Valentino Rossi: Assen is paradise for a MotoGP rider!

Is this weekend's Dutch MotoGP the last time that Valentino Rossi will race around the legendary Assen circuit?

We should find out the nine-time world champion's future plans during the summer break, but if 2021 does prove to have been The Doctor's Assen farewell, he'll be leaving with more fond memories.

"This track is paradise for a MotoGP rider, because the layout is something special and when you ride it's a great emotion," Rossi said after Saturday's qualifying session.

"You have always high adrenaline. It's very technical but at the same time very fast, you have to be very brave and it's great fun!

"Also everything here they did well. So they did the new asphalt and it has good grip. So apart from the track it's that the level of the track is also at the top. So i think this is paradise for a motorcycle rider!"

The Italian was speaking after qualifying in twelfth place for Sunday's race, which followed ninth in FP3 (+0.558s) and twelfth in FP4 (+0.767s).

"My pace and feeling with the bike is quite good, decent. For sure it will be difficult tomorrow because everybody is very fast but we need to try to make a good race," said the Petronas Yamaha rider.

"Today was quite positive for us because already from this morning I had a good pace. I felt good with the bike, we continued to work on the settings and at the end I did a very good lap and went straight to Qualifying 2 in P9, that is not too bad.

"In the afternoon with more temperature the FP4 was a good practice because I did some good lap times at the end with the hard rear tyre and I have a good pace. I am P12 but we are all very close and I feel good with the bike.

"After, for Qualifying 2, I hoped I can do 2 or 3 tenths better. I was alone and I did a '32.9, which is a good lap time, but unfortunately I am just P12.

"Now we have to wait for tomorrow, because today we are lucky and it is dry with a good temperature. So we need to understand the weather tomorrow to make the right tyre choice."

Assen was the scene of Rossi's 100th grand prix win in 2009 and his most recent race win, in 2017.

Temporary team-mate Garrett Gerloff, riding in place of the injured Franco Morbidelli, qualified 22nd and last but was only 0.142s behind KTM's Brad Binder and within two-seconds of the top in the other sessions.

"I’m a little frustrated because I think I could have put my sectors together better across one lap and I didn’t do that, but it’s not too bad," said the American. "Every time I go out I’m trying to learn something new and get used to the bike more.

"It would have been nice to be higher on the grid, but I’m doing the best that I can. My goal was to keep improving and so far I’ve done that. Tomorrow I’m hoping I can ride with someone and see their lines, learn some things and maybe make a couple of passes – that would be really good."