Marc Marquez fended off race long pressure from Marco Bezzecchi to take victory in the Assen MotoGP race.
The Spaniard posted an impressive win after suffering two high-speed crashes on Friday to win both races at the 100th anniversary of the Dutch TT.
Fabio Quartararo had a poor start and was demoted to fourth place from pole position by Turn 1, while Francesco Bagnaia surged into the lead.
Alex and Marc Marquez took second and third before both brothers swapped places into Lap 2.
Ai Ogura and Miguel Oliveira crashed out at the same corner on the opening lap, resulting in an early retirement for both riders.
Marco Bezzecchi climbed up to third with an impressive lunge on Gresini’s Alex Marquez at the final corner.
KTM rider Pedro Acosta climbed up to fourth after an impressive lunge on Marquez at Turn 5 on Lap 4.
The factory Ducati duo of Bagnaia and Marquez maintained their superiority over the rest of the field. The latter made a strong move at the final corner on Lap 5 to take the lead.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Gresini’s Marquez duelled once again at Turn 5 on Lap 6. The pair tussled hard and made slight contact, which resulted in Marquez crashing out and retiring from the race.
He was taken to the medical centre, where it was revealed that he had fractured his left hand as a result.
Joan Mir and Fermin Aldeguer crashed out on Lap 7 together, but both riders escaped injury in what looked like a rough collision.
On Lap 8, Bezzecchi continued his strong pace to overtake his VR46 Academy stable mate Bagnaia, before catching up right to the back of Marquez.
A lap later, Acosta overtook Bagnaia at the same corner, resulting in three different manufacturers occupying the top three positions at the halfway stage.
VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio recovered from 11th to seventh and posted back-to-back fastest laps, once again showing his true racing instinct.
The next few laps saw Bezzecchi cling behind Marquez but provided no fight or overtake, but the Spaniard got into the groove on Lap 14 and posted the best lap of the race.
Bagnaia successfully regained the final podium place following a super move on Acosta at the final corner.
The Italian posted back-to-back fastest laps but couldn’t quite close the gap to the rear of Bezzecchi’s Aprilia.
On Lap 21, Marquez received a track limits warning, meaning two further infringements would result in a long-lap penalty. Despite that, he managed to keep Bezzecchi at bay for the rest of the race.
The Spaniard equaled Giacomo Agostini as the second rider with the most MotoGP wins, now tied at 68.
Bezzecchi completed the race in a strong second for Aprilia, ending his racing weekend with two podium finishes.
Bagnaia rounded off the podium places, finishing two seconds behind the lead duo.
Acosta and Maverick Vinales produced impressive displays to secure fourth and fifth for KTM, respectively.
Di Giannantonio successfully dispatched Franco Morbidelli to take sixth, as Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez earning an impressive eighth.
Enea Bastianini earned an impressive ninth after previous struggles adapting to the KTM, closely followed by pole sitter Quartararo.
Brad Binder crossed the line in 11th, while lead Honda rider Johann Zarco defeated Alex Rins and Jack Miller in a photo finish.
Despite crossing the line 25s behind Miller, Somkiat Chantra earned his first point in MotoGP, defeating Honda test rider Aleix Espargaro in a one-on-one battle.
