Stefan Bradl's early lap in qualifying was good enough to secure pole position for the TT Assen after the unpredictable Dutch weather effectively ended the session in the first 20 minutes. Wet or dry, the German has been dominant this weekend and duly took his sixth pole in seven races.
As the riders ventured out on their first runs, Marc Marquez went to the top with a 1:40.660, but the times were still a second slower than the morning session. Simone Corsi was then the first man to go under 100 seconds at the seven minute mark, with Thomas Luthi moving into second.
Ten minutes in, and Bradl took provisional pole with a 1:39.534 but had a major moment exiting the chicane to complete the lap, nearly losing control of his Kalex machine. With hindsight, pole position was already secured but a couple of laps later, he went quicker again, getting down to a 1:39.305.
Corsi wouldn't go any quicker but Marquez would, making an improvement in the nick of time to go up to second, moments before the heavens opened and effectively brought the session to a conclusion.
Simone Corsi held on the final place on the front row but the final effort from Marquez knocked Luthi onto the second row. The Swiss rider will be joined by Yuki Takahashi and Aleix Espargaro.
Kenan Sofuoglu will head up row three with Britain's Scott Redding alongside him in eighth. The Marc VDS youngster was second quickest in the morning practice session but the rain prevented him from better the time that he had set earlier. Michele Pirro was ninth while Bradley Smith had a much simpler qualifying session than two weeks ago at Silverstone, ending it in tenth. Kev Coghlan will start 30th.
The final half an hour was an anti-climax although some riders did go out to sample the conditions that may be replicated in tomorrow's race. Jules Cluzel found it tricky and ran off the track during a brief spell on track. Axel Pons also had an off but ironically, that came in the dry when conditions were at their best.
There were two non-qualifiers with Max Neukirchner failing to set a lap time in dry conditions and falling outside the 107% cut-off time. Elena Rosell also missed out after the Mapfre Aspar Suter was too badly damaged following her practice accident.
Qualifying Result:
Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Lap Time | Gap |
1 | Stefan Bradl | GER | Viessman Kiefer Racing | 1:39.305 | |
2 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol | 1:39.600 | +0.295 |
3 | Simone Corsi | ITA | Ioda Racing Project | 1:39.700 | +0.395 |
4 | Thomas Luthi | SWI | Interwetten Paddock Moto2 | 1:39.844 | +0.539 |
5 | Yuki Takahashi | JAP | Gresini Racing Moto2 | 1:39.890 | +0.585 |
6 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Pons HP 40 | 1:39.962 | +0.657 |
7 | Kenan Sofuoglu | TUR | Technomag-CIP | 1:40.123 | +0.818 |
8 | Scott Redding | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | 1:40.149 | +0.844 |
9 | Michele Pirro | ITA | Gresini Racing Moto2 | 1:40.234 | +0.929 |
10 | Bradley Smith | GBR | Tech 3 Racing | 1:40.238 | +0.933 |
11 | Pol Espargaro | SPA | HP Tuenti Speed Up | 1:40.469 | +1.164 |
12 | Mike Di Meglio | FRA | Tech 3 Racing | 1:40.550 | +1.245 |
13 | Dominique Aegerter | SWI | Technomag-CIP | 1:40.647 | +1.342 |
14 | Xavier Simeon | BEL | Tech 3 B | 1:40.726 | +1.421 |
15 | Claudio Corti | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | 1:40.744 | +1.439 |
16 | Mika Kallio | FIN | Marc VDS Racing Team | 1:40.804 | +1.499 |
17 | Randy Krummenacher | SWI | GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing | 1:40.925 | +1.520 |
18 | Mattia Pasini | ITA | Ioda Racing Project | 1:40.985 | +1.580 |
19 | Esteve Rabat | SPA | Blusens-STX | 1:41.036 | +1.731 |
20 | Anthony West | AUS | MZ Racing Team | 1:41.068 | +1.763 |
21 | Yonny Hernandez | COL | Blusens-STX | 1:41.211 | +1.906 |
22 | Alex de Angelis | RSM | JIR Moto2 | 1:41.364 | +2.059 |
23 | Jules Cluzel | FRA | Forward Racing | 1:41.536 | +2.231 |
24 | Javier Fores | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | 1:41.564 | +2.259 |
25 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | Speed Master | 1:41.642 | +2.337 |
26 | Kenny Noyes | USA | Avintia-STX | 1:41.732 | +2.427 |
27 | Ratthapark Wilairot | THA | Thai Honda Singha SAG | 1:41.739 | +2.434 |
28 | Alex Baldolini | ITA | Forward Racing | 1:41.908 | +2.603 |
29 | Santiago Hernandez | COL | SAG Team | 1:41.931 | +2.626 |
30 | Kev Coghlan | GBR | Aeroport de Castello | 1:42.077 | +2.772 |
31 | Ricard Cardus | SPA | QMMF Racing Team | 1:42.160 | +2.855 |
32 | Carmelo Morales | SPA | Desguaces La Torre G22 | 1:42.308 | +3.003 |
33 | Michael van der Mark | NED | EAB Racing | 1:42.565 | +3.260 |
34 | Axel Pons | SPA | Pons HP 40 | 1:42.682 | +3.377 |
35 | Valentin Debise | FRA | Speed Up | 1:42.908 | +3.603 |
36 | Robertino Pietri | VEN | Italtrans Racing Team | 1:43.200 | +3.895 |
37 | Steven Odendaal | RSA | MS Racing | 1:44.240 | +4.935 |
38 | Mashel Al Naimi | QAT | QMMF Racing Team | 1:44.282 | +4.977 |
107% Time: 1:46.470 | |||||
NQ | Max Neukirchner | GER | MZ Racing Team | 1:53.043 | +13.738 |
NQ | Elena Rosell | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | No Time |