Bagnaia takes sublime Sprint win to close in on Martin

Taking back-to-back Sprint wins for the first time, the reigning Champion’s statement weekend continues as he denies Martin and Viñales.

Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) statement weekend at the Motul TT Assen continued on Saturday afternoon as the reigning Champion took the Tissot Sprint win – making it back-to-back victories on Saturday afternoon for the first time in his career. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) followed him home in second to limit the damage in the standings, but the two are now split by just 15 points. The pressure amped up further at the end of Saturday’s action too, with Martin handed a 3-place grid penalty for Sunday after being deemed to have been slow on line and disturbed Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) in qualifying.

Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) completed the Sprint podium as his speed at the Cathedral continued, with drama hitting for Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) as he slid out early on.

As the lights went out, Bagnaia held on to the holeshot from pole, with Martin keeping second but Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) attacking and taking over in third. That put Viñales on the attack to take it back, but by the end of Lap 2 the Aprilia had homed back in and shot past at the chicane.

Meanwhile, that drama had hit for Marc Marquez. On the tail of that duel, the #93 overcooked it and suddenly slid out, no way to get back in it and forced to watch the Sprint from the sidelines.

Back at the front, Bagnaia had the hammer down. Still, the gap was hovering around seven tenths, going up and down here and there as Martin held on. But by seven to go, it was the gap back to Viñales the #89 had to watch instead, with Bagnaia edging clear and the Aprilia homing in.

Martin responded quickly, however, pulling it back out to a second – but it didn’t get him any closer to Bagnaia. The top three were in a holding pattern just as the battle behind them was starting to heat up.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had been on the tail of Alex Marquez since Viñales got back past the #73, but by half distance the two had some company: a queue of Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) had arrived on the scene.

Once there, Bastianini struck quick, past Binder and then immediately glued to the rear of Alex Marquez. The ‘Beast’ stalked him round the rest of the lap and then attacked at the chicane, taking over in fourth and pulling away. The #73 was then given a Long Lap for track limits, and soon after there was another key move in the group, also at the chicane, with Diggia attacking Binder. The VR46 rider headed a little wide, both affected but keeping it pinned, just as Alex Marquez had suffered his own little wobble. Into Turn 1 for the final lap, the net result was Diggia leading Espargaro leading Binder, with the #73 dropping to the back of the gaggle and still with that Long Lap to serve.

Up ahead, there were no dramas for the top three. No one had an answer for Bagnaia as the reigning Champion won his second Sprint in a row for the first time ever, and Martin took an important second place as the Championship gap just starts to get closer once more. Viñales’ podium is another positive as he looks to better it on Sunday and beat Aprilia’s best MotoGP™ result at Assen as yet: third.

Bastianini took that P4 after his charge up from outside the top ten on the grid, and in the grand battle behind, Diggia completed the top five ahead of Binder. After not taking it in the remaining laps, Alex Marquez’ LLP was converted into the equivalent time second penalty and drops him down the order to eighth – moving Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) up into seventh, from P13 on the grid. Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) completed the Sprint point scorers, with rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) losing out in P10.

Espargaro slid out fast late on, losing his chance at that battle to the flag and heading for a check up. He will be reviewed on Sunday morning before Warm Up.

Now it’s reset for Sunday and the Grand Prix race, with Bagnaia looking sublime but Martin and Viñales eager to home in over full distance, Martin from that extra hurdle down in P5 on the grid. Can anyone overhaul the #1 on Sunday?