Special ceremony
Ahead of the free practice sessions, both the French riders spoke about the season so far and the weekend coming up at the Cathedral.
Quartararo was also on hand at a special ceremony to help unveil the City of Assen's new Walk of Fame. The walk, located in the city centre, will eventually feature large bronze plaques bearing the names of each of the riders who have taken victory at the TT Assen since it began way back in 1925.
Quartararo confident
Of course, the threat of more showers will remain into race day, creating uncertainty for riders and teams, but Quartararo is hoping to enjoy all that Assen has to offer in the dry.
Quartararo: "I think I've improved my riding quite a lot on the wet, but when you arrive at a kind of track like Assen, you want to have a dry track, because for me it's one of the tracks you enjoy the most mythical tracks on the calendar, so we hope for a dry race."
Zarco's progress
One of the quirkier talking points in recent days has been Zarco's progress. In the last four races, he has finished fifth, then fourth, then third, and second. Does he think the pattern can continue this Sunday and the two-time Moto2 world champion will pick up his first ever MotoGP race win?
"Easier to say than do it, but why not? It would be so fantastic to follow this logic. I think the tricky weather which we can have during this weekend, for me it can help just to save some energy physically. For me the tricky conditions can be great to follow that logic," said Zarco.
Cathedral classic
The summer break might not start until after this weekend, but with 10 rounds now completed and as any to go this year, we have reached the halfway mark of 2022 FIM MotoGP World Championship season. The stage is set for another exhilarating round of MotoGP at the TT Circuit Assen. Make sure you catch FP1 for the premier class on Friday at 9:55am local time (1.25pm IST).
The race proper is on Sunday at 2pm local time (5.30pm IST). Buck up guys! It's vroom time at the Cathedral!