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MotoGP Assen: Rossi fastest as Marquez crashes

Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi has upped his MotoGP free practice game substantially to take top spot in the first session at Assen this morning while Marc Marquez bounced back from an early crash to take second.

Rossi put in a short run of laps right at the end of the period which culminated in a 1’34.357 to bag top spot while current champion Marquez, who has mated a 2014 RC213V chassis to the 2015 engine and electronics, went down at the fast Ramshoek on his first out-lap just two minutes into the session.

The Doctor was also on his game in terms of pace as he put in five laps in the 1’34s, which should be the race pace, while his competition struggled to get more than three, so Rossi’s form is already looking good.

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Marquez ended just two-tenths behind the Movistar Yamaha man after setting his fastest lap of 1’34.552, completed behind Bradley Smith who didn’t look like he was holding up the Repsol Honda.

Marquez’ team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who had his arm iced as soon as he returned to the garage, was just 0.018s further back after leading until five minutes of the session remained.

Pedrosa set a 1’34.570 at the start of his last run which was enough to hold off Jorge Lorenzo, on the second Movistar YZR-M1, by two-tenths.

Pol Espargaro leapt into fifth place, one ahead of Monster Yamaha team-mate Smith, with his last lap of the session and the pair are split by just a tenth with Maverick Vinales in seventh on a 1’35.050 and just 0.008s slower than Smith.

Vinales’ team-mate Aleix Espargaro sits in eighth, one ahead of Andrea Dovizoso on the works GP15. Dovizioso is a little shy of nine-tenths off the pace so there is work to do for the Italian over lunch. Danilo Petrucci completes the top ten.

Open Honda man Jack Miller finished one place ahead of team-mate Cal Crutchlow’s factory-spec RC213V, the pair a second slower than Rossi while Andrea Iannone, who is third in the championship chase, is in 13th place.

Scott Redding is struggling down in 17th place on his RC213V and only 0.065s faster than Eugene Laverty with Nicky Hayden in 16th place.

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