Vinales fends off Marquez for Assen triumph
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Full Dutch MotoGP race resultsMaverick Vinales has secured an overdue Yamaha victory after seeing off Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo at the Dutch MotoGP.After a lightning start from Alex Rins and Joan Mir for a Suzuki 1-2 into the first turn faltered early, with Rins going down on the second lap while leading, a three-way fight between Vinales, Marquez and Quartararo developed with each rider taking turns at the front over the opening half of the race.Pole-sitter Quartararo looked promising early on but was held back by constant speed wobbles powering down the back straight at Assen which allowed both Vinales and Marquez to claw back at the Petronas Yamaha rider.On Lap 15, Quartararo dropped from first to third with Vinales chased by Marquez to set up a long-awaited battle between the Spanish pair.Initially Vinales looked to have made a costly mistake by running wide at Turn 1 on Lap 18, allowing Marquez to skate into the lead, but the Repsol Honda rider’s advantage lasted half a lap as Vinales dived back ahead on the exit of Turn 12.Keeping his nerve over the closing laps, and demonstrating his superior late pace from recent races, Vinales pulled clear to claim an emotional victory by almost five seconds – to take both his and Yamaha’s first MotoGP win since the Australian round last year.But Marquez was content to settle for second place at Assen as he could extend his MotoGP world championship lead to 44 points with nearest title rival Andrea Dovizioso finishing down in fourth place.Quartararo survived his speed wobbles and arm pump pain to take the final podium place ahead of Dovizioso.Petronas Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli was another to produce stunning late race pace to charge up to fifth place, overtaking Danilo Petrucci at the Geert Timmer chicane on the final lap, with the Ducati rider having to settle for sixth place.Cal Crutchlow grabbed seventh place for LCR Honda ahead of Mir who dropped back from sixth to eighth after running wide at Turn 3 on the penultimate lap. Mir did steer clear of Jack Miller on the Pramac Ducati in ninth place as Andrea Iannone impressed to round out the top 10 for Aprilia.But it was a nightmare race for Valentino Rossi, who had struggled for pace all weekend, and he ed out with Takaaki Nakagami in a high-speed Turn 8 off on Lap 4.Pol Espargaro led the Red Bull KTM charge in 11th place after Johann Zarco retired with 10 laps to go while fighting for a top 10 spot.With Aleix Espargaro taking 12th place for Aprilia, Miguel Oliveira grabbed vital points in 13th place for Tech3 ahead of Pramac Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia as Hafizh Syahrin rounded out the points places in 15th.Tito Rabat came home in 16th place for Avintia Ducati ahead of team-mate Karel Abraham who ed and remounted to take 17th.
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