MotoGP : Marc Marquez also wins the Assen Super Race

GDN - Marc Marquez takes a mighty win at Assen, in one of the best MotoGP races ever
The 70th Dutch TT at Assen will probably long be recalled by bike fans around the world as one of the best MotoGP races in the series“™ history.

The eight protagonists for a podium finish in today“™s 26-lap battle will definitely remember it that way.
The fight began when the lights went off and only ended when the chequered flag established the top-3 riders who fought in the closest top-fifteen of all time.
By that point, Marc Marquez had finally pulled a two-second gap on the chasing group, but until around three laps from the end he had been fighting tooth-and-nail with Rins, Viñales, Dovizioso, Rossi, and Lorenzo, without a moment“™s pause.
The World Champion ultimately prevailed over all his opponents to take his 65th career win and his 39th in MotoGP, extending his advantage in the world Standings to 41 over Valentino Rossi.

Marc Marquez #93 WINNER “It was a crazy race, full of adrenaline“”this feeling is one of the reasons we do this sport! Yesterday, I was expecting something like this, but nothing like it actually was! We were a wild bunch, everyone fighting against everyone; I think all of us made contact with somebody else at some point. We had to attack and defend, attack and defend. We had so many “˜big moments“™ and risked crashing. It was crazy! It was impossible to define the best strategy, impossible to make plans, so eventually I decided to just fight and see what we could do in the end. In the last three laps, I gave it everything, no matter the tyres, no matter the Championship. I had been trying to reduce the group because when you“™re fighting for the title, you just want the fewest riders possible at the front, but it was difficult. Only when I saw I had more than one and a half seconds of advantage before the last lap did I think, Okay, we“™ve got it, let“™s just finish this lap. It was an important win and 25 very important points, but we need to keep going, keep pushing, and keep this same level.“

Alex Rins #42 2° “This morning I was feeling really sick, some problems with my stomach. But the doctors at Clinica Mobile gave me some medicine and it took away the pain, so I must really thank them, because when I felt better I thought “˜wow, this will be my race!“™. It was a fantastic battle and I learned a lot of things during the race. Our race pace was good and I was able to enjoy it! There were a lot of over-takes and tight moves, so I was always trying to push to stay with the others and hold my space. I feel very positive with my bike and with my team, we all really want to improve and win. We“™ve had a really competitive bike since Qatar, but we“™ve been able to change a few things to get extra power and better performance, so I hope I can stay at the top for the next races too. I feel confident for Sachsenring.“

MAVERICK VIÑALES #25 3° For sure I“˜m very happy. We“˜ve been studying how to improve the first laps, we worked hard, and it was good to feel strong, especially in the middle of the race. After that the tyre dropped a lot, but I think we can solve this pretty easily for the next races. The TT Assen track helps a little, because I“˜m fast here, but for the other tracks we need to continue to work hard. My plan today was to get to first place and push, that“˜s why I didn“˜t want to let Marc pass me in turn 9. Then I went very close to the gravel, because I braked so late. Anyway, it“˜s nice to be back and nice to be strong. We weren“˜t in the best position to win, because we started a little bit towards the back, but in the next races we need to think back to this weekend, because this strategy works. On lap 6 I rode a 1“˜34.1s. I thought I could ride faster towards the end, but I got a little bit of arm pump and couldn“˜t control the speed and it was crazy. Last year in Germany was a good race, I was quite strong, and we need to keep working like this. We know the way to go fast in Sachsenring, so it“˜s time to work and get the job done.

GP of Assen - Race Classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 41'13.863
2. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +2.269
3. Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +2.308
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +2.422
5. Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +2.963
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +3.876
7. Jorge LORENZO Ducati Team +4.462
8. Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +7.001
9. Alvaro BAUTISTA Angel Nieto Team +7.541
10. Jack MILLER Alma Pramac Racing +13.056
11. Andrea IANNONE Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +14.255
12. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +15.876
13. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +15.986

14. Scott REDDING Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +16.019
15. Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team +16.043
16. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +16.416
17. Bradley SMITH Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +29.073
18. Hafizh SYAHRIN Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +33.824
19. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +34.037
20. Thomas LUTHI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +47.853
Not Classified
9 Danilo PETRUCCI Alma Pramac Racing
10 Xavier SIMEON Reale Avintia Racing
17 Karel ABRAHAM Angel Nieto Team

MotoGP World Standings 2018:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 140
2. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 99
3. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 93
4. Johann ZARCO Yamaha 81
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 79
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 79
7. Jorge LORENZO Ducati 75
8. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 71
9. Andrea IANNONE Suzuki 71
10. Jack MILLER Ducati 55
11. Alex RINS Suzuki 53
12. Dani PEDROSA Honda 41
13. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati 33
14. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 32
15. Tito RABAT Ducati 27
16. Franco MORBIDELLI Honda 19
17. Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha 17
18. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 16
19. Scott REDDING Aprilia 11
20. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 10
21. Bradley SMITH KTM 7
22. Mika KALLIO KTM 6
23. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 4
24. Thomas LUTHI Honda
25. Xavier SIMEON Ducati