Valentino Rossi claimed his first MotoGP pole of 2015 ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez at Assen, yesterday, while his Yamaha team-mate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo was only eighth.

Although Rossi topped two of the practice sessions in the build-up to qualifying, he has struggled for single-lap pace in recent years and had not started on the front row all season prior to the Dutch TT.

The championship leader languished towards the foot of the top 10 early in Q2, then produced a 1m32.627s lap to surge to the front.

Rossi’s Assen pole is only the third he has taken this decade, and his first since the 2014 season finale at Valencia.

Lorenzo, winner of the last four races and one point behind Rossi in the standings, was on the provisional front row at first but did not improve as much as his rivals on his second Q2 run and fell to eighth, albeit only four tenths off Rossi’s pace.

Barcelona pole-sitter Espargaro had Suzuki on top again until Rossi’s late lap.

Espargaro had deposed Marquez, whose spectacular and ragged first Q2 laps initially secured provisional pole.

Meanwhile, the Dutch round of the MotoGP championship will break with tradition by switching from Saturday to a Sunday slot from next season out of financial necessity, local organisers said.

The Tourist Trophy (TT) at Assen is the only round of the championship to be held on a Saturday and is the oldest race on the calendar, dating back to 1925 and held every year since then with the exception of World War Two.

The TT Board said that the change would bring more spectators to the event and increase media exposure.