MotoGP – Marc Marquez delivered a clinical masterclass at MotoGP’s Cathedral of Speed yesterday to claim victory at the Dutch Grand Prix while his brother and closest contender Alex suffered a race-ending crash that left him with a fractured hand.
As Assen celebrated its centenary of motorcycle racing, the elder Marquez seized control on the second lap and did not look back as he extended his championship advantage to a commanding 68 points over Alex as he seeks a seventh title.
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi finished second while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia came third, with the two-times champion now staring at a daunting 126-point gap to his teammate after 10 rounds.
Bagnaia had won the last three races in Assen but despite taking the lead early on, he was pushed down to fourth place before he recovered to finish on the podium ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
Marc, who crashed hard twice on Friday, also equalled motorcycling great Giacomo Agostini with 68 premier class victories and now sets his sights on his former rival Valentino Rossi who finished his career with 89 wins.
Gresini Racing’s Alex was in second place but on turn one of the next lap, Marc made his move to overtake his brother and slot in behind his teammate, waiting patiently to pounce with 24 laps left in the race.
Alex briefly lost his concentration and Bezzecchi squeezed his way past the Gresini rider while Acosta also made an overtake stick to push the younger Marquez down to fifth.
Up front, Marc found a gap before the final chicane on lap five to overtake Bagnaia and take the lead while his brother Alex crashed heavily when he leaned into Acosta and lost his balance when they made contact in a battle for fourth.
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