Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1138054
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 10 / JUNE 28-30, 2019 TT CIRCUIT ASSEN / ASSEN, NETHERLANDS P68 Dovi was not to be denied, though, and regained control with five laps to go. At the same time, Crutchlow had been closing, only to run al- most off the track at the first cor- ner, which let Morbidelli through. The Yamaha rider passed Petruc- ci on the final lap and was right on Dovi's back wheel, the three over the line in just over half a second. Crutchlow was three seconds adrift; Mir was struggling, and only two seconds ahead of Jack Miller. But the Australian Pramac Ducati rider had his own problems with rear-grip problem in the right- handers, and was barely a half- second clear of a closing Andrea Iannone over the line. Iannone had passed Pol Espar- garo's Red Bull KTM on lap 22, leaving him two seconds adrift. Five seconds away, brother Aleix and Petrucci were behind me," Marquez backed off, and Vinales claimed the win by almost five seconds. "As I crossed the line, I felt a lot of pressure leave me," he said. "I have had some dark times, but here from Friday I felt strong, and we worked hard for the last laps." The battle for fourth had livened up after half distance, after Pe- trucci had passed Mir and closed on his teammate Dovizioso, who was troubled all weekend with "the same problem… our bike is difficult to turn." He'd qualified a lowly 11th but made a flying start. Now Petrucci dogged his tracks for a few laps while Mir closed again; then Petrucci took over on lap 16. It lasted only three laps be- fore he had a big moment, letting Dovi past again, and Mir ahead of both of them for three laps. several errors under braking for the tight first corner and running wide, though he was always able to make it up again quite easily. Though conditions had cooled slightly from the morning, there was a stiff wind, and Quartararo was suffering badly, several times having to shut the throttle on the back straight to regain control of severe tank-slapping wobbles. On lap 11 Marquez took over the lead, but Quartararo got back in front for another four laps. Then on lap 16 Vinales made his move after another big wobble, and Marquez promptly followed him past, sticking within half a second as the gap to Quartararo grew rapidly. With three laps to go, very aware "that Maverick was 100 points from me, Quartararo 89 points, and Dovizioso, Rins iii My Own Race: 93 MARC MARQUEZ 2ND MOTOGP "I saw Vinales was faster than me and I tried to stay with him to avoid a battle with Quartararo at the end. I was behind Vinales for a few laps and then I saw he was faster than me today—congratulations to him on the victory. The most important part is we have extended our lead in the championship at a circuit where we struggle." 46 VALENTINO ROSSI DNF MOTOGP "I was quite fast, so I tried to recover some positions. I was battling with Nakagami and I tried to overtake him, entering Turn 8, but I was a bit too much off the line, I think. When I entered the corner, I lost the front and unfortunately, I also took out Nakagami, so that's a great shame and I have to say sorry." 21 FRANCO MORBIDELLI 5TH MOTOGP "It was a tough race, because to begin with I didn't feel like I had enough speed to stay with the front group. However, towards the end of the race my feel- ing improved and I was able to ride faster than those in front of me. I was able to gain several positions and finish fifth."