MotoGP: The #93 claims his 68th MotoGP win by 0.6s as chief rival Alex Marquez crashes out in the Netherlands.
In an eventful Motul Grand Prix of the Netherlands that saw title-chasing Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crash out, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) fended off the fight from Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) to claim his 68th MotoGP victory by 0.6s. The #93 and #72 treated us to a fascinating Grand Prix at the front, as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was a couple of seconds away from the win in P3.
OPENING LAPS
Bagnaia got a brilliant start from the middle of the front row and grabbed the holeshot into Turn 1 as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) lost out. The polesitter was down to P4, Alex Marquez was P2 and Marc Marquez was P3 – before he wasn’t. The #93 carved his way past his chief title rival at Turn 1 on Lap 2 to sit behind teammate Pecco, and Bezzecchi then took P3 from Alex Marquez at the end of Lap 2.
Quartararo’s early Grand Prix pace was suffering. The Frenchman was down to P7 behind Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), as Acosta became the latest rider to wrestle his way through on Alex Marquez. That meant on Lap 5 of 26, Bagnaia led from Marc Marquez and Bezzecchi, with Acosta, Alex Marquez and Morbidelli right in the hunt.
DRAMA AS ALEX MARQUEZ CRASHES
The leader of the pack wasn’t Pecco at the end of Lap 5 though as Marc Marquez lunged up the inside of his teammate. Then, on Lap 6, drama. Alex Marquez and Acosta were rubbing shoulders and fairings on the exit of Turn 5 and heading up the back straight, Marquez was suddenly down. A puff of smoke from the Gresini star’s tyre suggested something had happened with the brake lever, but in any case, Alex Marquez’s Grand Prix was over – and it was later confirmed he’d unfortunately fractured his left hand.
Further back in the pack, the other BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP rider, Fermin Aldeguer, highsided out of contention at Turn 11, and that left Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) and Quartararo with nowhere to go. The latter was wide and down to P13, as Mir unfortunately also crashed.
THE RUN TO THE FLAG
At the front, Marquez remained the at the front but on Lap 8, Bezzecchi made a move on Pecco to pounce up to P2. Now, Pecco had Acosta climbing all over the back of Pecco and sure enough, the KTM star moved into P3. And it was really closing up at the front because Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) reeled themselves into the podium picture.
On Lap 13, Marc Marquez was putting the hammer down. A 1:32.273 was over two tenths quicker than Bezzecchi, but on the next lap, the Italian responded with a fastest lap of the Grand Prix. And on that same lap, Pecco passed Acosta to regain P3.
And now he was back in P3, Pecco set the fastest lap. Two tenths quicker than Marquez, less than half a tenth quicker than Bezzecchi. After threatening to break clear, Marquez didn’t look like he was going to be able to do so at this stage. The chasers were locked in, and that included Acosta. And again, Pecco slammed in another Grand Prix best lap, but he lost 0.3s on the next lap.
So where were we on Lap 20? Marquez led Bezzecchi by 0.2s, with Pecco 0.5s behind the Aprilia and Acosta 0.7s off the Ducati. It was as you were two laps later, as Bezzecchi continued to tag himself onto the rear tyre of Marquez.
Three to go. Bezzecchi remained 0.2s away and he just couldn’t quite get close enough to realistically make a lunge on the #93. Two to go. Bezzecchi was digging deep but Marquez wasn’t putting a wheel out of line, and Pecco was now 0.9s away from his compatriot. And the penultimate lap was where the gap stretched out to 0.7s – was that game over?
It looked that way. Bezzecchi couldn’t close in and Marquez had 0.7s to play with heading into the final sector. And powering his Ducati through the final chicane, Marquez clinched victory at Assen to draw level with MotoGP Legend Giacomo Agostini on 68 MotoGP wins. An unbelievable record as he continues to set the world alight in 2025.
Bezzecchi hands Aprilia a double podium weekend at Assen as the #72 pushes Marquez all the way at the Cathedral, with Bagnaia returning to the podium in P3 after a disappointing result on home turf seven days ago.
YOUR DUTCH GP POINTS SCORERS
Acosta didn’t quite have enough to cling onto the podium fight, but it was a great Grand Prix for the Spaniard and KTM in P4. Viñales handed the Austrian factory a double top five, with Di Giannantonio taking home P6 and Morbidelli finishing P7 after being handed a Long Lap penalty for shortcutting the final chicane while battling his teammate.
Raul Fernandez’s (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) P8 sees the Spaniard pick up his third consecutive top 10 of the season, as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Quartararo round out Assen’s top 10 – no the Sunday afternoon the polesitter would have wanted.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) claim the final points on offer, as the latter hands Thailand their first MotoGP point.
THANK YOU, ASSEN
It was a weekend to remember as the one and only TT Circuit Assen celebrated 100 years of racing, as we now get set to head to the Sachsenring for Round 11.
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