The #93 claims his 68th MotoGP win by 0.6s as chief rival Alex Marquez crashes out in the Netherlands
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 tyre suggested something had happened with the 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.
THANK YOU, ASSEN
It was a weekend to remember as the one and only TT Circuit Assen celebrated 100 years of racing, as we now get set to head to the Sachsenring for Round 11.
Find full results here and join us for more in Germany!
Record crowd: 2025 sees Assen welcome more than 200,000 fans for the first time
Talking points: Motul GP of the Netherlands
A 68th for the 93 - Marquez equals a Legend with Assen victoryPecco taking the positives from Assen after a P3 on Sunday Aside from the race results themselves, there was plenty happening on Sunday elsewhere. One big headline is the unfortunate crash for Alex Marquez which leaves the #73 heading home for surgery on a fracture in his left hand.
Further afield from the on-track action on Sunday, there were a few more twists and turns in the story of Jorge Martin's future, too. Read a run through of the main developments HERE and watch Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola's full debrief below. Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola spoke to the media in Assen
Rider of the Race: Bezzecchi!
First time winner alert! After his awesome performance at Assen to take second, Aprilia Racing's Marco Bezzecchi was the fan pick for Rider of the Race. Hear from him below and find out more about Rider of the Race HERE!
Moreira beats Canet to claim maiden Moto2 victory and first for Brazil
After the two threw down at Mugello over the podium, the stakes were even higher in Assen as Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) beat Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) went down to the wire. The Brazilian made history by taking his first Moto2 win, and first for Brazil by just 0.056s in a fascinating fight to the flag, as championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) battled his way back to a P3 finish following a sluggish opening few laps.
Having bagged a first front row of his rookie campaign, Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – FRINSA – MSI) collected the holeshot, but polesitter Moreira pounced back to lead through turns three and four. Having fought off a fast-starting Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) on Lap 1, Canet forced his way to the front on Lap 2 to lead the Dutch GP. Meanwhile, Gonzalez was P9.
Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) completed his two Long Lap penalties by Lap 5, that dropped the Belgian to P14, as Ortola began to get a little beaten up by the chasing pack. Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) and Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) were through to demote Ortola to P7.
Lap 7 saw Baltus’ Grand Prix end at Turn 1, while at the front, Canet and Moreira were 1.2s clear of Öncü, who in turn was 1.3s clear of Roberts as the American led a gaggle of riders that included Gonzalez, who was now past Dixon and starting to make up ground after a sticky start to his race. And on Lap 12 of 22, Gonzalez was into P3 after a tidy pass on Öncü at Turn 5. The gap to title rivals Canet and Moreira? Three seconds.
In the battle for the top four, Öncü’s race ended at the final chicane on Lap 14 to promote Dixon to P5, as Moreira continued to shadow Canet in the fight for the win. With three to go, Moreira remained right up the tailpipes of Canet’s Triumph-Kalex – where and when was a move coming? The change for the lead came on the penultimate lap at Turn 3. Canet was wide, Moreira went through, so was that the race-winning move?
Last lap time! Moreira led us onto it, but the duo were locked together. It was as you were coming into the final, jaw-dropping sector at Assen, and Canet wasn’t close enough. Moreira earned a debut Moto2 win to hand Brazil their first Moto2 win too – a massive moment for the #10.
Gonzalez did hold onto an important P3 ahead of Dixon, who collects a very solid and confidence-injecting P4 from P11 on the grid. Roberts fended off teammate Marcos Ramirez by 0.061s at the line as the American and Spaniard cross the line in P5 and P6, ahead of Arenas, Alonso Lopez (Folladore SpeedRS Team), Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Dani Holgado (CFMoto Inde Aspar Team). Both home heroes, Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP) and Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo), pick up points in P12 and P14 respectively.
Check out full results here and join us for more from the Sachsenring in two weeks!
Rueda returns to winning ways in Assen thriller
Keeping a cool head when it mattered most, Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) came out on top in a crazy Moto3 Grand Prix ahead of David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Ajo), the #99 extending his championship lead as the Argentine flag returns to the rostrum for the first time in four year thanks to Perrone in third.
Grabbing the first holeshot on Sunday, Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) led teammate and Championship leader Rueda but there was drama behind for Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), who stalled it on the grid from P7. Thankfully, everyone avoided him but the #94’s Dutch GP was done. Rueda had taken over in P1 from his teammate and then, on Lap 2, David Almansa (Leopard Racing) attempted a pass on the #99 at Turn 8 but collided with him; Carpe, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, lost momentum and dropped down to P15. Lap 4 and more contact, this time between Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) and Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) at the final chicane, both losing places but staying in the victory chase.
Leading until Lap 9, Rueda relinquished it at Turn 12 to a hard-charging Quiles, the #28 forcing his way through and thus upsetting the polesitter’s rhythm with Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) and Almansa – albeit briefly for the #22 - putting him back to P4. Fernandez was now pouncing too, ahead of his teammate and then Rueda and into the provisional podium places. A mistake at the end of Lap 11 dropped the #99 further back and he was now down in seventh place, just ahead of Perrone.
Lap 15 and the gloves came off as Almansa briefly took P1, barging ahead of Maximo Quiles (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team) who repaid the favour at Turn 9; heading into Lap 16 at Turn 1, Carpe’s sensational comeback was nearing completion. P3 at Turn 1, he was in the lead at Turn 10 and after swapping paint with the #22 of Almansa, maintained the advantage. Likewise fighting back through, Furusato was eighth and Rueda in the provisional podium spots.
With three laps to go and having hustled his way back through the group, Quiles crashed at Turn 10 and for Almansa, he was shoved wide at Turn 15 by Perrone, sending him back to 13th place with two to go. Amongst the drama, Rueda and Carpe were back at the front and at the right time heading into the final lap, with Muñoz keeping his powder dry. At the end of the penultimate lap, a big crash for Furusato, Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) and Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Sqadra Corse). The group fragmented, it was down to three at the front: Rueda vs Perrone vs Muñoz.
Into the final sector on the last lap, Muñoz snatched P2 at Turn 15 but due to the previous multi-rider crash, a red flag was thrown before the field returned through where the incident was being cleared. Results went back to the start of Lap 19, with Rueda declared the winner ahead of Muñoz and Perrone, the first podium of the #73’s career and indeed for Argentina since Mugello in 2021 with Gabriel Rodrigo.
Carpe came back to fourth ahead of Piqueras who salvaged fifth from 16th on the grid. Despite his off-track excursion on Lap 18, Almansa was sixth ahead of Ogden who was a season-best P7. Dennis Foggia (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA) were next up before teammate Marcos Uriarte claimed a career-first top ten.
Check out the full results from Moto3 - and see you in Germany!