Pramac Racing’s Scott Redding ended a wet third free practice session ahead of the Dutch TT fastest by just over two tenths of a second from Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi.
Redding endured a difficult Friday on his GP16, the British rider struggling to find a good feeling on the bike. A podium finisher in last year’s wet two-part Assen race, Redding took to this morning’s conditions comfortably.
Avintia Racing’s Loris Baz was the early pacesetter on a 1m47.126s, the Frenchman securing his best MotoGP results in damp conditions.
As the session wore on, it was Rossi who took over at the top of the timesheets with 14 minutes still left on the clock. The nine-times Assen winner was knocked back to second with six minutes remaining when Redding popped in a 1m46.441s.
Rossi looked set to deny the Briton top spot on his final lap, but lost time in the fourth sector and had to settle for second on a 1m46.672s.
Honda’s Marc Marquez tested the limits of grip on several occasions, but was lucky to come away without any incidents. The Spaniard completed the top three, just 0.071 seconds adrift of Rossi and 0.013s ahead of championship leader Maverick Vinales.
Tech3’s Johann Zarco rounded out the top five from Hector Barbera, who spent a brief stint at the top of the timesheets not too long after Avintia team-mate Baz did so.
Aleix Espargaro slotted into seventh on his Aprilia ahead of Lorenzo, who will be happy at being just 0.634s off the pace at a circuit he has not gotten on with in wet conditions since his collarbone-breaking crash of 2013.
With the weather stopping any improvements on Friday’s times taking place, Espargaro, along with Lorenzo and pacesetter Redding amongst others will face the first part of qualifying later today.
A small tumble for Baz in the closing stages stopped him from improving on his earlier pacesetting time, the Frenchman shuffled back to ninth by the chequered flag ahead of Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone.
Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso had a somewhat low-key session in the wet in 11th and 12th, with Jonas Folger and last year’s Assen race winner in similar conditions Jack Miller 13th and 14th.
Cal Crutchlow was left stranded in 15th after a late fall, with Sam Lowes enjoying a better morning in 16th. Dani Pedrosa brought up the rear of the field in 23rd, a worrying 2.8s off the pace. 
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