#DutchGP – MOTOGP, SPRINT & RACE – Marquez beats Bezzecchi to level Agostini in dramatic Dutch GP
MOTOGP – SPRINT: La Sprint di Assen va a Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi sul podio
Tissot Sprint victory number nine of the season is in the books for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) after the #93 got to the front early doors on Saturday at the Motul Grand Prix of the Netherlands, and then he managed to keep Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) behind. The latter claims another silver medal on Saturday as the brothers cross the line just 0.351s apart, and joining them on the Sprint rostrum was Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing).
STORY OF THE SPRINT
It was a brilliant start from pole for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as Marc Marquez got away just as he’d have hoped. The Yamaha and factory Ducati went into Turn 1 side by side, it was tight, and because he was on the outside, Marquez was slightly wide and had to come back onto the track over the curb. That then meant it was tight between Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), but the former stayed in P2.
And then, by the end of Lap 1 at the GT Chicane, the title race leader was the Sprint leader after carving up the inside of Quartararo. Alex Marquez quickly followed his brother through and then Bezzecchi was also past the polesitter.
At the start of Lap 5, the Sprint had settled down a tad, but Alex Marquez was looking eager to pass the #93. Bezzecchi was 0.3s away in P3, Quartararo was a further 0.5s away from the RS-GP and had Pecco and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) for close company. And the latter, who had not long set the fastest lap of the Sprint, attacked Pecco at Turn 5 on Lap 6. It wasn’t a move that stuck, but it was a warning shot for the recent king of Assen.
Half a lap later, Di Giannantonio was through on Pecco at the GT Chicane. The top six were split by 1.5s on Lap 7 of 13, but it was still Marc Marquez leading the chase. It was as you were at the front with four laps to go, but Pecco had now lost touch on the top five.
Then, Quartararo was down. Turn 10 was the place as the YZR-M1’s front end washed away from underneath the Frenchman after he’d just fired in his fastest lap of the Sprint. That gave Bezzecchi some breathing space in P3, the Italian was 0.8s clear of Di Giannantonio with three laps to go.
Last lap time. 0.2s split the top two, with Bezzecchi 0.7s further down. Could Alex find a way through on Marc? There was no way through in the first three sectors, so it was all coming down to the GT Chicane. And boasting enough of a gap, there was no getting by the six-time MotoGP World Champion. A ninth Sprint win of the season came the way of the #93 in what has been the most difficult weekend of his year so far.
THE POINTS SCORERS ON SATURDAY
Di Giannantonio finished just over a second away from Bezzecchi in P4, with Bagnaia having to settle for a low-key P5 on Saturday – the Italian will be hunting more on Sunday afternoon. Top KTM honours went the way of Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) in P6, as Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) collected P7 despite having to take a Long Lap penalty on the final lap for exceeding track limits. The final two points-paying positions belonged to Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P8 and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in P9.
MOTOGP – RACE: Marquez beats Bezzecchi to level Agostini in dramatic Dutch GP
In an eventful Motul Grand Prix of the Netherlands that saw title-chasing Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crash out, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) fended off the fight from Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) to claim his 68th MotoGP victory by 0.6s. The #93 and #72 treated us to a fascinating Grand Prix at the front, as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was a couple of seconds away from the win in P3.
OPENING LAPS
Bagnaia got a brilliant start from the middle of the front row and grabbed the holeshot into Turn 1 as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) lost out. The polesitter was down to P4, Alex Marquez was P2 and Marc Marquez was P3 – before he wasn’t. The #93 carved his way past his chief title rival at Turn 1 on Lap 2 to sit behind teammate Pecco, and Bezzecchi then took P3 from Alex Marquez at the end of Lap 2.
Quartararo’s early Grand Prix pace was suffering. The Frenchman was down to P7 behind Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), as Acosta became the latest rider to wrestle his way through on Alex Marquez. That meant on Lap 5 of 26, Bagnaia led from Marc Marquez and Bezzecchi, with Acosta, Alex Marquez and Morbidelli right in the hunt.
DRAMA AS ALEX MARQUEZ CRASHES
The leader of the pack wasn’t Pecco at the end of Lap 5 though as Marc Marquez lunged up the inside of his teammate. Then, on Lap 6, drama. Alex Marquez and Acosta were rubbing shoulders and fairings on the exit of Turn 5 and heading up the back straight, Marquez was suddenly down. A puff of smoke from the Gresini star’s front tyre suggested something had happened with the front brake lever, but in any case, Alex Marquez’s Grand Prix was over – and it was later confirmed he’d unfortunately fractured his left hand.
Further back in the pack, the other BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP rider, Fermin Aldeguer, highsided out of contention at Turn 11, and that left Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) and Quartararo with nowhere to go. The latter was wide and down to P13, as Mir unfortunately also crashed.
THE RUN TO THE FLAG
At the front, Marquez remained the at the front but on Lap 8, Bezzecchi made a move on Pecco to pounce up to P2. Now, Pecco had Acosta climbing all over the back of Pecco and sure enough, the KTM star moved into P3. And it was really closing up at the front because Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) reeled themselves into the podium picture.
On Lap 13, Marc Marquez was putting the hammer down. A 1:32.273 was over two tenths quicker than Bezzecchi, but on the next lap, the Italian responded with a fastest lap of the Grand Prix. And on that same lap, Pecco passed Acosta to regain P3.
And now he was back in P3, Pecco set the fastest lap. Two tenths quicker than Marquez, less than half a tenth quicker than Bezzecchi. After threatening to break clear, Marquez didn’t look like he was going to be able to do so at this stage. The chasers were locked in, and that included Acosta. And again, Pecco slammed in another Grand Prix best lap, but he lost 0.3s on the next lap.
So where were we on Lap 20? Marquez led Bezzecchi by 0.2s, with Pecco 0.5s behind the Aprilia and Acosta 0.7s off the Ducati. It was as you were two laps later, as Bezzecchi continued to tag himself onto the rear tyre of Marquez.
Three to go. Bezzecchi remained 0.2s away and he just couldn’t quite get close enough to realistically make a lunge on the #93. Two to go. Bezzecchi was digging deep but Marquez wasn’t putting a wheel out of line, and Pecco was now 0.9s away from his compatriot. And the penultimate lap was where the gap stretched out to 0.7s – was that game over?
It looked that way. Bezzecchi couldn’t close in and Marquez had 0.7s to play with heading into the final sector. And powering his Ducati through the final chicane, Marquez clinched victory at Assen to draw level with MotoGP Legend Giacomo Agostini on 68 MotoGP wins. An unbelievable record as he continues to set the world alight in 2025.
Bezzecchi hands Aprilia a double podium weekend at Assen as the #72 pushes Marquez all the way at the Cathedral, with Bagnaia returning to the podium in P3 after a disappointing result on home turf seven days ago.
YOUR DUTCH GP POINTS SCORERS
Acosta didn’t quite have enough to cling onto the podium fight, but it was a great Grand Prix for the Spaniard and KTM in P4. Viñales handed the Austrian factory a double top five, with Di Giannantonio taking home P6 and Morbidelli finishing P7 after being handed a Long Lap penalty for shortcutting the final chicane while battling his teammate.
Raul Fernandez’s (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) P8 sees the Spaniard pick up his third consecutive top 10 of the season, as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Quartararo round out Assen’s top 10 – no the Sunday afternoon the polesitter would have wanted.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) claim the final points on offer, as the latter hands Thailand their first MotoGP point.
It is one of our best results of the season, but it was also one of the best races in terms of feeling on the bike. I felt a bit more comfortable compared to yesterday, but the issues remain the same. When I am taking a slipstream, it is much easier for me to make the change of directions, but when I am alone, I can not push, the bike feels heavier, so it is a problem because we are losing time. I was lapping like the other KTM riders at the start when I was with other riders, but when I was alone in the middle of the race, I lost time unfortunately. I hope that we really figure out why this happens so we can improve!
Enea Bastianini – P9
I’m disappointed with how my race went, but very happy for Aprilia because we still had a good weekend and brought some new stuff that worked well right away. Marco managed to get a great podium in the sprint and another fantastic podium in the race. I got off to a good start and was in the group of 10, but then unfortunately I crashed. It will be important to understand and analyse everything.
Lorenzo Savadori – NC
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #KytCrew during the weekend in Assen.