Bagnaia Wins Again
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) wins again at TT Assen for the Dutch Grand Prix. Ducati has dominated the top tier of racing this season with early success in MotoGP, WorldSBK and MotoAmerica. That dominance did not stop at TT Assen. Bagnaia won the Dutch Grand Prix by 1.223 seconds ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing). In third was Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) who helped Bezzecchi cut into Jorge Martin’s (Prima Pramac Racing) lead. Bezzecchi is only 1 point behind Jorge Martin going into the next round. Bagnaia further extended his lead in the championship. He sits atop the table with 194 points on the season.
Marc Marquez Woes Continue
Marc Marquez had yet another disappointing weekend. After crashing again early this weekend. After finishing P17 in the Sprint Marquez stated he was experiencing issues with his ribs, “I was suffering a bit more today with the rib, especially in regard to breathing and using the pectoral in the best way. The goal for tomorrow is to finish the race. I also want to apologies to Enea for this morning, it was my mistake.”
Marquez was declared unfit for the Grand Prix. He stated the following, “We arrived here in a difficult condition and it only worsened as the weekend went on. Last night I suffered a lot trying to sleep, when I woke up the pain was very high and I went straight to the medical center. Checks revealed the break in the rib had shifted so we had to miss the race. Now is the time to rest and recover and come back after the summer break fit and ready to keep working.”
The Clash of the Frenchman
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) crashed this morning taking out fellow Frenchman Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing). Quaratararo was looking to double his podium finishes on the weekend but his lukc fell short after a poor start wheeling from the launch which dropped him 6 positions. Then the subsequent crash removed all hope for the Frenchman. As reported by Crash.net Quartararo stated, “I crashed and I twisted my elbow, so I have to keep it in a sling for the time being. [The elbow] should not take too long to heal and the foot I will have to check, but normally I will have to make surgery on the toe. I will be in a little bit of pain for a few weeks. I made a mistake at the start.”
“I didn’t want to make a normal start, I wanted to make a perfect start and getting too close to perfect, I made a totally bad start! I released the clutch a little bit too fast then I had a wheelie. So I lost a lot of positions and then I just tried to do like in the morning [fastest in warm-up], but I lost the front in turn 7.”
Johann Zarco also commented stating, “…the moment I opened the throttle he lost the front. I was so close to him that I could not avoid the bike and we crashed pretty fast. We both walked away. But it seems he got the injury on the left elbow and still the left foot is painful for him.”
8 riders did not finish the race. Full race results and championship standings are below.