Maverick Vinales left it late before pulling out a sizeable lead over the Moto3 field in Thursday practice for the Dutch TT at Assen. The championship leader has won each of the last two races from pole position and his performance this afternoon indicates a hat-trick may be on the cards.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo squad claimed a 1-2 in first practice with Sandro Cortese leading Danny Kent but the early pace in FP2 was set by Brad Binder, riding for the Dutch-owned RW Racing GP squad. Jakub Kornfeil was the first man into the 1:45s with 25 minutes to go before French rookie Alan Techer outpaced him on the Technomag TSR.
Techer held on until the final five minutes when Miguel Oliveira went fastest, only for the Portuguese to be immediately beaten by Niklas Ajo. Ajo's time on top was equally short lived as Vinales followed him over the line with the fastest time of the weekend, a 1:45.007. That seemed impressive enough but two laps later, the Avintia Blusens rider raised the bar significantly with a 1:44.312, way quicker than anyone else.
His lead threatened to be a full second but Oliveira cut it to 0.737s in the closing stages, demoting Niklas Ajo to third. Morning pacesetter Sandro Cortese was fourth after only finding a tenth from the opening session with Luis Salom pipping Alan Techer and Jakub Kornfeil for fifth.
Danny Kent was next up in eighth ahead of Alex Rins and Romano Fenati while Binder's early effort was the fastest he could go, causing him to fall to seventeenth. Danny Webb was 21st for Mahindra but the Indian team, yet again, failed to complete a trouble-free day with Marcel Schrotter unable to complete a single lap in FP2.
Moto3 Iveco TT Assen: Combined Thursday Practice Times
| Pos | Rider | Motorcycle | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Maverick Viñales |
FTR Honda | Blusens Avintia | 1:44.312 |
|
2 |
 Miguel Oliveira |
Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +0.737 |
|
3 |
 Niklas Ajo |
KTM | TT Motion Events Racing | +0.987 |
|
4 |
 Sandro Cortese |
KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +0.994 |
|
5 |
Luis Salom |
Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +1.168 |
|
6 |
 Alan Techer |
TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +1.192 |
|
7 |
 Jakub Kornfeil |
FTR Honda | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | +1.213 |
|
8 |
 Danny Kent |
KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +1.329 |
|
9 |
Alex Rins |
Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +1.404 |
|
10 |
 Romano Fenati |
FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +1.421 |
|
11 |
Alberto Moncayo |
Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +1.485 |
|
12 |
Niccolo Antonelli |
FTR Honda | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | +1.579 |
|
13 |
Louis Rossi |
FTR Honda | Racing Team Germany | +1.613 |
|
14 |
Alexis Masbou |
Honda | Caretta Technology | +1.626 |
|
15 |
 Arthur Sissis |
KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +1.647 |
|
16 |
Hector Faubel |
Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +1.659 |
|
17 |
 Brad Binder |
Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +1.814 |
|
18 |
Efren Vazquez |
FTR Honda | JHK Laglisse | +1.887 |
|
19 |
Julian Miralles (WC) |
Honda | MIR Racing | +2.080 |
|
20 |
 Zulfahmi Khairuddin |
KTM | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | +2.248 |
|
21 |
Danny Webb |
Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +2.381 |
|
22 |
Adrian Martin |
FTR Honda | JHK Laglisse | +2.432 |
|
23 |
 Jasper Iwema |
FGR Honda | Moto FGR | +2.463 |
|
24 |
Isaac Viñales |
FTR Honda | Ongetta-Centro Seta | +2.544 |
|
25 |
Alessandro Tonucci |
FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +2.639 |
|
26 |
Marcel Schrotter |
Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +2.761 |
|
27 |
Simone Grotzkyj |
Suter Honda | Ambrogio Next Racing | +3.088 |
|
28 |
 Giulian Pedone |
Suter Honda | Ambrogio Next Racing | +3.090 |
|
29 |
Jack Miller |
Honda | Caretta Technology | +3.106 |
|
30 |
Toni Finsterbusch |
Honda | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | +3.289 |
|
31 |
Bryan Schouten (WC) |
Honda | Dutch Racing Team | +3.333 |
|
32 |
Ivan Moreno |
FTR Honda | AndalucÃa JHK Laglisse | +3.721 |
|
33 |
 Kenta Fujii |
TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +3.742 |
|
34 |
Jonas Folger |
Ioda | IodaRacing Project | +4.196 |
|
35 |
Luigi Morciano |
Ioda | Ioda Team Italia | +4.204 |
