Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) was once again the absolutely dominant man in Assen and the French drove a sensationally strong race in which he didn’t give his opponents a chance in the end.

Yamaha double victory with outstanding Fabio Quartararo as the winner

While Maverick Viñales dropped from pole to P4, his Monster Energy Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo and Pecco Bagnaia fought for the lead after the start. Alex Rins was initially in 5th position ahead of Johann Zarco and Jack Miller. The Australian was taken by surprise a little later at Strubben by Mir and Oliveira and then only eighth ahead of Aleix Espargaro. Marc Marquez got off to a good start and was already on P10 with 22 laps before Repsol Honda team-mate Pol Espargaró. Shortly before that, Zarco had overtaken Rins, who had to go far and fell back to third from last position. At the front, Bagnaia was able to keep his toughest opponent, Quartararo at bay for a long time. The Frenchman was ahead several times before the start and finish line, but was overtaken by the Italian again before Turn 1.

Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha) unexpectedly came out on top in Assen and finished second behind his team-mate. However, everything currently indicates that his contract with Yamaha will not be renewed and that the Catalan could switch to Aprilia.

The World Championship leader takes command – Miller with crash after failure
When the man from Nice tried to pass the previous leader earlier than before the last chicane, this turned out to be the right recipe. Quartararo could no longer be overtaken by the Ducati driver at the start-finish-straight, and from now on the world championship leader ran away. Now it became clear that Bagnaia had only stopped the Monster Energy Yamaha driver before that, and by the middle of the race he was already three seconds ahead of his pursuers. After a track limit penalty, Bagnaia took it on, with Maverick taking over P2 ahead of Zarco, and Nakagami losing several places after an attack by Joan Mir. Shortly thereafter, Jack Miller produced a crash, but was then able to get on and drive on. But for points, it looked bad for the Aussie from now on. Some time before that, Valentino Rossi had already been hit in Turn 5.

Jack Miller with some “Dutch lighthouses” in the background, which standing next to him would surely tower the height of his head. He could still laugh at the press conference, but he lost it in the race.

The last third of the race
While Quartararo managed his lead at the front, the battle for the podium was far from decided. His compatriot Zarco lost second position behind Viñales to Suzuki ace Joan Mir, and Oliveira was lurking behind. Bagnaia already had Marc Marquez on his neck on P6. In pursuit of Aleix ahead of Nakagami and Pol Espargaró. With eight laps to go, Iker Lecuona ended his race with a crash and the gap between Mir, Zarco and Oliveira on second placed Maverick grew to a good 2 seconds. Viñales made it exciting again when he made up a little of his deficit on leader and team-mate Quartararo in the last five laps. Behind it, Zarco did not give up and tried to stick to Mir to make it onto the podium after all. The world championship leader was not naked at the top, and Fabio extended his lead in the world championship significantly with his fourth win of the season in the ninth race of the year before the summer break.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati Racing Team) at the press conference before the weekend of the Dutch GP – although he missed the podium with 4th place, he was still the best Ducati rider and second in the World Championship – Chapeau!

The other placements in the race and the World Championship
Maverick completed the Yamaha double podium in front of Mir and Zarco, who was almost four tenths short of third. But the man from Cannes remains second in the World Championship, and his lead over all pursuers except for Joan Mir has increased. As before, in addition to the Suzuki driver, the two factory Ducati from Miller and Bagnaia are the ones who will obviously be able to fight for the title with Maverick, brand colleague Zarco and Fabio. Above all others, however, is the young man from Nice and currently the way to the world championship seems to lead through Yamaha Hope Quartararo. Fabio was the only one of them all to score points in every race in Jerez despite physical problems (arm pump). Regardless of the result of the first race in Spielberg, he will remain world championship leader before the second edition in Spielberg after the summer break will take place with the Austrian GP.

Fabio Quartararo at the press conference on Thursday evening – three days later, his hand could definitely not be related to the distance to the closest pursuer because he had significantly increased it.

The MotoGP Grand Prix of the Netherlands in numbers

World Championship stand of MotoGP after 9 laps

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