann Zarco and Miguel Oliveira on the KTM who really does look strong enough to fight for the title now that he’s had his KTM upgrades.

Alex Rins did what he does best and crashed his way to P7 on the grid, he was on for a good time in the Q2 session but found himself in the gravel once again and is joined by Jack Miller and the impressive Aleix Espargaro on the third row as Joan Mir capped off the top 10.

Marc Marquez will start from a very low P20, the GermanGP winner struggling with confidence after his traction control failed him yesterday spitting him into the air in a massive highside.

Full Q2 results –