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The Doctor is back at the lectern and where else but at the University of Assen. On a Sunday where the weather was once again unpredictable, with rain falling eight laps from the end, Valentino Rossi proved for the umpteenth time that he is a combination of intelligence and speed.
At the start he tried to pull away but then he had to reckon with Danilo Petrucci and his Ducati. Despite the difficulties, number 46 never considered throwing in the towel, moving back into the lead three laps from the end without relinquishing it again. He crossed the line just 63 thousandths of a second ahead of his compatriot, the latter slowed by the lapped Rins, winning at the TT for the tenth time in his career: “Assen is special because there are a lot of fans cheering us on here - the nine-time world champion said after his 115th Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing win - I am happy for myself and for the team, especially to be victorious again after a year (editor’s note: the last win was in Barcelona in 2016).”
There is no lack of disappointment for Petrucci over a win that got away just as things were looking good: “I prepared the race for the final laps - he explained - in the finale I found Rins on the track and he slowed me down. Unfortunately, the blue flags did not come out, so I lost sight of Valentino. I don’t understand why they didn’t wave the blue flag.”
Marc Marquez is also on the podium. The Spaniard managed to gain the upper hand in the challenge for third place, finishing ahead of Crutchlow and Dovizioso: “It was a difficult race with the conditions changing constantly - number 93 commented - It was complicated understanding when to push and then at a certain point I realized that I had to bring home the podium.”
With his fifth place finish in Assen, Andrea Dovizioso takes the lead in the MotoGP World Championship standings, capitalizing on Maverick Viñales’ crash. The Italian, who rode an outstanding comeback race, is now four points ahead of the Spaniard and seven ahead of Valentino.
Getting back to the race, Jack Miller finished sixth, whereas Iannone was ninth ahead of Aleix Espargaró. It was an unlucky race for Johann Zarco, who took a chance on a bike change when the rain began to fall. The Frenchman finished fourteenth ahead of Lorenzo and Pedrosa was thirteenth.
