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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 8 / JUNE 24-25, 2017 TT CIRCUIT ASSEN / ASSEN, THE NETHERLANDS P86 (EG-VDS Honda) and the dis- consolate Pedrosa over the line. Zarco had stopped to change bikes and been hit with a ride- through pit-lane speeding penal- ty, but was still the best of those who had stopped, and the last rider on the same lap, in 14th. Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) capped off a dismal weekend with one point, followed by Hector Barbera (Avintia Ducati) and Rins. Jonas Folger (Monster Ya- maha) had been the only rider to score points in every race, but crashed out early on after a disastrous start. Sam Lowes (Aprilia) and Bradley Smith (KTM) also fell. The championship has closed right up. Dovizioso is the new leader t 115, with no-score Vinales at 111, then Rossi 108, Marquez 104 and Pedrosa 87. me on Thursday I would be 11 points behind the championship leader, I would have sighed," he said. Redding had set fastest lap on the sixth, but had long since dropped way out of touch, leav- ing Jack Miller (EG-VDS Honda) to a fine, if lonely, sixth. Earlier he had dealt with Aleix Esparga- ro (Aprilia), and got back ahead of Dani Pedrosa, with the Repsol Honda rider also dropping radi- cally in the difficult last laps. There was a four-way battle for eighth, until Redding crashed out on the penultimate lap, leav- ing Karel Abraham (Pull&Bear Ducati) to get the better of Loris Baz (Avintia Ducati) and Ian- none's Suzuki. Aleix Espargaro was miles away in 10th; then brother Pol (Red Bull KTM) led Tito Rabat had survived one major front- end slide at the chicane. "I had a few warnings. I was struggling with stability. So I said, 'okay.'" Finishing was more important than fighting. By now, they had been joined by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) who inherited fifth when Vinales slipped off at the end of lap 12. He rapidly closed a four-second gap. By lap 19, Dovizioso was past Marquez, and next time around also Petrucci, and was soon challenging for the lead, threatening to make it three in a row. Now there were just five laps, and Petrucci took the lead for the first time. It was Rossi's sig- nal to hurry up, and he passed him back at the chicane at the end of lap 23. From there the two moved clear. This left Dovi and Marquez to fight it out, matching daring with caution as the rain drops played havoc with their confidence. The conditions favored the bold. Step forward Cal Crutchlow, who had been well out of touch in seventh before Bautista crashed in front of him. Now he was gaining ground hand over fist, catching up rap- idly to seize third before the end of the second-to-last lap. The three battled to the end, with Marquez regaining the po- dium place at the last gasp. He was delighted. "If you had told Maverick Vinales had a promising top finish going until this happened late in the race.