With this win, Bagnaia’s lead extends to 35 points over nearest championship contender, Jorge Martin.
Defending world champion Francesco Bagnaia secured his fourth win at the TT circuit Assen in the Netherlands further extending his lead in the world championship standings. The factory Ducati star passed KTM’s Brad Binder to take the early lead, then kept just out of reach when Sprint winner Marco Bezzecchi moved into second place.
- Bagnaia holds a 35-point gap to second place Marco Bezzecchi
- Binder had to forego podium twice for exceeding track limits
- Marc Marquez sits out Grand Prix due to worsening rib injury
The story of the weekend, however, was Aleix Espargaro’s ride through the field to finish fourth. Pushed off the track and into 15th position by Fabio Quartararo’s crash, the Aprilia rider turned the “passing is impossible this season” story on its head, slicing through the field and delivering a breathtaking pass on the final lap.
Battle at the Front
Binder fought a rearguard action to repel Aprilia’s Espargaro and Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin, and looked like he’d claim the podium he had to forego. He had a post-race penalty, on Saturday and Sunday, for exceeding track limits on the last lap in exactly the same place, and dropped to fourth.
He then snatched the holeshot from fifth on the grid and kept the Ducatis at bay until Bagnaia’s red machine squeezed past on the third lap. Bagnaia, Binder and Bezzecchi then began to edge away from Espargaro, who in turn was the target of Jorge Martin and Alex Marquez.
The South African was running the soft rear tire compared to the medium on the Ducatis, and kept Bagnaia in range until the last ten laps when the Italian began to edge away. Bezzecchi saw the danger and swiftly passed Binder, then doggedly tried to hunt down the 2022 World Champion over the remaining laps, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Esparagaro was awarded with a surprise stage after fighting with a broken front wing when he made contact on the opening lap with Luca Martini. Binder’s teammate Jack Miller made a valiant effort pushing his motorcycle from twelfth to seventh on the first lap, but lost the front of his KTM at the first corner of lap 2.
Crash-ridden Cathedral
Quartararo, who inherited a podium on Saturday after Binder’s post-race penalty, had been fastest in the warm-up, but he lost the front of his machine through Turn 7, wiping out fellow Frenchman Johann Zarco in the process.
Maverick Vinales was closing in on teammate Espargaro in fourth when he lost the front of his Aprilia and crashed out, on lap 4. Enea Bastianini slid out of eighth at the hairpin soon after, with Miguel Oliveira, Iker Lecuona and Fabio di Giannantonio also crashing out at various stages of the race and joining the DNF list.
Binder exceeds track limits twice
The front-running MotoGP riders at the Dutch GP agree it’s a particular challenge to stay within track limits at the unique Assen circuit that plays host to the race. This follows Binder’s demotion from third to fifth in the sprint race after the KTM rider ventured just a fraction onto ‘the green’ exiting the right-hander at Stekkenwal. Due to the penalty being issued so late in the race, three seconds were added to his finishing time in lieu of a long-lap penalty.
Marc Marquez Injury Update
The Repsol Honda star suffered the injury last Sunday at Sachsenring, when he was thrown from his machine in a highside during warm-up.
Subsequent medical checks suggested the rib was only cracked, and Marquez returned for Assen. But after pain throughout Friday and Saturday – when he qualified and then finished just 17th in the Sprint – a Sunday morning scan confirmed the rib was fully fractured, but Marquez had already decided not to race the night before.
2023 MotoGP championship standings
The factory Ducati team holds a steady lead over second place Prima Pramac Racing after Sunday’s race with both riders outperforming their privateer rivals.
Following the cancellation of the Kazakhstan GP due to homologation work on the circuit – it will host the event for 2024 – officials have not decided to replace it from the 2023 calendar, but will instead give a break in between races and jump straight to the British GP in August.
