Marco Bezzecchi Leads Assen FP1 After MotoGP Ban

Marco Bezzecchi led the opening practice of the 2026 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix, just a week after serving a race ban. He finished with a time of 1m32.311s.

The Aprilia rider was forced to sit out the Czech Grand Prix at Brno after striking a marshal following a crash in the sprint.

Coming into the Assen weekend, Bezzecchi was looking to put this incident behind him and got the Dutch Grand Prix off to the best start by leading FP1.

He led Ducati's Pecco Bagnaia by 0.098s, while 2024 world champion Martin rounded out the top three.

Following back-to-back wins, Marc Marquez is just 40 points away from the championship lead ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.

But he lost crucial track time when he crashed at the final chicane with around 20 minutes of the session remaining.

He ended the morning in 10th, while Bezzecchi's time of 1m32.311s was enough to keep him at the top of the timesheets.

Top spot changed hands frequently across the 45-minute session, with Bezzecchi leading the way after 10 minutes with a 1m32.589s.

Bagnaia put this under threat on his final lap, but missed out with a 1m32.409s.

Martin rounded out the top three, a further 0.046s back from Bagnaia, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth on the VR46 Ducati.

Ai Ogura leapt up to fifth late on with a 1m32.475s on the Trackhouse Aprilia, with team-mate Raul Fernandez 0.004s behind him.

Honda's Joan Mir was the first of the riders to fit a fresh rear tyre in the closing stages and was seventh.

Tech3 KTM's Maverick Vinales also put a new rear tyre on for a late time attack and was ninth.

Pedro Acosta was 11th on the factory team KTM, while LCR Honda's Diogo Moreira was 12th after a crash at Turn 4.

Yamaha's Alex Rins lost track time at the start of the session due to mechanical issues and was 17th at the chequered flag.

Fabio Quartararo was 20th, as the riders look ahead to the rest of the weekend's action in Assen.