Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi saved his best effort for last in today's 15-minute qualifying heat to secure second place on the starting grid for tomorrow's TT Assen. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was looking competitive in the early stages of Q2, but was unable to acclimatise to the tricky and changeable track conditions and finished in eleventh position.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi judged the grim conditions at the TT Circuit Assen track exactly right during the Q2 session and dropped a strong final lap to start the Dutch GP from the middle spot on the front row.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was unable to ride the hot lap he had in mind and will start tomorrow's race three rows further down the grid.

Rossi had been posting competitive times in every session and various types of weather so far this weekend and, despite this afternoon's treacherous track conditions, the Q2 session was no exception. The Doctor followed his usual procedure of letting the other riders go out on track before him to be assured of some clear space. Once he completed a very careful out lap he put the hammer down and set a 1'49.662s for third place.

His following two attempts didn't gain him any places and, with four minutes of the session left, the Italian decided to come in for a fresh wet rear tyre, despite a dry line forming on track. His decision paid off; after a minute he was ready to hit the track once more and set a brilliant 1'45.961s for second place, 0.715s off the fastest time.

Teammate Lorenzo had suffered a crash in FP3, luckily without any major consequences, and was able to take part in the afternoon sessions without any trouble. With the FP4 session being the only time the team had been able to test the wet set-up, the Mallorcan was also eager to go out at the start of the 15-minute long Q2 session. He was the first man to leave pit lane and set a 1'51.016s lap for provisional pole before dropping down the order to fifth place as the other riders completed their first lap.

Over the next ten minutes of the session he continued to better his time gradually, but was unable to climb up the ranking until the very end of the session. Struggling to find a good feeling on the slowly drying track, that still had damp patches in various corners, he was in twelfth position but was determined to make his final attempt count. He gave one final push after the flag went out and improved on his own best lap by 1.289s with a 1'47.897s to take eleventh place.

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"It was a very challenging qualifying session today because the team only had the wet FP4 session to get a feel for the conditions. Valentino improved his set up in the afternoon for qualifying and he made the right decision to come in for a fresh wet rear tyre when he did, so his second place is also the fruit of his experience. Despite a crash in FP3, Jorge improved the feeling with his bike in dry conditions this morning, but qualifying didn't go as we expected. Jorge didn't make a pit stop and rode the entire session on one set of tyres and this gamble will unfortunately cost him a start from the fourth row tomorrow. We are in a good place with our dry set up, but we still have a lot of things to fix for the wet one, especially as the conditions for tomorrow are still uncertain. We will use the warm up tomorrow to finalise our package whatever the conditions will be."

Valentino Rossi - 2nd / 1'45.961 / 7 laps

"I stopped at the pit box four minutes before the end of the session, because my rear tyre was already getting too hot, because there were some places of the track that were starting to dry. For me it was too early to change to the intermediate tyre because three or four corners were still completely wet, so we put in another rain tyre and it was the right choice. It's a shame for me that I'm not in pole position, but above all I'm happy for the second place and starting from the first lane tomorrow."

Jorge Lorenzo - 11th / 1'47.897 / 9 laps

"It was a heavy crash even though it was a small crash, losing the front, but the corner was fast. The gravel was very close to the track and when I arrived to it I had a very high speed and I rolled through the gravel a lot. A lot of rocks hit me in the neck, on my back and my hip, so I damaged my skin and superficially have a lot of pain, but luckily not in my bones, they are OK so I can race without any problem. I don't think it had an effect on qualifying, I just didn't feel safe or comfortable in the rain on wet tyres. I tried my best but I was slow."