• Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) wins the Motul TT Assen
• Bagnaia sets new all-time circuit lap record of 1’31.504
• Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) sets new race lap record of 1’32.500
• New race duration record: 40’25.205 (175,297 Km/h average speed), about 10s shorter than 2021
Francesco Bagnaia used the confidence-inspiring performance of his Soft front and Hard rear Michelin Power Slick tyres to win a dramatic rain-affected Motul TT Assen, and take a well-earned victory at ‘The Cathedral of Speed’. Crossing the line in second and third places respectively were Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).
Lining up on the grid for the start of the race, four riders chose the Soft front, with the remainder opting for the Medium. At the rear, the tyre choices were split with two-thirds going for the Hard option and the other one-third going for the Soft compound.
The weather over the weekend was a huge change from the heatwave of the previous round, with heavy rain kicking-off proceedings on Friday and meaning that the Michelin Power Rain tyres got used and were thoroughly put through their paces by all riders. However, this limited dry set-up and also meant that when the conditions finally dried out on Saturday, the track surface was green and lacked grip as a result.
In FP1 there was lots of standing water on the circuit – particularly leading into Turn 1, which meant the bikes were aquaplaning, so this kept lap times high. However, the rain slowed during the final 10 minutes of the session and lap times fell, with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) highlighting the confidence offered by his Michelin Power Rain tyres to finish the session as fastest rider with a lap time of 1’42.589. Conditions improved for FP2, with a dry line appearing that allowed the use of Michelin Power Slicks, and topping the timesheet was Miller’s teammate Bagnaia with a time of 1’33.274.
Saturday morning was dry, so the riders got a completely dry FP3 session to lay down some rubber on the green track surface and start working on dry set-up time on Michelin Power Slicks. This relative calm was followed by the storm in the latter part of the session, as the riders started the time attack runs in the battle for direct access to Q2. Leading the way in terms of lap times was Aleix Espargaro with a time of 1’32.164.
Luckily in Q2 the ominous dark clouds didn’t bring any rain, so the riders were able to push hard for the best grid places. Francesco Bagnaia was able to exploit the grip from his Soft Michelin Power Slicks to take pole with a new all-time circuit lap record time of 1’31.504. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy MotoGP) took second place, splitting the Ducatis, with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) taking third.
Speaking at the end of the race, Piero Taramasso, Michelin Two Wheel Motorsport Manager, said: “After the hot and dry conditions at the past few races, it was a bit of a shock to see so much rain, but with the northerly location of Assen it is certainly not unusual. These conditions gave the riders the chance to use our Michelin Power Rain tyres in the conditions they were designed for, and as always, they performed extremely well.
“Once the track dried, and even though the surface was green, I was very happy with the performance of the slicks as they were consistent and gave confidence for the riders to push. In FP3, five different constructors filled the top five places, and the top 15 riders were separated by less than one second, so this performance was accessible to all. The confidence given to the riders by the slick tyres was clearly shown by the new lap records, and the fact that the fast pace continued during the race, even though rain started to fall.”
