ASSEN (Netherlands), June 24 — Italian Francesco Bagnaia negotiated the slippery conditions to set the fastest time after today’s first two practice sessions ahead of the Dutch MotoGP at Assen.

The Ducati rider had trailed in the first session under the rain but took advantage of the dry track in the second later in the afternoon for a quickest lap of 1min 46.877sec to edge out Spaniard Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia by 0.178sec.

World champion Fabio Quartararo, who leads Espargaro in the overall standings this season, was third fastest for Yamaha at 0.305sec around the 4.542km Assen circuit.

Ducati’s Jack Miller initially dominated the morning session, but his time did not last long and the Australian finished fifth in a much faster second hour of testing on a warm tarmac.

Third in the championship before the 11th round out of 20, Frenchman Johann Zarco of Ducati-Pramac, slipped to ninth fastest. — AFP