Fabio Quartararo has perfected his tactics in the TT Assen to take the lead. He was driving a Yamaha 1-2 in front of his teammate Maverick Vinales when the two Iwata branded machines pulled the pin again on Sunday.
The duo are also pushing the plant past the milestone of 750 podium positions, with Yamaha now counting on 751 with two riders on the podium at Assen. The reigning champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completed the podium and prevailed from 10th place on the grid.
Quartararo took the holeshot from second place, but the Frenchman was not allowed to escape prematurely as a co-starter from the front row when Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) jumped lap 1 at turn 8.
It was close between Quartararo and Pecco, their exits compromised, which allowed Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) to stand next to the pair when Quartararo ran hot into Turn 9. Bagnaia said thank you very much, the Italian led and held the position – for the time being.
Quartararo took a step to answer in the final chicane but was far away and Bagnaia got his GP21 up and fired back. That happened again on lap 6, before Quartararo took P1 in turns 12 and 13 on lap 7.
How crucial should that prove to be? Meanwhile, Nakagami was still holding Viñales in check, with Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing), Mir and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) right behind.
In two 1: 32.8 seconds, Quartararo built a 1.2 lead over Bagnaia on lap 9. On lap 11 this gap was increased to 2.5 as Bagnaia had to concentrate to keep Nakagami behind. The Japanese overtook the Ducati rider on lap 11 with the quick kinks, but Bagnaia snatched P2 back on the first straight.
Viñales, Zarco, Mir and Oliveira were all waiting in the starting blocks and a few laps later there was a copy of Nakagami against Bagnaia. However, drama hit when the number 63 was penalized for long laps for exceeding the track limit.
There was a lot of action on lap 15. Bagnaia went into the long lap penalty loop, and then his teammate Jack Miller fell unharmed at Turn 5. Nakagami was dropped by Mir in the same corner and Viñales was now in second place, four seconds behind the runaway leader Quartararo. I then passed Zarco at Turn 5, with eight laps to go he was third, while Oliveira was about half a second behind the Pramac driver in fifth.
At the front, the gap between Quartararo and Viñales narrowed to 2.5 with two laps to go as the latter seemed faster, but after losing too much ground, no one had an answer to El Diablo at Assen. A fourth 25-point season extends his championship lead to 34 points before the summer break.
Viñales delivered impressive pace on the soft front tire at the end of the race, but it wasn’t enough to get Quartararo in place. Still, P2 is a great achievement for the Spaniard after finishing last at the Sachsenring as the number 12 returns to the podium for the first time since his GP victory in Qatar. I kept his powder dry in front of Zarco and secured third place, the podium also his third of the season.
Zarco had to be content with fourth place, ahead of Oliveira in fifth place. Marc Marquez got off to a breathtaking start from 20th on the grid, quickly moving up ten places, and rushing to the back of Bagnaia after the Italian’s long-run penalty.
The eight-time world champion couldn’t quite get past despite being within 0.075 of the finish line while Bagnaia held sixth place. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) finished eighth, Nakagami disappointed with ninth after an early podium battle and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) completed the top ten.
11th place went to Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) despite a run-off for number 42 after contact with Johann Zarco at the start of the race, with Suzuki holding back Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) as the South African Von Assen got his first taste on a MotoGP bike.
Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) finished 13th ahead of Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) – another premier class debut – and rookie Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) who completed the points.
Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) crashed quickly at Turn 7, but driver ok, Miller crashed at Turn 5. He came back but then had to stop with a mechanical problem. Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) also crashed and Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) was forced back into the pit lane with a problem.
Now it’s the summer break and a fresh start, with a one-two at the Red Bull Ring at the beginning of August.
Quartararo enters the game with another win and a sizeable lead at the front, but can anyone strike back in the second half? Be there at the Grand Prix of Styria from August 6th to 8th.
MotoGP Podium:
1 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP -Yamaha- 40: 35.031
2 Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP -Yamaha- +2,757
3 Joan Mir – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki – +5,760
Top independent team driver
4th Johann Zarco – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +6,130
