Marc Marquez secured an impressive MotoGP Sprint race victory in Assen after starting from the second row on the grid.
The Spaniard took his ninth Sprint race win of the season, finishing ahead of Gresini’s Alex Marquez by only 0.3s.
Pole sitter Fabio Quartararo maintained the holeshot into Turn 1 as fourth placed starter Marc Marquez rose up to second.
The factory Ducati rider sneaked his way through around the outside both his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and brother Alex Marquez.
The younger brother dispatched Bagnaia at Turn 4 to take third place, demoting Bagnaia down to fourth.
Joan Mir and Ai Ogura crashed out of proceedings at Lap 1, resulting in an early bath for both riders.
Ducati’s straight line speed showed at the final sector as Marquez sliced his way through Quartararo at the final corner, before the younger brother slotted his way through into Turn 1 on Lap 2.
The rapid pace of Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi showed in the early phases after completing back-to-back overtakes on Bagnaia and Quartararo, placing himself up to third after starting on the middle of the second row.
The Italian posted consecutive fastest laps but the Marquez brothers maintained the advantage at the front of the pack.
VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio completed a superb block pass on Bagnaia at the final corner on Lap 6 to take fifth, demoting the Assen master down to sixth.
Gresini’s Marquez was visibly stronger in the second sector, but no moved arrived due to the older brother’s superiority in the final part of the lap.
He offered nothing against his older brother despite getting extremely close to the factory bike, with no overtake opportunity attempted throughout the 13-lapper.
Quartararo crashed out at Turn 10 on Lap 9 from fourth place, a disappointing result after starting on pole position.
Marc Marquez bounced back from two hefty crashes on Friday to secure another Sprint race victory for the Bologna manufacturer.
The younger Marquez brother completed another second place as the Spanish brothers maintained their superiority over the rest of the grid.
Marco Bezzecchi secured a strong result for Aprilia after starting from fifth to round off the Sprint podium.
Di Giannantonio finished in fourth for VR46 Ducati, defeating Bagnaia once again in a one-on-one duel at a track where the factory Ducati rider is usually at his best.
Maverick Vinales posted a strong Sprint result of seventh, ahead of Pedro Acosta who had to face a long-lap-penalty.
Fermin Aldeguer and Franco Morbidelli followed, with Brad Binder recovering to round off the top 10 for KTM.
Johann Zarco claimed 11th to finish as the lead Honda rider after Mir’s Lap 1 retirement.
Miguel Oliveira finished as the lead Yamaha rider in 12th, finishing three seconds clear of team-mate Jack Miller and factory rider Alex Rins.
Enea Bastianini crossed the line in 13th after slotting himself between the Yamaha trio.
Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori claimed 16th place, ahead of Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura and the two Honda riders of Aleix Espargaro and Somkiat Chantra.
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