Honda's MotoGP champion Marc Marquez won the Dutch TT from pole position for Honda at Assen to stretch his championship lead to 41 points.
In a race that saw numerous changes of the lead between some huge names, eventually it was the Honda man who clinched the victory with a late surge.
Three Spanish riders filled the podium, with Suzuki's Alex Rins second and Yamaha's Maverick Vinales third.
The Motul TT Assen was nothing short of spectacular. 100+ overtakes, six different race leaders and numerous faring-bashing clashes made for one of the best premier class races of all time and just 4.462 seconds separating first and seventh. The result means that after leading the world championship by 27 points ahead of the showdown at Assen, Marquez's advantage to Valentino Rossi has grown.
Marquez, the reigning champion, has a 41 point lead over Italian Valentino Rossi. who finished fifth.
“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 position at Grand Prix for the ages in the Netherlands.
Few races are written immediately into the history books as the flag flies at the finish line, but the 2018 Dutch GP will be one of them.
TT Circuit Assen hosted a showcase of the best of MotoGP™ starring Marquez, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), teammate Maverick Viñales, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol). And those on the podium at the end – Marquez, Rins and Viñales – fought to the top in the closest top fifteen of all time.
So that’s it from the TT Circuit Assen for another year. Can anything top the Dutch GP? After one of the best races of all time, the first to try will be the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring on the 15th July 2018.
The full results of the Dutch Grand Prix 2018
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