Dutch MotoGP: Bagnaia triumphs as Quartararo crashes out

    The tables turned at the Dutch GP as Bagnaia emerged victorious and Quartararo’s title lead was slashed drastically.

    Published On Jun 27, 2022 04:59:00 PM

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    2022 Dutch MotoGP winner Francesco Bagnaia
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    Francesco Bagnaia returned to winning ways at Assen, bringing himself back into world championship contention. Mooney VR 46 Racing rider and MotoGP rookie Marco Bezzecchi took his first premier-class podium by finishing second, while Maverick Vinales finished third and took his first podium in Aprilia Racing colours. 

    • Quartararo crashes twice
    • Bezzecchi takes a maiden MotoGP podium
    • Aleix Espargaro overcomes all odds to finish 4th

    Ducati riders take 1-2 finish

    Bagnaia, who was in pole position, took the lead at the start of the race and stayed there unperturbed for the entirety of it. Bezzecchi, who started the race from fourth on the grid, initially dropped to fifth after being overtaken by Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin. However, he did not stay there for long, overtaking everyone but Bagnaia in front of him to comfortably clinch second place on his year-old Ducati GP21.

    Quartararo handed a lap-long penalty for next race  

    Reigning World Champion Fabio Quartararo was engaged in a tense battle for third place with, arguably, the biggest threat to his title aspirations this year – Aprilia Racing rider Aleix Espargaro. At the Strubben corner on Lap 8, Quartararo lunged toward the inside of Espargaro, colliding with him and subsequently crashing out. This manoeuvre, in turn, pushed the Aprilia Racing rider out into the gravel trap, dropping him down to 15th place when he rejoined the track.

    Quartararo wasn’t yet out of the race, though. He got back up and after a visit to the pits, he continued lapping (even though he was two laps down compared to the others), until a nasty high side put an end to any hope of him finishing, let alone scoring points.

    This incident, reviewed by the stewards’ panel, has handed him a long-lap penalty at the next race in Silverstone.

    Aleix Espargaro makes a spectacular comeback

    When title contender Espargaro rejoined the race, he found himself in 15th place, a distant 12 places down compared to his previous position. What followed from this moment onward was a charge through the pack ahead. Claiming victims lap after lap, Espargaro reeled in a total of 11 riders after rejoining, two of them at the penultimate corner.

    The final lap of the race found Aleix in sixth position, behind the tussling duo of KTM’s Sunday man Brad Binder and Ducati’s Jack Miller. At the ‘Geert Timmer’ chicane, while Binder was lining up a move on Miller, Aleix lined up a move on them both and overtook them to finish fourth, just 2.6sec behind race-winner Bagnaia.

    Yamaha comes home empty-handed

    Quartararo wasn’t the only Yamaha rider to crash out. Teammate Franco Morbidelli, who’s been having a nightmare of a season so far, crashed out at the same corner as well. MotoGP rookie and RNF Yamaha rider, Darryn Binder, also found himself in the gravel trap. The only Yamaha machine to finish the race at the track known as the ‘Cathedral of Speed’ was Andrea Dovizioso’s RNF Yamaha; albeit it was a luckless 16th-place finish with no points awarded.

    2022 MotoGP Championship Standings

    Quartararo came into this race with a 34-point lead over his nearest rival. But as he crashed out in spectacular fashion and Aleix overcame all odds to finish fourth, that lead has shrunk down to 21 points.

    2022 Dutch MotoGP results

    2022 Dutch MotoGP results
    PosRiderTeam
    1Francesco BagnaiaDucati
    2Marco BezzecchiMooney VR46 Racing
    3Maverick VinalesAprilia
    4Aleix EspargaroAprilia
    5Brad BinderRed Bull KTM
    6Jack MillerDucati
    7Jorge MartinPramac Racing
    8Joan MirSuzuki
    9Miguel OliveiraRed Bull KTM
    10Alex RinsSuzuki
    11Enea BastianiniGresini Racing
    12Takaaki NakagamiLCR Honda
    13Johann ZarcoPramac Racing
    14Fabio Di GiannantonioGresini Racing
    15Alex MarquezLCR Honda
    16Andrea DoviziosoRNF Yamaha
    17Luca MariniMooney VR46 Racing
    18Stefan BradlRepsol Honda
    19Remy GardnerTech3 KTM
    20Lorenzo SavadoriAprilia
    NCRaul FernandezTech3 KTM
    NCFabio QuartararoYamaha
    NCDarryn BinderRNF Yamaha
    NCFranco MorbidelliYamaha

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