ASSEN: Marc Marquez delivered a clinical masterclass at MotoGP’s Cathe­dral of Speed on Sunday to claim victory at the Dutch Grand Prix while his brother and closest contender Alex suffered a race-ending crash that left him with a fractured hand.

As Assen celebrated its centenary of motorcycle racing, the elder Marquez seized control on the second lap and did not look back as he extended his championship advantage to a commanding 68 points over Alex as he seeks a seventh title.

Aprilia’s Marco Bezze­cchi finished second while Ducati’s Francesco Bagn­aia came third, with the two-times cha­m­pion now staring at a daunting 126-point gap to his teammate after 10 rounds.

“I’m super happy one more time to take the 37 points... Not 100% happy because my father told me that Alex broke one finger and I wish him a good recovery,” Marquez told TNT Sports. “First of all, because he’s my main opponent for the championship. I want to have all the opponents on the racetrack. And secondly because he’s my brother and I will try to help him to stay motivated and have a good recovery.”

Bagnaia had won the last three races in Assen but despite taking the lead early on, he was pushed down to fourth place before he recovered to finish on the podium ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.

Marc, who crashed hard twice on Friday, also equalled motorcycling great Giacomo Agostini with 68 premier class victories and now sets his sights on his former rival Valentino Rossi who finished his career with 89 wins.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quart­araro had claimed pole position but crashed in Saturday’s sprint — where Marc clai­med his ninth victory of the season — and the Frenchman was slow off the line while Bagnaia made the perfect start.

Gresini Racing’s Alex was in second place but on turn one of the next lap, Marc made his move to overtake his brother and slot in behind his teammate, waiting patie­ntly to pounce with 24 laps left in the race.

Alex briefly lost his concentration and Bezzecchi, sporting a new aero package on his Aprilia, squeezed his way past the Gresini rider while Acosta also made an overtake stick to push the younger Marquez down to fifth.

Up front, Marc found a gap before the final chicane on lap five to overtake Bagnaia and take the lead while his brother Alex crashed heavily when he leaned into Acosta and lost his balance when they made contact in a battle for fourth.

Alex was immediately taken to the medical centre where a left hand fracture was confirmed, with Gresini saying he would fly to Madrid for surgery later on Sunday.

Bagnaia seemed to be losing pace as both Bezzecchi and Acosta moved into pod­i­um positions. But the Italian Ducati rider snatched third place back from Acosta at the end of lap 14 to set his sights on Bezzecchi.

“I’m bitter because for the first time this season I had a chance to win,” Bagnaia said. “I cannot do what I really want to do, last year was much easier. I’m struggling quite a bit to do the same things.”

But whatever Bezzecchi did to put pressure on Marc, the six-times MotoGP champion did not budge as he managed his tyres and maintained his pace until he took the chequered flag.

“Marc was really fast but I did my best,” Bezzecchi said. “I gave everything I had in every lap, so I can’t be more satisfied than this.”

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2025