Eight Straight At MotoGP Assen!

In a race that started after a delay due to wet conditions, Marc Marquez judged the 26-lap challenge to perfection, running with Dovizioso at the front in the early stages and asserting his authority as the riders changed to dry set-up machines on the seventh lap.

Marquez eventually clinched the win by 6.7s seconds to become the first rider since the great Giacomo Agostini in 1971 to win the first eight premier-class races of the year.

Dovizioso stepped onto the box for the second time in 2014, with Pedrosa completing the podium after holding off the pursuing Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) for several laps. Espargaro rode well to hold fourth, having started from his first MotoGP pole on the ‘Open’ Forward Yamaha.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) gambled on slick tires as the rest of the grid opted for rain tires, deciding at the last moment to switch bikes. This forced Rossi to start from pit lane, although he quickly made his way through the trailing bikes in the early part of the race.  As the track dried, riders were forced to switch bikes. For Rossi it was his second trip to the pits. Lap times from Rossi were one second faster than Aleix Espargaro’s (NGM Forward Racing) pace, but a gap of over 15 seconds was too much to recover and he eventually finished in fifth.

Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing), Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) and Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) completed the top ten.

Broc Parkes (Paul Bird Motorsport) rode superbly to 11th having started from pit lane following a problem on the warm up lap. Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) retired with six laps to go after crashes on slicks and then wet tires.