MotoGP: The #93 beats his chief title rival by 0.3s as Bezzecchi earns his first Saturday podium of the year.
Tissot Sprint victory number nine of the season is in the books for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) after the #93 got to the front early doors on Saturday at the Motul Grand Prix of the Netherlands, and then he managed to keep Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) behind. The latter claims another silver medal on Saturday as the brothers cross the line just 0.351s apart, and joining them on the Sprint rostrum was Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing).
STORY OF THE SPRINT
It was a brilliant start from pole for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as Marc Marquez got away just as he’d have hoped. The Yamaha and factory Ducati went into Turn 1 side by side, it was tight, and because he was on the outside, Marquez was slightly wide and had to come back onto the track over the curb. That then meant it was tight between Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), but the former stayed in P2.
And then, by the end of Lap 1 at the GT Chicane, the title race leader was the Sprint leader after carving up the inside of Quartararo. Alex Marquez quickly followed his brother through and then Bezzecchi was also past the polesitter.
At the start of Lap 5, the Sprint had settled down a tad, but Alex Marquez was looking eager to pass the #93. Bezzecchi was 0.3s away in P3, Quartararo was a further 0.5s away from the RS-GP and had Pecco and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) for close company. And the latter, who had not long set the fastest lap of the Sprint, attacked Pecco at Turn 5 on Lap 6. It wasn’t a move that stuck, but it was a warning shot for the recent king of Assen.
Half a lap later, Di Giannantonio was through on Pecco at the GT Chicane. The top six were split by 1.5s on Lap 7 of 13, but it was still Marc Marquez leading the chase. It was as you were at the front with four laps to go, but Pecco had now lost touch on the top five.
Then, Quartararo was down. Turn 10 was the place as the YZR-M1’s front end washed away from underneath the Frenchman after he’d just fired in his fastest lap of the Sprint. That gave Bezzecchi some breathing space in P3, the Italian was 0.8s clear of Di Giannantonio with three laps to go.
Last lap time. 0.2s split the top two, with Bezzecchi 0.7s further down. Could Alex find a way through on Marc? There was no way through in the first three sectors, so it was all coming down to the GT Chicane. And boasting enough of a gap, there was no getting by the six-time MotoGP World Champion. A ninth Sprint win of the season came the way of the #93 in what has been the most difficult weekend of his year so far.
THE POINTS SCORERS ON SATURDAY
Di Giannantonio finished just over a second away from Bezzecchi in P4, with Bagnaia having to settle for a low-key P5 on Saturday – the Italian will be hunting more on Sunday afternoon. Top KTM honours went the way of Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) in P6, as Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) collected P7 despite having to take a Long Lap penalty on the final lap for exceeding track limits. The final two points-paying positions belonged to Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P8 and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in P9.
NEXT: GRAND PRIX SUNDAY
Another Saturday, another gold medal for Marc Marquez. But with 1.2s covering the podium and the likes of Quartararo and Bagnaia hungry for much, Sunday is well worth tuning in for – as always
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