Flawless Bagnaia claims third consecutive Dutch MotoGP

ASSEN, Netherlands: Francesco Bagnaia claimed his third consecutive Dutch MotoGP on Sunday ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin to narrow the gap to 10 points in his quest for a third straight world title.

Enea Bastianini completed the podium at Assen after a magnificent ride which saw him battling through the ranks from 10th place on the grid. But it was polesitter Bagnaia who led from the start on his factory Ducati to ride a flawless race, capping a memorable weekend after his success in Saturday´s sprint race.

After giving a riding masterclass, the rider from Turin said: “It´s incredible.” “I had to push from the start and suffering a bit from the rear tyre. But lap-by-lap I improved. “We were very fast, very precise... I am very satisfied,” added Bagnaia, 27, who twice broke the Assen lap record over the weekend.

He praised his Ducati team, saying “the bike was fantastic.” The weekend´s win in Assen again also highlighted Ducati´s dominance in the manufacturer´s championship standings, delivering the fifth full Ducati podium in a row. “Pecco” Bagnaia´s race never looked in doubt as both he and Martin opened a sizable gap from the pack early on.

But the space between the first placed Italian and his Spanish rival also stayed constant around the 4.5km (2.8 mile) track - and although Martin pushed hard, he failed to reel in a rampant Bagnaia. “At the end of the race I had nothing left. I tried my absolute best to catch him,” Martin said. “But Pecco was just on another level.”

“We just didn´t see any chance to be first this weekend, and then I had the penalty,” Martin added, after being demoted three places on the starting grid for riding slow on the racing line in qualifying on Saturday.

Martin, who is leaving for Aprilia next season said it was a “difficult” weekend for the Prima Pramac Ducati team. He said however the team “improved a lot” with each day at the legendary Assen track known as “the Cathedral”.

The real battle was for third place, which turned into a titanic struggle between Bastianini, Aprilia´s Maverick Vinales, Marc Marquez on a Gresini Ducati and Fabio Di Giannantonio on a VR46 Ducati.