Marc Marquez seized the lead late in the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday and pulled away to win. © ANP/AFP / Vincent Jannink
ASSEN, Netherlands, Jul 1 – Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda) edged compatriots Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) to win the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen on Sunday.
Marquez now has a 41-point lead in the standings over Italian Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who was fifth.
The race was tightly bunched almost throughout with frequent changes of position.
“I knew it would be difficult to get away in the race,” Marquez said. “It was a crazy race especially in the straight with lots of wind.”
“I decided to wait,” the Spaniard explained. “Everybody had contact with everybody. I tried to manage my tyres.”
Marquez made his move in the closing stages, grabbing the lead and pulling away to win by 2.269 seconds
“In last three laps I pushed with everything,” Marquez said.
The winner of the last two races, Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati), who started 10th on the grid, grabbed an early lead and held it for much of the contest despite being rammed by Rossi, but he faded to seventh.
For Rins, second place was a career best result.
“I spent my morning at the clinic for stomach problems” he said adding that it had been “a fantastic race and very difficult.”
Vinales finished on the podium for only the second time this season, after Austin.
“I was here to win and I had the capacity to do it,” the Spaniard said. “But I had a problem with forearm cramps that prevented me from getting good braking at the end of the straight.”
