Italian Francesco Bagnaia won the Dutch MotoGP Grand Prix on Sunday in Assen, where Frenchmen Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco crashed after a collision on the third lap. Quartararo suffers from a sprained elbow and possibly a broken foot and “thinks he will have to have surgery” in the week after this accident which he caused by falling at the exit of a series of turns, dragging with him Zarco , for his part unscathed.
“I pushed a little hard to make up for my mistake at the start. It’s my fault, I messed up,” admitted Quartararo (Yamaha), who had gone from 4th to 12th position in the first round. Bagnaia (Ducati), reigning world champion, signed in the “cathedral” of speed, the oldest circuit on the calendar, his fourth success this season out of eight races after Portugal, Spain and Italy. He beat his compatriot Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati-VR46) and the Spaniard Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and consolidated his position as championship leader before the long summer break. He now has a 35-point lead over the Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), 5th on Sunday, and 36 over Bezzecchi. The next Grand Prix will take place on August 6 at Silverstone.
Downgraded Binder
The South African Brad Binder, 3rd at the finish, was downgraded for having exceeded the limits of the track at the end of the race. He was eventually placed 4th behind Espargaro. “It is definitely my most gratifying success because on Friday morning I was very upset. I was struggling with the bike without finding the right settings”, commented Bagnaia. “Yesterday (Saturday) again during the sprint race, I was not comfortable. But we worked and reacted as a team and during the warm-up (Sunday morning) we finally found the right balance to be efficient. in the race. We have come a long way. I am very proud of that”, he added after his 15th success in the GP.
Author of pole position and winner of the sprint race on Saturday, Bezzechi missed his start, overtaken by Binder and Bagnaia. The latter quickly took a second lead, forcing Bezzecchi, 3rd in the championship, into a fruitless chase. “I hit a motorcycle at the first corner and I found myself third behind Brad (Binder), explained Bezzecchi. It took me a long time to overtake him, which prevented me from coming back quickly enough on Pecco” .
“Complicated” for Marquez
For Zarco (Ducati), the retirement in Assen is a setback after three consecutive podiums in the last Grands Prix. “But I’m not losing hope. Even if this weekend has been difficult, I don’t miss much to play for victory,” he said. Marc Marquez didn’t score any points in Assen either. And for good reason: the Spaniard had to forfeit following a broken rib contracted a week earlier in Germany.
For the fifth time in eight Grands Prix this season, the six-time world champion could not compete in the race on Sunday, the pain being too great. “The most complicated period of my career”, complained the Honda driver, who hopes to find the condition for Silverstone, returning from the long summer break.