Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 7 / JUNE 29-JULY 1, 2018 TT CIRCUIT ASSEN / ASSEN, NETHERLANDS P82 The win cemented Marquez's (center) dominance in the championship. Bagnaia led away from front- row fellows Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Exactweld Kalex) and Luca Marini (SKY-VR46 Kalex). But the Italian was soon getting shuffled backwards as first Joan Mir (EG-VDS Kalex) and his teammate came through, and he would drop further. Marquez was ahead of Mir on lap six, and past Schrotter as well one lap later after the Ger- man ran wide. By now, however, Baldassarri had arrived with the group, and shortly before half distance, having already set fastest lap, he was at the head of it, albeit more than two seconds behind the leader. He had closed the gap to just over 1.5 seconds when he slowed with four laps to go, his back tire deflated. By now, also Quartararo had got ahead of Mir and was pushing Schrotter and Marquez. After the next lap and a half, he was ahead of both of them, for a classic second place. Schrotter held fourth from Mir, with Oliveira closing at the finish. Four seconds away Red Bull KTM teammate Brad Binder took seventh from Marini on the last lap; while Sam Lowes (SII KTM) did the same for ninth to Andrea Locatelli, whose Italtrans Kalex teammate Mattia Pasini had lost touch in 11th. After two difficult races, Bag- naia again opened up his points lead, 144 to Oliveira on 128 and Marquez (110). Baldassarri has 93, and Mir 69. The anticipated brawl didn't take place, but there was plenty of changes of fortune. On the upside, the race brought great joy for Catalu- nya winner Fabio Quartararo (Speed Up), who was demoted to 10th on the grid with a three- place penalty, but came slicing through to a brilliant second, narrowly ahead of Alex Marquez (EG-VDS Kalex). On the down, it was pure heartbreak for Lorenzo Baldas- sarri (HP40 Kalex), who charged to the front from 13th on the grid to a strong and eventually almost challenging second, only to suf- fer a punctured rear tire with four laps to go. Moto2 Qualifying was ultra-close, with the top 22 Moto2 riders within a second of SKY VR46 rider Pecco Bagnaia's pole. But the Italian title leader made sure that none of them got a sniff off him, with a fault-free run from pole to flag. It was his fourth of the season, and extended the title lead in an increasingly dominant season. "It was hard to break away at the beginning, but when I saw the gap go to 0.7, then one sec- ond, I could breathe a bit," the winner said. Rising winds made the going difficult towards the finish, "but the gap I had from the beginning was enough."