The three-week summer break has not dampened Pecco Bagnaia’s thirst for victory, determined to prove again and again, as many times as necessary, why he is the mainstay of Ducati and the reigning two-time world champion in the premier class. With an unbeatable weekend, leading all the sessions at the Dutch GP with the exception of the warm upthe Turin native once again spoke on the track as he does off it. It is the first time in his career that he has dominated a Grand Prix from start to finish, without any flaws, from Friday to Sunday, also leading all the laps in the race on both Saturday and Sunday.
His victory at Assen, the cathedral of motorcycling and one of his favourite circuits, underlines the Italian’s great form, who achieved his second consecutive full points in the championship and cut his gap to Jorge Martín to 10 points. The Madrid native, second in the championship, more than three seconds behind the number one, was unable to replicate the finesse and precision of his great rival for the title, but left satisfied after achieving his first podium at the Dutch circuit and maintaining the lead of the World Championship. Enea Bastianini, fourth in the standings, completed the podium after another remarkable comeback from eleventh place on the grid.
Bagnaia, who has this circuit tattooed on his right arm to commemorate his first Moto3 world championship victory in 2016, was simply a level above the rest. His numbers here also reflect his love for the only track that has always been present in the 75-year history of the series: he is the first rider to have three consecutive victories here in the 21st century and his victory now equals Casey Stoner as the most successful rider on a Desmosedici with 23 victories.
“I have really enjoyed this weekend, we hit the nail on the head and everything went perfectly,” he said in the parc fermé. “You need to be precise, flow, be sweet, go in hard but hold the bike well because it tends to move a lot,” he explained in the previous days to explain his unparalleled pace on a dizzying circuit, full of fast corners. Both Martín and Márquez, teammates, had the data to understand where he was superior to them, but even with this they were unable to answer him. “Pecco was far superior to the rest, and the pace was devastating, a second per lap faster than last year. All that remains is to congratulate him, he was unbeatable,” acknowledged the Pramac rider.
The 93, for its part, frustrated and surprisingly not aggressive this Sunday, could not replicate the pace of the two Ducati leaders and ended up angry with its performance despite scratching a fourth place that keeps it in third position in the championship. The man from Gresini allowed himself to be overtaken when he was on the podium so he could keep going and prevent his tire pressure from dropping too much, and on two occasions he made a bit of a mess by braking on purpose and giving the initiative to Fabio DiGiannantonio, from VR46 Racing. .
Bastianini took advantage of those breaks to emerge from the middle of the peloton and climb to the podium, in a fight for the crumbs that Bagnaia and Martín left for the rest. The rider from Rimini crossed almost four seconds behind his two teammates on the podium, in a test without much history in the leading positions. A couple of mistakes by Maverick Viñales, the only one capable of sneaking in among the Ducati ahead, knocked the Aprilia rider off the podium. In less than a week, at Sachsenring, the contest arrives in Márquez’s garden with Cervera’s team seeking to confirm his chances of taking the title this year. In Germany, it remains to be seen whether Aleix Espargaró and Alex Rins, who ended up bruised after crashing in Assen, can participate.
You can follow Morning Express Sports onFacebook andXor sign up here to receiveour weekly newsletter.
