Marquez extends title lead in Assen 

There were plenty of talking points from the 2025 Dutch TT. The fact that Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) went on to win his ninth Sprint and sixth Grand Prix of the season after two big crashes on Friday wasn’t altogether unexpected—such has been his dominant form in 2025.

Instead, a crash involving his brother and title rival, Alex Marquez, that left the Gresini rider with a fractured left hand will be—or perhaps already has been—pivotal in determining how the championship will play out. And, for the first time in a long while, three different manufacturers were genuinely fighting for the Sunday podium. One of those was Aprilia, which celebrated rostrum finishes on both Saturday and Sunday—at a time when the Noale factory and reigning world champion Jorge Martin are engaged in an off-track contract dispute, essentially over the performance capabilities of the RS-GP.

As the lights went out to mark the 100th Grand Prix at the historic Assen circuit, it was Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) who nabbed the holeshot. From second on the grid, he capitalized on pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo’s (Monster Yamaha) poor start to lead from front-row starter Alex Marquez, with Marc Marquez, Quartararo, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) in rapid pursuit.

Bezzecchi passed Quartararo for fourth at the final chicane of the opening lap, while Marc eased past Alex to take second place at Turn 1 at the start of lap two. Bezzecchi pulled the same move on Alex at the end of the second lap, relegating the Gresini rider to fourth, as Pecco held firm at the front, aiming for his fourth-consecutive victory at the Dutch circuit.

The Italian posted the fastest lap of the race on the fourth tour—the same lap in which Acosta demoted Alex Marquez to fifth with an aggressive move, meaning three different manufacturers were now represented in the leading group. It would have been five had Quartararo not dropped to seventh after taking evasive action to avoid Fermin Aldeguer’s (Gresini Racing) nasty highside. Joan Mir (HRC) wasn’t so lucky—he couldn’t avoid the stricken Ducati, continuing his run of bad luck and DNFs.

As the top three traded fastest laps, Alex Marquez was visibly eager to get back past Acosta’s KTM. And as Marc made his move on Bagnaia for the lead stick at the chicane at the end of lap five, his brother attempted a hard move on Acosta. However, his front tyre locked, and he crashed out on lap six of the 26-lap race.

Looking to improve on his Sprint bronze, Bezzecchi relegated Bagnaia to third on the next lap. Whether Marquez was managing the pace at the front or under genuine pressure from the Aprilia rider, there was little to separate the two for much of the contest. Acosta overtook Bagnaia for third at the end of lap nine, as Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) began to find his rhythm, reeling off fastest laps—but it was too little, too late for the Italian in P7, who was struggling to find a way past Tech3 KTM’s Maverick Viñales and VR46 teammate Franky Morbidelli. That battle for fifth was already some 1.5 seconds adrift of the lead group.

It briefly looked as if Acosta had broken Bagnaia’s resolve, but a mid-race regroup from the Italian closed the half-second gap by lap 14, and he retook third at the chicane. Bezzecchi, meanwhile, was doing everything he could to unsettle Marquez, posting another fastest lap in the process.

Viñales eventually passed Morbidelli, but the gap to the leaders had grown to an unassailable 2.7 seconds. Bagnaia responded with a series of personal bests to fend off any late-race threat from Acosta, who was chasing his first podium of the season.

To his credit, Bezzecchi remained glued to Marquez’s rear wheel, as Bagnaia held a relatively comfortable third. While Viñales in P5 had broken Morbidelli’s resistance, Di Giannantonio was still searching for a way through. An attempt at the chicane led to Morbidelli cutting the corner and receiving a long-lap penalty—his third in two rounds—which handed Di Giannantonio P6 in the final stages.

Although a last-lap lunge for the lead seemed possible, Marquez was simply too strong, never giving Bezzecchi the opening he needed to mount a clean attack. Marc upped his pace on the penultimate lap to eke out a half-second gap, and, just to be sure, extended it further on the final tour, crossing the line 0.635s ahead of Bezzecchi, who was nonetheless thrilled with his strong showing.

“For the team and for the factory in Noale, this is very important,” Bezzecchi said in Parc Fermé.

Bagnaia finished third, two seconds behind Bezzecchi and more than three seconds clear of Acosta, who equalled his season-best finish in fourth. Viñales came home a lonely fifth, ahead of the VR46 duo, while Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM), and Quartararo rounded out the top 10. Aussie Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) finished 14th, 25 seconds behind Marquez.

The eight-time world champion crossed the line to equal Giacomo Agostini as the second-most successful premier-class rider with 68 MotoGP wins. More importantly, he now holds a commanding 68-point lead in the title standings. With 307 points, he is well clear of the injured Alex Marquez (239) and 126 points ahead of Bagnaia (181). Morbidelli (139) clings to fourth, just three points ahead of Di Giannantonio (136). Miller moves up one place to 18th with 33 points.

The series now heads to the Sachsenring for the German GP, taking place from 11–13 July.