MotoGP fans, 97,000 of them at the TT Circuit Assen, witnessed one of the greatest Grand Prix battles ever as the nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi was forced into the gravel at the last turn but managed to hold off Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez in a dramatic end to the race.
After dueling with Rossi for 26 laps, Marquez made a brave move as the duo entered the final chicane on the last lap. Contact happened between the two race leaders which forced Rossi to run straight through the gravel at the Geert Timmer chicane. The Italian managed to stay upright though and went on to take the checkered flag 1.242s ahead of the reigning World Champion, claiming his third win of the season and first from pole position since Misano in 2009.
Movistar Yamaha’s Rossi, starting from pole for the first time since Valencia last season, led into the first corner and it didn’t take Marquez long to join him after starting from third on the grid, overtaking Aleix Espargaro on the first lap to move into second.
Marquez was happy to sit behind Rossi for most of the race, before making his move and taking the lead into turn 1 on lap 20. Rossi bided his time, and then responded with 3 laps to go to retake the lead at turn 10. The Italian then put in his fastest lap of the race in an effort to pull away, but Marquez responded on the final lap to get within striking distance once again as the duo approached the final chicane.
Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo had a brilliant start from eighth on the grid, and found himself in third after the first lap. However, any hopes the Spaniard had of making it five wins in a row disappeared shortly afterwards though, as Rossi and Marquez pulled away at the front and disappeared off into the distance. The double MotoGP World Champion eventually crossing the line 14.576s behind his teammate in a lonely third position.
Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+19.109s) was another four seconds back as he also circulated for most of the race on his own, finishing just over 4.5s seconds behind Lorenzo in fourth place.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro won an incredible battle for 5th that saw four riders all within 0.4s of each other. The Spaniard also finished as the leading Satellite rider 0.105s ahead of CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow in sixth. Espargaro’s teammate Bradley Smith crossed the line in seventh in front of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa (+24.656s), who had fought back valiantly after a crash in Warm Up, and a disastrous start that saw him down in 12th after the first lap.
The Team Suzuki Ecstar duo of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales were next across the line in ninth and tenth respectively, ahead of Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci (11th) and the second Factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso in twelfth.
Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) finished 46.663s back from Rossi in 13th, while Loris Baz (Athina Forward Racing) took the Open class victory, and the final championship point that was up for grabs in 15th, just ahead of Aspar MotoGP Team’s Nicky Hayden who crossed the line in 16th.
Hector Barbera and Jack Miller were involved in a crash on the very first lap that resulted in the former having to go to the medical center for a possible injury to his right leg, although he was later declared fit. Alex De Angelis, Eugene Laverty and Stefan Bradl also crashed out; with the latter finding out that he had fractured the scaphoid in his right wrist after an X-ray at the medical center.
Rossi’s victory at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands is his 85th in the premier class, extends his lead in the championship standings over teammate Lorenzo by 10 points, 163 to 153, with ten races to go.
TT Assen MotoGP Race Results (26 laps)
- Valentino ROSSI (46) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA
- Marc MARQUEZ (93), Repsol Honda Team HONDA
- Jorge LORENZO (99) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA
- Andrea IANNONE (29) Ducati Team DUCATI
- Pol ESPARGARO (44) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA
- Cal CRUTCHLOW (35) CWM LCR Honda HONDA
- Bradley SMITH (38) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA
- Dani PEDROSA (26) Repsol Honda Team HONDA
- Aleix ESPARGARO (41) Team Suzuki Ecstar SUZUKI
- Maverick VIÑALES (25) Team Suzuki Ecstar SUZUKI
- Danilo PETRUCCI (9) Pramac Racing DUCATI
- Andrea DOVIZIOSO (4) Ducati Team DUCATI
- Scott REDDING (45) EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA
- Yonny HERNANDEZ (68) Pramac Racing DUCATI
- Loris BAZ (76) Athinà Forward Racing YAMAHA
- Nicky HAYDEN (69) Aspar MotoGP Team HONDA
- Alvaro BAUTISTA (19) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA
- Mike DI MEGLIO (63) Avintia Racing DUCATI
- Marco MELANDRI (33) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA
Not Classified
Alex DE ANGELIS (15) Octo IodaRacing Team ART (3 laps) Eugene LAVERTY (50) Aspar MotoGP Team HONDA (11 laps) Stefan BRADL (6) Athinà Forward Racing YAMAHA (21 laps) Hector BARBERA (8) Avintia Racing DUCATI (0 laps) Jack MILLER (43) CWM LCR Honda HONDA (0 laps)