More, from a press release issued by Red Bull:

Marco Morelli unpassable in Assen Rookies Race 2

After the red-hot Race 1 on Saturday, the Dutch clouds cooled the Assen track surface for Sunday afternoon and perhaps that helped Marco Morelli inspire a record pace and a superb victory. The Argentine can celebrate his 17th birthday on Wednesday in great style after his second win of the season.

A wonderful turn-around from his first lap crash yesterday and a superb demonstration of skill and consistency over 15 laps, 13.695 seconds quicker than Saturday’s race. Álvaro Carpe, the 17-year-old Spaniard chased him across the line (2nd) with 16-year-old Finn Rico Salmela (3rd).

6 KTMs had broken away from the field, towed by Morelli at a pace faster than Qualifying. At the finish, the rest of the field was 15 seconds behind, the same riders who had all finished in the lead pack on Saturday.

That 6 put on a thrilling, on-the-limit-at-every-corner, display. On the final lap, Saturday’s winner Brian Uriarte and 3rd place man Valentin Perrone both almost crashed as they tried to better Morelli.

Morelli’s perfect race

“Super good, I knew that I could do it, I feel that at all the tracks I am fast, I can be fast alone or with a group. So when I had the crash yesterday I was thinking, yes I am sad but tomorrow is another opportunity.”

“The group was much smaller, less overtaking less battles, less crazy people. All the race I pushed, and on the last lap I pushed more, I almost touched the green twice on the final lap and I was thinking, ‘oh, oh, oh.”

“At the last chicane, I braked absolutely as late as possible and I took victory. I think this is better than the win at the start of the year in Jerez. I dedicate it to my Dad and his birthday plus the little boss of my Junior Team Macauley Webb and also for me,” he grinned.

Carpe right there

“The race was so fast with Marco leading. Not too many overtakes, the group was smaller, the race was faster. The bike was more on the limit, tyres, bike, everything.”

“I was studying Marco to see if I could pass him on the last lap but had a small problem in Turn 5 coming out onto the straight and they all passed me. I pushed and coming back to the final corners I got to 3rd. Then Valentine made a save and I overtook for 2nd. I was trying to catch Marco and brake later in the last chicane but he was a bit too far.”.

Salmela on the limit

“It was a really difficult race, Marco was fast, I was struggling a lot, pushing hard and on the limit, more than yesterday, I could follow but I didn’t feel super confident with the front to try and overtake.”

“In the last lap, the plan was to pass a few riders but I had some chatter and ran wide. Then in the final fast left something happened and they gave me the opportunity, I took it.”

Uriarte went for it

“I got back with the group for the final lap,” explained the Spanish 15-year-old Cup points leader. “But in the fast chicane just before the final fast left I hit the rev limiter and couldn’t overtake. Then I went super hard into that last left and I tucked the front a little bit, also I saw Valentine tucking the front and I had to release the gas, everyone passed on the inside. I had calculated to pass Valentine and in the last corner Marco but it didn’t turn out, sometimes you learn and P4 has to be enough.

Perrone went even harder 

“Marco made an amazing race, every lap, pushing and pushing like crazy. I have to give him congrats,” smiled the Argentine 16-year-old. “In the last lap, I overtook Carpe and Brian and was P2. In the last fast left, I tried to overtake Marco and win but lost the front. I did a massive save and P5 is not so bad, good points for the championship and we’ll continue like this.”

Ruche Moodley hung on for 6th

“The pace was really fast today,” said the South African 17-year-old. “I think today I made a better race than yesterday because today I think I did everything I could have done. I was battling with Brian, I made a block pass and we lost the group. I couldn’t catch the group after that, the pace was quicker than Qualifying.”

Francesco Bagnaia’s win at the Motul TT Assen wasn’t just his third in a row at the track, but it was his fifth straight win. He has won the last three Grand Prix races and the last two Sprint races. Only a silly mistake in Barcelona where he crashed out of the lead of the Sprint race prevented him from notching up six straight wins. “We are very, very strong right now,” Bagnaia said in the post-race news conference. Announcements in recent days about he dramatic changes in store for Ducati in 2025 – losing two race-winning riders, losing a team, putting Marc Marquez on the factory squad – did little to faze Bagnaia, he said, adding that he’s quite content to not be the subject of conversation and speculation.

Francesco Bagnaia shot to the front, pulled a half a second on the field in a lap and was never headed en route to the MotoGP win at the Motul TT Assen.

World Championship leader Jorge Martin overcame a grid penalty and was in second by the end of the first lap, but he was never close to Bagnaia, took second and protected his points lead.

Bagnaia’s teammate, Enea Bastianini, came from deep in the field to snatch third, ahead of a fierce battle for fourth between Marc Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Maverick Vinales.

Martin led Bagnaia 200-190 in the World Championship points chase, with Marc Marquez third with 149.

Update: Following the race, Marc Marquez received a 16-second time penalty for improper tire pressure, dropping him from fourth to 10th. The revised race results are below and the original race results are below that. At post time, Dorna had not yet issued revised World Championship point standings.

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Hat-trick hero: Bagnaia retains Assen crown ahead of Martin, penalty for Marquez

It’s now 10 points in it at the top of the table and a little further back to #MM93 after a tyre pressure penalty sees the eight-time World Champion classified tenth

Sunday, 30 June 2024

Francesco Bagnaia’s Motul TT Assen couldn’t have been better. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider did the double from pole, with a Sunday masterclass cutting the Championship deficit to just 10 points as Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) was forced to follow him home and focus on limiting the damage. Bagnaia is the first rider to win three successive MotoGP™️ Grand Prix races in a single season since he did it in 2022 with four in a row from Assen to Misano, it’s his third win in a row at the TT Circuit Assen, and he equals Casey Stoner’s 23 wins with Ducati to tie the MotoGP™ Legend as the two most successful riders with the Borgo Panigale factory. All that said, Martin will now look to use his right of reply in Germany.

Meanwhile, Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) charged up from a tougher qualifying to complete the podium, denying Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing). Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) was also denied after crossing the line in fourth, with a tyre pressure penalty dropping him to P10.

As the lights went out, Bagnaia nailed the start to take the holeshot, with Viñales just holding onto second to deny Martin. Still, the #89 launched it to near perfection from his P5 after that three-place penalty, and soon enough he did get it done to take over in second. Marc Marquez, meanwhile, was on the march and soon put his own moves on Viñales to slot into third.

That duo stayed glued together as the battle behind was hotting up. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) had shot up past front-row starter Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), but soon it was Di Giannantonio on the move, and he made it past Acosta at Turn 1, caught the Marquez-Viñales duo and then pounced on the Aprilia at the final chicane. Next up: #MM93.

By 19 to go, the yellow flash of the VR46 machine went past, but with Marquez also seeming to gesture at the Italian and make it a little easier for him too. Expecting to have been in a group fight and set up for it? Wanting a reference to follow? Either way, the two Ducatis stayed close together, with Viñales on their tail and Acosta on his. Lap by lap, however, Bastianini was cutting the deficit to the podium battle.

He made it past the rookie by nine to go, and a lap later the group shuffled again. Diggia was wide, Marc Marquez didn’t seem to want to take advantage, and Viñales shot past both. Bastianini was then right on that trio once again, and by seven to go was past Diggia. A lap later he did a near carbon copy on Marquez to take over in fourth, with a bit of a closer racing kiss for the #93, who headed wide but recovered it in time to keep Di Giannantonio at bay. At the time, anyway, before the two started duelling, Acosta got involved once more, and it looked like Viñales and Bastianini had disappeared up the road. But not so.

At the final chicane, the ‘Beast’ struck for the podium and got past Viñales with four full laps remaining, and from there the group couldn’t quite stay with him. By the penultimate lap it then looked like a Viñales-Marquez duel for the podium, but there was still drama to come.

On the final lap, Acosta slid out at Turn 7, and then Viñales headed just wide enough to allow Marquez through, leaving it an Aprilia-VR46 drag to the line for fifth instead. But when all is judged and confirmed, Viñales was forced to drop one position due to exceeding track limits at the chicane, promoting Diggia to fifth, and then the tyre pressure penalty for Marquez saw the #93 drop to P10.

When the dust settles, Bagnaia’s masterclass puts the cherry on top of a weekend that saw him top every session bar Warm Up, but Martin took a valuable second. Bastianini takes back-to-back podiums to recover from a P10 qualifying, and it’s Diggia classified fourth ahead of Viñales, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) taking P6 after a quiet but valuable ride. Alex Marquez takes P7 ahead of a solid result for Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) in eighth, with Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) next up ahead of the #93 completing the top ten. Check out the full results below.

Unfortunately, one piece of tougher news on the grid was for Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), who suffered a big crash at Turn 1 and was declared unfit for a right wrist fracture.

Now, the paddock heads for Germany. It’s ten points in it, a venue we’ve seen Martin deny Bagnaia before… and some of the most successful turf Marc Marquez has ever raced. Will the number 93 be able to find that form at one of his true signature tracks, or do his rivals have a statement of their own up their sleeves? Join us next weekend to find out!

Ai Ogura took advantage of a long lap penalty handed to Fermin Aldeguer and held off a resurgent Aldeguer to win the Motul TT Assen Moto2 race by 0.571 seconds.

Ogura’s MT Helmets – MSI teammate Sergio Garcia was third, making it an all-Boscoscuro chassis podium.

Garcia held on to the lead of the Championship over Ogura, 138-124, with American Joe Roberts, who missed the race due to injury, in third with 115 points.

Ivan Ortola took advantage of a minute last-lap mistake by Collin Veijer to take the lead on the outside of the final chicane and win the Moto3 race at the Motul TT Assen by 0.012 seconds.

Veijer was a clear second, nearly 2.2 seconds ahead of David Munoz, who took the final podium spot.

David Alonso, who finished fifth, leads the Championship 154-115 over Veijer, with Daniel Holgado, who finished 11th, in third with 111 points.

Pertamina Endurance VR46 Racing Team’s Fabio Di Giannantonio led the MotoGP morning warmup at the Motul TT Assen ahead of the afternoon’s full-length Grand Prix race.

Under cloudy skies and on a cool track, Di Giannantonio led Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales, but the times were relatively slow. Di Giannantonio’s 1:32.309 was nearly two seconds slower than Francesco Bagnaia’s pole lap of 1:30.540.