A second painful fall of the day for Marc Marquez rounded off a twice red-flagged and incredibly crash-strewn second Assen MotoGP practice session.
Marquez had recovered from an initial fall to go fastest in the morning, and then while on a potential session-topping afternoon lap he lost his Ducati's front end going into the fast Ruskenhoek left-hander and slid at high speed across the gravel.
This is what happened at Turn 7! @marcmarquez93 😱#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/XAAl1uxwko
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 27, 2025
He initially stood up before immediately crouching back down in the gravel trap, seemingly in pain in his groin area, and needing assistance away from the scene - though he was walking unaided, if somewhat gingerly, when he got back to the Ducati pit. From there he headed to the medical centre for a check-up.
Advancing to Q2: Quartararo, A Marquez, Acosta, Bezzecchi, Bagnaia, M Marquez, Di Giannantonio, Vinales, Morbidelli, Zarco
Will contest Q1: Fernandez, Aldeguer, Rins, Oliveira, Bastianini, Miller, Mir, Binder, Savadori, Ogura, Chantra, Espargaro
That was one of nine high-speed crashes during the session, as rider after rider appeared to misjudge the grip available from the front tyre in particular.
Six of the crashes happened in the first seven minutes of the session.
Alex Marquez started the run of falls and was quickly followed by Gresini Ducati team-mate Fermin Aldeguer, LCR Honda's Johann Zarco, VR46 Ducati's Franco Morbidelli, Tech3 KTM rider Enea Bastianini and Honda's stand-in rider Aleix Espargaro.
The Aldeguer, Zarco and Morbidelli shunts happened virtually simultaneously, all at different parts of the track, with Morbidelli's the most destructive as his Ducati tumbled end over end across the grass without him.
None of those caused a red flag, but Ai Ogura and Lorenzo Savadori's later crashes both did.
Ogura had a ferocious highside into the Duikersloot right-hander in which his Trackhouse Aprilia burst into flames as it bounced across the asphalt. Savadori's Stekkenwal shunt ended with his wrecked Aprilia sat in the middle of the circuit. Both riders appeared unhurt.
A HUGE one for Savadori at T8 😱
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 27, 2025
The session is halted again 🚩#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/BNIuYXwWlz
Between stoppages and yellow flags, Fabio Quartararo popped in with the fastest time at the end of a session in which all five manufacturers got a bike directly into Q2.
Quartararo's 1m31.156s for Yamaha was 0.102s clear of Alex Marquez, with Pedro Acosta jumping to third for KTM late on and Assen specialist Marco Bezzecchi's Aprilia fastest for a spell before ending up fourth.
Marc Marquez held on for sixth despite his fall, just behind Ducati team-mate Pecco Bagnaia.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, Maverick Vinales, Morbidelli and Zarco completed the automatic Q2 pack.
Raul Fernandez was bumped down to 11th in the final seconds, while Alex Rins looked like he might get his Yamaha straight through to Q2 via a massive tow from Bagnaia before being edged down the order.
