A commanding ride for Fabio Quartararo ensured another race win alongside teammate Maverick Vinales, who earned just his second podium finish this season, with defending champion Joan Mir in 3rd.
MEN WHO SHINED
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The Yamaha’s of Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales showed some incredible speed at Motul TT Assen, especially coming out from turn exits. Fabio secured his fourth victory of the season and celebrated it by hitting a golf ball on the track in reference to the video he posted on social media before the race. Maverick Vinales, who finished last in Germany found some rhythm again and secured his second podium of the season at the Cathedral of Speed. Defending champion Joan Mir had a brilliant battle with Johann Zarco third position and did well to get ahead of the Ducati, which crossed the line in 4th. Miguel Oliviera who was looking for another podium finish had to settle with P5, while Pecco Bagnaia recovered to P6 after his long-lap penalty to ensure a solid salvage job. Next came 8-time World Champion Marc Marquez who started the race all the way down in 20th and fought his way through the race to cross the line in P7. Aleix Espargaro took home P8 on his Aprilia after a fight with Pecco and Marquez, with Japanese rider Nakagami slipping to P9 after a brilliant start to the race. Pol Espargaro’s Honda wrapped up the top ten of the Dutch Grand Prix.
MEN WHO LEFT US WANTING MORE
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It was a poor race for the iconic number 46 yet again. With 19 laps remaining in the race, Valentino Rossi crashed his Yamaha to take him down to last after a brilliant qualifying session. It has raised the question of whether it could be Rossi’s last season in MotoGP as the fall marked his third retirement of the season and took him down to 19th spot on the leaderboard. Jack Miller, who was in one of his best career runs, fell off his bike with just 8 laps remaining and left us wanting more. It was another poor race for KTM’s Iker Lecuona who joined Miller to retire from the race. Pecco Bagnaia makes it to both lists this time as he was given a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits which perhaps cost him a race win.
STANDINGS:
Riders
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A fourth race victory this season took Fabio Quartararo (156) to a sizeable 34 point lead at the top of the standings. A P4 finish for Frenchmen took him to 122 points with Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia (109) in 2nd with a consistent run of grabbing points. A podium finish for Joan Mir (101) helped him bridge the gap to Bagnaia to just 8 points. A crash for Jack Miller saw him fall from third to fifth in the standings with 100 points. After multiple poor races, Maverick Vinales was finally back on the podium and saw him close the gap to Miller to just 5 points. Miguel Oliviera’s (85) impressive run continued with another top 5 finish while Aleix Espargaro (61) separates the KTM of Oliviera and Brad Binder (60). To seal the top ten, it’s the eight-time World Champion Marc Marquez now with 50 points.
Constructors
The Motul TT Assen was the perfect track for the Yamahas (184) as they extended their lead to 17 points ahead of their nearest rivals Ducati (167) who could not match their pace this weekend. It was a decent weekend for KTM but they still find themselves 53 points behind Ducati. A podium finish for Joan Mir helped Suzuki close their gap to KTM to just 9 points while Honda is currently second-last with 86 points, 24 ahead of Aprilia who still are last on the table.
The next event of the season is the Styrian Grand Prix which takes place on the 8th of August after the summer break and is also set to welcome fans at full capacity.
[Image Credit: Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP]
Shashank Iyer