Monster Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales took charge of the Assen MotoGP timesheets in the second practice, grazing the outright lap record to stay ahead of stablemate Fabio Quartararo with Danilo Petrucci in third again.
Vinales bolted in soft Michelins all round to post a 1’32.638 - fractions slower than team-mate Valentino Rossi’s all-time record - while Petronas Yamaha’s Quartararo, who was quickest this morning, had to settle for second with a 1’32.818 set on a medium front/soft rear.
But it was more bad news for Jorge Lorenzo who has been ruled out of any further action this weekend after being diagnosed with a fractured T6 vertebrae. He will fly to the Dexeus Institute in Barcelona for comprehensive MRI scans.
Vinales is using the older specification aero package this weekend while team-mate Valentino Rossi is using the newer version. Rossi was mired outside the top ten until he came out with a soft rear and hopped into ninth place but nearly nine-tenths off the pace.
Vinales was able to post eight 1’33s laps in the session, compared to Quartararo who conjured up only two. The Spaniard also put in two in the 1’32s with the Frenchman completing half that.
Petrucci managed five 1’33s while Marc Marquez, who didn’t take part in the time attack, stayed on the same set of medium Michelins and posted seven 1’33s.
Title rival Andrea Dovizioso hauled himself from disaster to fourth in the second session. The works Ducati man has been testing a new chassis today and combined with a hard rear, he was able to post a 1’33.223 early in the session but couldn’t find any more pace on the soft tyre.
Alex Rins, using a new chassis, claimed fifth place with his final 1’33.305 on a medium rear while Andrea Iannone got a tow from Marquez to set the sixth quickest time on a hard rear before crashing late on.
Marquez claimed seventh place with the second Ecstar Suzuki Joan Mir in eighth with a 1’33.415 on the soft rear. Rossi ended ninth while Cal Crutchlow scraped into the top ten with a 1’33.727 on a soft rear.
Pecco Bagnaia took his Pramac Ducati to 11th place on soft rear just ahead of Karel Abraham who was only 0.039s slower. Jack Miller set 1’33.874 for 13th with Franco Morbidelli and Pol Espargaro completing the top 15.
Johann Zarco crashed at the same place as Lorenzo but walked away unscathed while Miguel Oliveira has debuted a carbon swingarm on his Tech3 KTM.
