Jorge Lorenzo ended the first session of free practice for the MotoGP class at Assen on top of the timesheets, squeaking ahead of Casey Stoner as the session ended. Stoner had dominated for much of the session, but the Yamahas closed the gap as FP1 drew to a close. In the end, Lorenzo took a slim lead over the Australian. Stoner's Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa also slipped through ahead of Stoner to take 2nd, leaving the Australian in 3rd.
Ben Spies posted a respectable 4th fastest time, at the track where he secured his first and so far only victory in MotoGP. Nicky Hayden put the factory Ducati in 5th, three quarters of a second behind Lorenzo, and just ahead of Alvaro Bautista on the San Carlo Gresini Honda. Hector Barbera took 7th on the Pramac Ducati, following Andrea Dovizioso around to end ahead of the Italian, forcing Dovizioso down into 8th, just ahead of Monster Tech 3 Yamaha teammate Cal Crutchlow. Valentino Rossi rounds out the top 10, just under a second slower than Lorenzo.
Results:
