The MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix takes place on Sunday in Assen and will do so again without Marc Marquez who suffered two more falls between Friday and Saturday. In fact, he qualified 17th for Sunday’s start. But he finally decided to drop the competition. He already said on Saturday that on a mental level this is the most difficult moment of his career. Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) will start from pole position at 2:00pm. At his side will be two of his countrymen, also from Ducati: Pico Bagnaia and Luca Marini. Bagnaia is exactly the World Cup leader with 169 points. In Moto3, Spain’s Jaume Masià won, while in Moto2 Jake Dixon won.
We review the starting position of the rest of the Spanish riders who we haven’t commented on yet. Aleix Marquez starts ninth, Raul Fernandez 16th, Augusto Fernandez 21st and Iker Licona, who replaced Joan Mir, 22nd.
VIÑALES, REGULAR ON THE PODIUM IN ASSEN. The Roses driver has finished on the podium in his last four appearances at the Dutch Grand Prix. Precisely in Assen, last year he achieved his first podiums with Aprilia.
Brad Bender started the race in fifth and it felt good for Aprilia as well, as he managed to put two of the team’s official riders into sixth and seventh, respectively. Aleix Espargaro does it in the sixth and Maverick Viñales in the seventh.
Yamaha’s low-profile cadillary design. Yamaha riders have won 11 of the last 18 races in Assen in the top division. However, the Japanese company is piling on 16 consecutive Grands Prix without winning, its worst streak since one of 25 races between 2017 and 2018.
ASSEN, a breath of fresh air for FABIO QUARTARARO. The Yamaha rider starts the race today from the fourth position, which is his best starting position this season. ‘Diablo’ has finished on the podium in two of his three previous MotoGP appearances at the Dutch Grand Prix (third in 2019 and first in 2021), despite having abandoned the last (2022).
Luca Marini completes the front row of the starting grid. He’s doing so for the fifth time this season, although those good qualifying performances have only resulted in one podium finish this year, after he finished second at the Las Americas Grand Prix.
Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) achieved the first podium of his MotoGP career at the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix. He has finished on the podium in three of his last seven races having done it only once in his first 20 races in the top division.
BEZZECCHI raises the bar again. The Italian pilot sets the tone this weekend in The Cathedral. Today the Italian starts from pole position for the first time this season and the second time in MotoGP after he achieved it at the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix. Yesterday he took his first win of the season in the Sprint.
Good results for “PECCO” in the cathedral. Francesco Bagnaia has won three of his last six Dutch Grand Prix starts in all classes (in 2016 in Moto3, in 2018 in Moto2 and in 2022 in MotoGP).
BAGNAIA is looking for a “Back-to-Back” game in ASSEN. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who started the race from second on the grid today, won last year’s Dutch Grand Prix. No rider has won back-to-back MotoGP wins in Assen since Valentino Rossi in 2004 and 2005.
Despite Jorge Martin’s victory last Sunday, “Pico” Bagnaia minimized the damage and finished second in the two races, so the Italian managed to stay at the top of the motorcycle riders standings, with 160 points, 16 ahead of Jorge Martin and 34 compared to Marzo Besiki.
Martin strives to match the best number of his napkins. Jorge Martin has achieved four podiums in the last eight motorcycle races, twice as many as in the previous 16 races in the first category (two). The man from Madrid has already achieved three podium appearances this season, and with another one, he will equal his best tally in the same season so far in the first division (four appearances in 2021 and 2022).
George Martin lost a hit in relation to Germany. The Spanish driver completed his best weekend yet in the top category at the German Grand Prix, taking victories in both the Sprint and in Sunday’s official race. However, it looks like Jorge Martin is going to have a more difficult time this weekend, and today he starts the race from 10th place.
With Enea Bastianini out of action with a lengthy injury in the early part of the season, Marzo Bezzecchi stood as Bagnaia’s main replacement, but Jorge Martin has shown extraordinary strength in recent races and the man from Madrid has already declared himself “capable of fighting for everything.”
to leave of: Marc Marquez has not started.
Variant of “Pico” Pagnia. In this race, it can be decided who will be the great rival of Francesco Bagnaia in the struggle for the MotoGP title. Since riders like Fabio Quartararo or Marc Márquez have been left out in the early rounds of the season due to the lack of competitiveness of the bike they are riding, it seems clear that this will be resolved among the Ducati riders.
Less than 50% of the Grand Prix has been played since 2020. Marc Marquez has missed 32 of the 62 races held since the 2020 Andalusian Grand Prix in which his MotoGP winning streak has been cut short.
As you may already know, Marc Marquez will not be able to compete in this Dutch Grand Prix either after he was not declared fit by the medical services due to injuries from a fall last weekend that already prevented him from participating in last German Grand Prix.
After the victories of Jaume Masiá in Moto3 and Jake Dixon in Moto2, we are already focused on everything that can happen in a few moments in a premier class event.
Good morning !! Welcome to the MotoGP live stream of the Dutch Motorcycle Grand Prix, Round 8 of the 2023 season. Ready? We are starting…
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