MotoGP News: Bagnaia beats Martin at Assen

After a dominant performance on Saturday, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) repeated his success on Sunday – ending a perfect weekend by taking his 23^rd victory with Ducati.

The #1 has won for the third consecutive year at the Motul TT Assen as he continues to close Jorge Martin’s (Prima Pramac Racing) lead in the Championship, with the #89’s lead down to just 10 points ahead of Germany.

Martin charged hard and kept Bagnaia honest but could only manage second-best, bringing home a further 20 points on Sunday.

The final spot on the podium went the way of Enea Bastianini, who completed a brilliant weekend for the Ducati Lenovo Team. Bastianini had a spectacular recovery ride to charge from P10 on the grid and carve through the field.

The lights went out and it was an identical launch from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who shot into the lead on the run down to Turn 1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) also had an excellent start, placing into third on the run down to Turn 1 before charging through on Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) later in the lap.

However, not everybody would make it around the first lap with Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team) crashing hard at Turn 1 on the first lap.

Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) would soon be the next rider to carve through the pack – finding a gap in Viñales’ armor to take P3. The front three would stay settled for the opening stage of the Grand Prix with the fastest lap changing hands multiple times.

Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team’s Marco Bezzecchi soon became the next crasher of the race, losing the front at Turn 5 and retiring to the pitlane. Later in the Grand Prix, Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) suffered a similar fate at Turn 4, bringing an early end to his Dutch GP with 20 laps to go.

Further back, the battle for the final spot inside the top five was on, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) going head-to-head. Di Giannantonio soon overtook escaped Acosta’s grasp before catching and overtaking Viñales for fourth.

Di Giannantonio soon overtook Marc Marquez for third, with tension building in the battle for the podium. At the back of the group, Acosta was soon caught by Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), with the #31 beginning to have moments with the soft rear tyre. The Beast found his way through on Lap 18, completing a textbook move at Turn 5.

Meanwhile, at the front, the gap began to increase and was now almost two seconds, with less than 10 laps remaining.

However, the podium battle was still on with Viñales now in third position – passing both Marc Marquez and Bastianini with Di Giannantonio down to sixth. Bastianini soon made the move on the #93, with Marc Marquez running wide and briefly dropping outside the top five. The Beast then set a sensational pace to catch and pass Viñales for P3 at the end of Lap 22.

On the final lap, Bagnaia extended his gap to three seconds, storming to victory yet again at Assen. Nobody had an answer for the #1 with Martin crossing the take second position and Bastianini joining them on the podium to round off a brilliant day for Ducati. Meanwhile, there would be late drama for Acosta with a crash at Turn 7 on the last lap.

Fourth place went the way of Marc Marquez, who took advantage of a mistake from Viñales on the final lap, which allowed the #93 to pass. Di Giannantonio rounded out the top five after the #12 ran onto the green at the final chicane and was demoted one position at the checkered flag – dropping Viñales to sixth. Seventh place went the way of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who finished as the top KTM and the top rider with a soft tyre. Meanwhile, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) took eighth ahead of Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) on the second-placed Aprilia.

It would be a close fight for the final spot inside the top 10, with Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) pipping Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jack Miller, who finished down in 11^th. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team) was 12^th on the remaining Yamaha as Johann Zarco took points for the CASTROL Honda LCR squad in 13^th with Augusto Fernandez behind in 14^th. But the final spot inside the top 15 would go the way of Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) after the #88 completed a Long Lap.

Assen Race Results

Updated after a 16-second post-race penalty given to Marc Marquez for failing to meet the minimum front tire pressure for 60% of the grand prix. 

The penalty drops the Gresini Ducati rider from 4th to 11th…

* Rookie