Here this one is on me! Pecco Bagnaia won at Assen and made history, joining the ranks of MotoGP’s top names on a day when Jorge Martín, despite being at the top of his game, didn’t stand a chance.
Everything is in place for the start of the most anticipated race of the weekend, with Pecco Bagnaia looking to make history and become the first rider to win three consecutive races (on Sundays) at Assen since Australian legend Mick Doohan in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Bagnaia got off to a great start, but the highlight was Álex Rins, who crashed early and hard at turn 1.
🚦LIGHTS OUT! 🚦@PeccoBagnaia leads Maverick and @88jorgemartin! 🚀@Rins42 is immediately out of contention 😱#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/Jm8pEYcb0d
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 30, 2024
Jorge Martín, in no time at all and after being penalized three places, came in second, relegating Maverick Viñales to third. Marc Márquez was fourth and Álex Márquez fifth.
In just three laps Bagnaia already had 0.906s on Martín, but the Spaniard was intent on making up time and, on the following lap, he was soon able to make up more than two tenths on the Italian.
Marco Bezzecchi was having a difficult weekend and had another crash this weekend, now at turn 5.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was one of the fastest riders on the track and climbed to fourth place, while in the opposite direction was Joan Mir, who crashed at turn 4.
With the first third of the race complete, this was the top ten, moments after DiGia overtook Marc Márquez, in a somewhat curious and strange move on the part of the #93:
Back at the top of the race, it’s worth noting the difference in tires Bagnaia had with Martín: the Italian chose hard for the front and medium for the rear, while the Spaniard decided to run two mediums. The front duo were more than 3s ahead of third, DiGia.
Outside the top ten were Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Fabio Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira, Johann Zarco, Augusto Fernández, Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini. Mir, Bezzecchi and Rins were out of the race.
The race was officially halfway through, with Bagnaia leading by 1.290s over Martín, DiGia was 5.077s behind the factory Ducati rider. M. Márquez was fourth and Viñales was still the best Aprilia rider, not forgetting that, due to injury, Aleix Espargaró was not on the track. Pedro Acosta was the best KTM rider in sixth.
Bagnaia’s gap to the others was growing, with still 11 laps to go at Assen, and it was now 1.696s over Martín.
Further down the grid Miguel Oliveira exceeded the track limits too much and was penalized with a Long Lap, but that shouldn’t have significantly altered the Portuguese rider’s race who, in 14th, had a lead of more than 9s over A. Fernández but… this one went deeply wrong! The Portuguese rider hit the gravel during the penalty and lost two places.
One of the most interesting battles on the track was the fight for sixth place, with Acosta battling it out with Enea Bastianini, where the Italian would end up the winner for the time being, taking sixth place.
With eight laps to go, tempers flared in the fight for third place, with DiGia being overtaken by Viñales and M. Márquez. The Italian on the VR46 Racing Team didn’t see his problems ending there, as Bastianini also overtook him.
Further down, in the opposite direction and after his mistake, Oliveira had to do another Long Lap, having failed to do it properly on his first attempt. The Portuguese rider lost another position, dropping to 17th.
Bastianini wanted more and went on the attack and beat M. Márquez, at a stage in the race when Bagnaia was leading by more than 2s over Martín. Only a disaster could prevent the #1 from winning at Assen.
Here’s the top ten with four laps to go, with Bastianini already in the podium places:
Viñales was getting further and further away from the podium and in a couple of laps his gap to Bestianini went from 0.2s to almost 0.6s.
Acosta, who was having a very difficult weekend, saw disaster knock on his door when he crashed at turn 7 and M. Márquez went on to “grab” fourth place, and Bagnaia confirmed the unrivaled victory at Assen!
Viñales was also penalized one place at the end of the race for exceeding the track limits, finishing sixth.