Francesco Bagnaia managed to snap Marco Bezzecchi’s unbeaten Dutch TT weekend after defeating the VR46 rider for victory at Assen to extend his points lead.
The factory Ducati ace settled into second early on behind the rapid-starting Brad Binder, but crucially clear of Bezzecchi in third who was bullied to the outside of Turn 1 much like he was at the start of the Saturday sprint race.
Bagnaia shadowed the KTM for a few laps before then swooping through into the lead, though he was unable to relax as the South African continued to remain painted to the rear wheel of the Ducati as he tried to secure a first grand prix win of the year.
The leading Ducati eventually started to make good its escape though, forcing Bezzecchi to dispatch of Binder just past mid-distance as he looked to deny Bagnaia.
A victory bid looked on for the sophomore racer as he started to close down his countryman over the closing stages, though Bagnaia was ultimately able to slam the door on Bezzecchi’s charge as he gapped him over the final laps to take the chequered flag 1.2 seconds clear.
The battle for the final rostrum spot was a closer-fought affair though as a fading Binder tried admirably to hold off Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, the Spaniard closing right in despite the wing on the front right corner of his RS-GP hanging loose.
Espargaro tried every which way to find a way through, though eventually was forced to look behind him and defend from a closing Jorge Martin – the Pramac rider having recovered after dropping as low as 12th in the opening stanza.
This allowed Binder to take cross the line for his second full-length race rostrum of the season, while Espargaro held onto fourth by a narrow 0.009s as Martin nearly undercut him out of the final chicane on the dash to the line – though Binder’s glory would soon turn to disappointment once again as he was docked a spot to fourth for crossing track limits on the final lap at the same bend which cost him a rostrum in the sprint race.
Alex Marquez was a distant sixth having picked up a long-lap penalty for a track limits infringement late on, while Luca Marini took advantage of a similar punishment for LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami to claim seventh – though eighth was still the Japanese pilot’s best result of the year.
Franco Morbidelli survived the crash-filled encounter to take ninth on the sole remaining Yamaha after Fabio Quartararo crashed out early, while Augusto Fernandez completed the top ten having moved ahead of Lorenzo Savadori and Stefan Bradl towards the end of the event.
Jonas Folger was the final rider to come home in 14th for GasGas, the German profiting from late issues for Honda’s Iker Lecuona and a crash by Fabio Di Gianantonio to claim a couple points.
Miguel Oliveira pulled into the pits after dropping back with a mechanical problem, while Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales both crashed out while well within during the middling-portion of the encounter.
Quartararo lost the front of his Yamaha while trying to recover from a poor start that dropped him all the way to 12th from fourth on the grid, the Frenchman cleaning out countryman Johann Zarco in the process at Turn 7.
Jack Miller was the first to fall victim to the Assen venue, the Aussie tucking the front of his KTM at Turn 1 at the start of the second tour.
Bagnaia’s points lead now stands at a solid 35 over Martin heading into the summer break, with Bezzecchi’s runner-up result moving him to within just a single marker of the Pramac pilot.
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