The winners and losers from MotoGP’s Dutch Grand Prix 

Winner: Marc Marquez

A full 37 points from the weekend is nothing unusual for Marc Marquez, but what makes this a particularly winning one is that his points lead at the top of the standings grew substantially. Although his nearest title rival, brother Alex, finished the sprint in Marc’s wheeltracks, he fell on Sunday. This meant that Marc stretched his advantage from 40 points to 68.

Then there was the fact that Marc won despite making life difficult for himself, as if toying with the hopes of all those pining for a real contest. He crashed heavily on Friday, not once but twice, bruising himself in all sorts of uncomfortable spots. He then proceeded to miss the front row in qualifying for only the second time this year. None of that stopped him hitting the front early in both races, of course, despite not being the quickest man around Assen. All he had to do from there was produce a masterclass of defensive riding – twice over.

Loser: Alex Marquez

Although he battled in the practice sessions, things seemed to be back on script for the Gresini Ducati man when he picked up his customary front row spot in qualifying. Following that up with second place behind Marc in the sprint was hardly a deviation from the story of his season either, even though this runner-up spot was unusually frustrating in that Alex Marquez was actually faster.

Sunday unravelled badly, however, as Alex lost positions early in the race. When Pedro Acosta demoted him to fifth on lap four, he regrouped and fought back – only to crash when things got a little too close for comfort with the KTM and he got an unexpected tap on the brake lever. What will be of more concern than scoring no points is the injury that went with the accident. A fracture in his hand – and subsequent surgery – has left his chances of holding onto second place in the championship open to question.

Winner: The Aprilia factory team

Just like at Silverstone, the factory Aprilia squad let its teamwork, spirit and evident technical progress make Jorge Martin’s obsession with leaving for Honda look all the more puzzling and petulant. It wasn’t a win this time, but there’s a sense in which Marco Bezzecchi’s second place on Sunday was even more impressive than his great British GP feats. It was less about tyre management and more about taking on Marc Marquez in a straight fight – one in which all the Italian was missing was a way around the slower Ducati. The ride also followed his best qualifying spot of the year, fifth – and third place in the sprint showed it was no fluke.

It was an all-round team effort that got him so close to the dominant Marquez in the grand prix. The Noale factory sent new aero parts to the Netherlands, and Lorenzo Savadori had the job of testing them on Saturday. The development rider took a jump in performance in qualifying and duly recommended Bezzecchi grab the updates for Sunday. Savadori appears to be relishing such a tangibly important role, and Aprilia is starting to use his skills for maximum benefit across a race weekend.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: MotoGP

Winner: Pedro Acosta

At last, a respectable weekend for Acosta. And it came at a track where KTM wasn’t expecting much. Ninth in qualifying was probably about par for the RC16 at Assen, but it was enough for the factory rider to edge Tech3’s Maverick Vinales for the third time in the last four weekends and assert himself as the leader of the troops.

He crossed the line seventh on Saturday, but that became ninth when he picked up a post-race penalty for track limits infringements. The real win for Acosta came in the grand prix, when he took advantage of a strong start and scaled lofty heights by this year’s standards. Passing Francesco Bagnaia’s factory Ducati to get himself into a podium position would have given him some satisfaction, even though Bagnaia struck back a few laps later.

Acosta finished clear of Vinales and took his third fourth place in five grands prix – are things really all that bad? The only thing Pedro could really get away with complaining about was getting stung by a bee after dismounting on Sunday and having to go to hospital with an allergic reaction. That really was rotten luck.

Loser: Joan Mir

Just when the 2020 world champion was beginning to string some finishes together – he’d crossed the line three Sundays in a row – came a real kick in the teeth. Not only were the Hondas slow, with Joan Mir suggesting the factory’s development had not kept pace with certain others, but he didn’t catch so much of a whiff of a chequered flag at Assen.

For the second time since his flurry of visits to Q2 in the early part of the season, Mir missed out by the barest of margins and had to start 13th. It proved an unlucky number in the grand prix, when he was the innocent victim of Fermin Aldeguer’s high-side. This followed a sprint in which he slid out early on the first lap. An altogether miserable weekend for the Mallorcan.

Somkiat Chantra, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Winner: Somkiat Chantra

He’s taken his fair share of criticism in his rookie MotoGP season, but raise your glass to Somkiat Chantra for scoring his first point on Sunday. Sure, there was a fair amount of attrition, but the LCR Honda racer wasn’t the last man across the line. That happened to be stand-in factory rider Aleix Espargaro, who told media after the race that Chantra was good enough to be racing in MotoGP. He reminded the press of the Thai driver’s successes in lower categories and pointed out that sometimes a rider just needs time to find their way.

Chantra also claimed to have learned a lot during the several laps he spent following the experienced Espargaro earlier in the race. Will that and getting on the scoreboard at one of the schedule’s most challenging tracks give Chantra the boost he needs?

Loser: Ai Ogura 

A fireball crash on Friday is rarely a sign that you’re embarking on a happy weekend. Unfortunately for Ai Ogura, his Assen outing was no exception to that rule. Following the first-day flames, he went on to fall in Q1 and qualified only 19th. That was sadly in keeping with a recent slide in form that must make his stellar showings at the start of the season a distant memory. 

The Japanese rookie finished the sprint only 16th and was pushed off the road following some mid-pack mayhem on the first lap of the grand prix. It’s fair to say that the realities of MotoGP life are biting hard and it’s going to turn into a long season if he cannot find a spark soon.

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Winner: Raul Fernandez

The turnaround between the two garages at Trackhouse Aprilia since the start of the season has been remarkable. While Ogura was starring early on, it was all doom and gloom on the Fernandez side of the box. Since the French Grand Prix, however, the pendulum has swung. And Fernandez was able to underline that at Assen.

Emerging from the rough and tumble of Q1 is never an achievement to be sneezed at, and Fernandez did exactly that on Saturday morning. His early retirement from the sprint was no fault of his own, with the team putting it down to an airbox issue. Sunday proved to be a good day to stay in the saddle and harvest points, which is exactly what Fernandez did on his lonely, steady ride to eighth place. That finish came hot on the heels of a strong seventh in Italy, so the man from Madrid is really laying down some form.

Photos from Dutch GP – Race