Moto GP returns to TT Assen and Francesco Bagnaia shows us how its done. Here’s the DRC’s report for the Moto GP weekened.

The No. 1 still undefeated

Throughout the weekened, it was an absolute domination by the no. 1 bike of Francesco Bagnaia. His weekend started by topping the first free practice session by 0.065 seconds over Marc Marquez. He went further and topped every available session for the weekend. Everything from the practice session to the 2nd free practice, sprint and even the race, all went under the belt of the Italian.

With another TT Assen victory, Pecco has managed to win at this venue three years in a row. In an ongoing close contested championship, Bagnaia closed the gap to chart leader Jorge Martin to just 10 points.

Elsewhere, Jorge Martin started the weekend with qualifying directly for the Q2 from the friday practice. Come Q2 on Saturday, Martin was trading the lap record with Pecco. It was Pecco who broke the lap record first but Jorge fought back and posted a time of 1:30:877.

Pecco, however, wasn’t done yet. In the closing moments of Q2, he put up a time of 1:30:540 to have the lap record back under his name. Martin eventually qualified in P2 for the race and the sprint.

The next session, sprint, was relatively uneventful for Martin, as he finished where he started, 2nd.

Trouble came for him after the sprint, as he got awarded a 3 place grid penalty for sunday’s race for obstructing Raul Fernandes in Q2 on saturday.

This meant that Sunday’s race became a case of damage limitation for the spaniard. He, however, shot into P3 owing to a strong start and later passed Maveric Vinales on same lap. From then on, it was really cruise control for Martin as he couldn’t answer Bagnaia strong pace. He eventually crossed the line in P2, his highest result at this venue.

A weekend to forget for Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez would’ve went into this weekend hoping for a better result. With a crash and DNF in sprint and a penalty dropping him to P10 in race, it was a subpar weekend for Marquez.

Fresh off the Ducati signing, Marquez started the weekend strong with a P2 by 0.065 seconds from the Ducati of Bagnaia in FP1. He ended up in P6 in the practice session, gaining a direct entry into Q2 for Saturday.

However, come Q2, Marquez crashed in the closing stages, and ended up only with a 7th place starting position for sprint and the race.

Come the Sprint on Saturday, it was disaster again for #93. He slid in the opening portion of the sprint on turn 2.

With only Sunday’s race left for Marquez to grab whatever points he can, he started the race strong and passed Vinales for P3. He would stay there for some laps before an incoming attack and pass from Fabio Di Giannantonio meant that Marquez slotted into P4. Some laps later the top 3 had changed as Vinales had passed both Marquez and Enea Bastianini to slot into 3rd.

Seeing this, #23 too tried his chances on Marquez and sent it down the inside.

Bastianini went ahead and came in P3 come the race end. Marquez later capitalized on a mistake of Vinales and crossed the line in P4.

However, all his work came undone as he got given a 16 second tyre pressure penalty post race.

This Penalty dropped Marquez all the way down to P10 and his points down to just 6 from the entire weekend.

Marquez now sits at 142 points in the championship, 58 points behind the table topper Jorge Martin. With the championship heating up, he will be looking forward to the German GP to come back in the title fight.

Aprilia on the up, but Espargaro down

Aprilia had an overall lukewarm weekend at the TT Assen. With Maverick Vinales finishing the sprint in P3 and the race in P5, it was strong showing from his side of the garage.

He was in P2 in friday’s practice and FP2 on saturday, less than a tenth away from P1 at both occasions. Come the end of qualifying, he was p3 by just 4 tenths. At the sprint start, Vinales lost P3 to Alex Marquez but managed to move back past him come the end of lap 2.

On the other side of the garage, it was not a happy place. Aleix Espargaro had to withdraw from the warm up and the race on sunday . He had crashed in the sprint on Saturday. Their test rider, Lorenzo Savadori also suffered small vertebrae lumbar fractures in sprint. He was declared unfit for the race on sunday.

New engine for Yamaha debuts at TT Assen

At the Dutch GP, we got to see what Yamaha had been working on behind the scenes.

At the start of the year, Yamaha brought about a new engine. It gave it’s riders more power to use, but also took away the bike nimbleness. This upgrade at Dutch GP was meant to solve exactly that.

At the end of the friday practice, Quartararo had mixed reaction to his bike. He exclaimed that the bike is now better in slow corners but the fast corners remain the same.

This new engine comes in at a time when Prima PRAMAC Racing has announced to Yamaha machinery from 2025.

Fabio Quartararo had an overall good weekend. He finished in the points in P7 in the sprint from a P13 start. In the race however, he could only manage a P12 finish.

Alex Rins on the other hand, had a disasterous end to his weekend. He had a major highside on lap 1 turn 1 in the race and was taken into the medical centre.

Rins has had severe bruises in his right hand and fractures in his right foot. He has been taken to Madrid for further examination. His participation in German GP is yet to be confirmed.

Championship Standings

After the Dutch GP, here is how the championship looks like:

The next Moto GP race weekend takes place in Sachsenring from 5 July to 7 July.

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Moto GP returns to us fans after a long wait of a month, and it does so in the form of Motul TT Assen. With a ton of rider announcements still left and a championship to win, there is a lot for us fans to look forward to.

Bombshell announcements

Perhaps the biggest talking point from the month-long break is the sheer amount of surprise driver transfers. The first domino to fall in this series was the transfer of Jorge Martin to Aprilia Racing in 2025, replacing the outgoing Aleix Espargo.

This transfer paved the way for the other frontrunner of that coveted factory Ducati seat, Marc Marquez. Marquez signed with Ducati Lenovo team on a two-year deal that will see him race for the Italian outfit for at least 2026.

Elsewhere, it was KTM that took the headlines by storm. They have announced Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales as riders of the satellite Red Bull KTM Tech3 team.

The final piece that came in the spring break was the transfer of Marco Bezzecchi from a Ducati bike to Aprilia Racing where he will paired with Jorge Martin.

With 7 teams still left to announce their lineups, the driver market will be interesting to watch.

Bagnaia’s strong suit

The Assen circuit has been a favourite among many riders. But the rider that has won the last two races held at this circuit is Francesco Bagnaia. The only other rider that managed consecutive wins at the Cathedral of Speed was Valentino Rossi (2004, 2005). With Marc Marquez recently announced as his teammate for 2025, he would be looking forward to making a strong point for himself.

Elsewhere, Jorge Martin still leads the rider’s championship over Bagnaia by 17 points. He, however, is yet to taste the champagne at this track. He would be hoping to change this fact and further extend his championship lead.

Sitting in P3 and firmly in contention is Marc Marquez. He too, like Pecco, has won at this venue in Moto GP two times previously. His 2024 season has been one for the books so far and he too would be looking forward to getting that first win with a Ducati. If Marc Marquez manages to come atop the podium come Sunday, it would mark a gap of 980 days between his wins, with his last win being in 2021 at Emilia Romagna GP.

Aprilia magic

Aprilia has started the second part of the season with the strong signings of Marco Bezecchi and Jorge Martin. However, their current rostrum is no slouch either. Last year’s TT Assen saw Aleix Esparago finish in P3 in the race and P4 in the sprint.

On the other side of the garage is another Assen master. Maverick Vinales has had a win in 2019 and podiums in 2018, 2021 and 2022. With his 2024 form looking good, can he add another Assen win to his bag?

KTM’s updates in first racing action?

The manufacturer that gathered the most eyeballs in the Mugello testing held at the beginning of the month was KTM. They had introduced a new design of side fairing, a similar one to the Jerez test.

This update helped the Austrian outfit to top the timesheets at the Mugello test with Brad Binder. However, it being a wet session, didn’t mean as much. The Motul TT Assen could be the first racing opportunity that KTM will get to test their bikes.

With Jack Miller, race winner here in 2016, effectively without a seat in 2025, he would be looking for a good performance to come under the radar of other Teams.

However, whether they decide to introduce these upgrades at this race is yet to be seen.

Yamaha’s private testing

The team heading to the Netherlands with the highest aspiration would be the Japanese outfit Yamaha. Yamaha had an extra testing opportunity at the Valencia track after the Mugello testing. They had greatly appreciated this chance since the Mugello test was interrupted due to rain.

Fabio Quartaro has won here in the past, in 2021. But the last two TT Assen have not been good for him as he retired from both. His pace, however, has been there. He grabbed a sprint podium last time around and qualified P4 for the race. His teammate Alex Rins, an effective free agent for 2025, would be looking to impress the Yamaha bosses with his performance.

Whether or not this testing has had any positive impact on the team’s condition will be a thing to witness.

The Track

TT Assen is the longest-serving track on the MotoGP calendar. Moto GP has raced here at its every rendition barring 2020. A rider and fan favorite, this track is known for its amazing atmosphere.

Weekend Schedule and Where to Watch

You can watch all the action live on Eurosport (TV Broadcast) and Jio Cinema (Digital streaming). The full schedule in IST is given below:

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It’s official, Marc Marquez will be a Factory Ducati rider from 2026. Ducati in a press release announced that an agreement with Marc Márquez has been reached for the next two years.

The Spanish rider is currently riding a year-old Ducati for the Gresini Racing MotoGP team. Even with a year-old bike, Marc is currently 3rd in the championship, only behind Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, both of which are riding the latest spec Ducati.

Marc Marquez replaces outgoing Enea Bastianini who is rumoured to join Tech 3 on a factory KTM bike for 2025.

Marc Márquez:
“I am very happy to be able to wear the red colours of the factory Ducati team in MotoGP next season. Basically, from the first contact with the Desmosedici GP, I enjoyed riding it and adapted well straight away. From that moment on, I knew that my goal was to continue this path, to continue to grow, and to move to the team where Pecco Bagnaia has been the World Champion for two years in a row. I am happy to be able to take this big step in 2025 and grateful for the trust Ducati has placed in me. Finally, I want to thank Nadia, Carlo, Michele, and the entire Gresini Racing family for opening the door of their team to me at a delicate time in my career. Now, we will continue to have fun and give it our all in what remains of the current season, which is my priority right now.”

Luigi Dall’Igna (General Manager of Ducati Corse):
“First of all, I want to thank both Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martín for all their work with us over the last few years, and I wish them all the best for the future. This season, they have shown they have reached an incredible level, and we are sure they will be in the Title fight until the end. Deciding on Bagnaia’s new teammate in the Ducati Lenovo Team was not easy, as we had a list of very strong riders to choose from. In the end, our choice fell on an unquestionable talent like Marc Márquez. In just a few races, he has managed to adapt perfectly to our Desmosedici GP, and his innate ambition pushes him to grow continuously. In the box, we will have two riders who together hold 11 World Titles, and being able to count on their experience and maturity will be invaluable for our growth as well.”