Drama unfolded at Assen yesterday as Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi battled with Honda’s Marc Marquez to the very end of the race, with Marquez attempting a dramatic pass in the final chicane. With Rossi leading, Marquez dove inside aggressively as they entered the first right hand kink of the chicane, the riders touched, and Rossi was pushed wide. Rather than finish the turn, Rossi rode straight through the gravel and wheelied across the finish line more than a second clear of Marquez. Race Direction reviewed the incident from all angles available on video and concluded that Rossi had been forced wide, and could retain the win.
Behind the first two finishers a significant gap was created to third place Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), who had his four-race win streak broken.
Rossi extends his points lead over Lorenzo to ten. For additional details, results and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
| 1 | 25 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 173.2 | 40’54.037 |
| 2 | 20 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 173.1 | +1.242 |
| 3 | 16 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 172.2 | +14.576 |
| 4 | 13 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Ducati Team | Ducati | 171.8 | +19.109 |
| 5 | 11 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 171.5 | +24.268 |
| 6 | 10 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | CWM LCR Honda | Honda | 171.5 | +24.373 |
| 7 | 9 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 171.5 | +24.442 |
| 8 | 8 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 171.5 | +24.656 |
| 9 | 7 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 171.3 | +26.725 |
| 10 | 6 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 171.3 | +27.238 |
| 11 | 5 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 171.2 | +29.038 |
| 12 | 4 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | Ducati | 171.1 | +29.418 |
| 13 | 3 | 45 | Scott REDDING | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 170.0 | +46.663 |
| 14 | 2 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 169.8 | +49.305 |
| 15 | 1 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Athinà Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 169.6 | +52.396 |
| 16 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | Aspar MotoGP Team | Honda | 169.3 | +56.005 | |
| 17 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 169.1 | +59.857 | |
| 18 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 168.1 | +1’14.513 | |
| 19 | 33 | Marco MELANDRI | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 165.8 | 1 Lap |
Marco Simoncelli, ring a bell? MotoGP didn’t have a problem telling him not to act like a fool. Hopefully they will sit young Marc down and have talk / history lesson with him.
i miss the days when Stoner would walk into Rossi’s paddock and ask him what his problem was, to which Stoner would reply that he ran out of talent….ah those were the days
I believe Stoner’s comment to Rossi was that his ambition exceeded his talent. Cold!
indeed, maybe MM will reincarnate some of Stoner’s attitude here soon
And Stoner is where now? Hmmmmm
“Cold!”
Perhaps “bold” is more appropriate to level that snark at a 9-time world champeen.
I’m all for bitter rivalries and hard, unapologetic passes but what Marquez pulled Saturday was out of bounds – literally. Whatever his intentions were he way overcooked that corner. I’m amazed at how often he gets away with it but if he doesn’t change his ways the Big One is going to happen. I just pray he doesn’t jack up somebody else.
I could understand why a lot of people want to see MM penalized for his inside dive on Rossi but I don’t believe that this incident warrants any action at all. They touched…barely. Big deal. Nobody crashed and the order did not change. The three top riders can be aggressive at times and that’s usually a good thing.
MM has had at least 3 run-ins this year alone. First race cuts Bautista’s rear brake line charging from the back. Then the run in with Rossi where MM took himself out. Now this last weekend where he sent Rossi to play beach blanket bingo.
Too many times in one year.
I missed the race yesterday, dammit.
But I’ve been reviewing video of that pass attempt by MM and it looks to me like he really barged it in there, and just about tucked the front end under braking before Rossi asserted his right to the racing line. MM really misjudged and was on the verge of losing control when he and Rossi came together.
It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. MM’s style is going to eventually get somebody piled up.
Yamaha had a new frame that both riders opted for but apparently Rossi had a lot more time on it. Why did JLo opt for the change if he had little time testing it? I heard that Bridgestone didn’t supply the same tire (composition) that JLo had won his last four races on. Has anyone any info about the tire situation?
As I watched Rossi crawl away from JLo, I wondered if there weren’t “team orders” of some sort or another. I know it sounds ignorant but JLo did just seemed out of the picture.
I doubt seriously if there were any team orders. Some days riders have it, some days they don’t. Jlo still got an uncontested 3rd, and valuable points. Yamaha officials have to be pleased as punch with all these double podiums and the points leading riders.
Awesome race by Rossi, Marquez tried hard but was bitten by his desperate attempt to pass too aggressively to the point of almost crashing with Rossi.
Why do riders get the leg out (like if they were about to touch the ground, like in supermoto style) before entering a curve?
never mind, das internet says it’s style… Rossi’s Style and doesn’t add anything (only theory that makes some sense is that allows him to extend his legs to alleviate discomfort).
had read something years ago that Rossi believes it helps weight the front end before going into a turn. I always thought he did it to block other riders so they wouldn’t come up the inside, because it’s always the inside turn leg, at any rate Rossi is so good that other riders copy it whether it works or not.
I remember first seeing Rossi do that back in 2005 at Jerez, I believe, when he ran it up the inside of Gibbers at the left-hand final corner.
At the time, I thought it was because he wasn’t hanging off the bike in normal fashion during that particular corner, but then I started seeing it more from Rossi who claimed it helped with his balance entering corners on the brakes.
Eventually, it started what seemed like a fad.
“…Rossi…claimed it helped with his balance entering corners on the brakes….” I have done the same thing, and noticed the same effect. It also occurs to me that the wind sail effect could possibly help slow the bike when decelerating.
Rossi is among the tallest pro racers at 6′. Rossi also tends to extend his height when decelerating. I suppose it could help brace the arms to prevent coming over the bars. But I also feel the wind sail effect could possibly aid braking and deceleration. The taller is the rider the greater is this effect. If I little 5-6 racer does you barely notice the difference. When Rossi does it it’s much more noticeable.
All of this stuff above must be balanced against the need for smoothness entering and exiting corners.
anyone else wonder why Rossi never suffers from arm pump?? serious question.
hes the oldest rider in the group and ive never heard of him having to deal with it
when in doubt, motocross it out.
Ya’ll need to watch more moto3 races. That happens every lap. Final lap, final corner, just like the NBA, let them play.
Yes, that’s a great point, and I noticed how much tighter was the general grouping in Moto3. OTOH, how much lighter are the bikes, and how much slower are speeds vs. MotoGP? IOW, contact at speed in MotoGP seems inherently more dangerous.
Viewed at the track, the MotoGP bikes are almost monster like in their presentation. The sound of the motors and the vibrations in the chest from the exhaust intensity at the start are nothing short of stupendous. And yet, they handle so good it’s almost more than the brain can process.
Gotta make it to Austin again next year. For guys who watched MotoGP races in person at both Austin and Indy, how do you compare the overall experiences?
I went to Indy last year. Although the atmosphere is great I prefer watching it on TV rather than in person. You miss so much being there in person as you can only see a fraction of the track you only get to see riders for 20 secs out of a 2 minute lap. The bikes are incredibly loud…and they are traveling so fast it’s hard to identify riders who aren’t the first 3 or 4.
If you had been sitting in the wrong spot at Assen you would have never seen the bump and ride thru the gravel, and you certainly would not have seen it in slo mo and close up.
Maybe go to the race for the atmosphere of it, but DVR it so you can actually watch the race.
They BOTH have a history of questionable riding.They are both so competitive it makes for great drama. Certainly more entertaining than say Auto racing…
The race was fantastic. All three races were fantastic. I was so worked up after watching them late last night that I could even sleep.
I don’t consider the move to be reckless like a lot if others do. Rossi left the door open for a second, Marquez came in, and Rossi shut it down immediately. Contact was made. If the positions were reversed, Rossi would have done just as Marquez, and Marquez would have done just as Rossi. Heck, we’ve seen Rossi do just that many times in the past.
I think that both riders came out on their wheels make it seem more forgivable. If Rossi had lost or worse yet, gone down, I think people would’ve seen it differently.
I don’t believe Marquez was deliberately trying to punt Rossi, you could see he barely held it up himself.
Correction: VR’s first “500cc GP” win. He won 250cc prior.
No “…another boring MotoGP…I’d rather watch paint dry…” comments for this race.
What form of blackmail and/or coercion does Repsol Honda employ to prevent Dorna from penalizing MM? Pictures of Dorna’s President in a compromised situation, possibly?
This morning I happened to watch the first GP race in which Rossi won, 2000 at Great Britain (Roberts Jr. #2…Roberts was World Champion that year).
It’s interesting to note that Rossi is 6′ tall (and a mere 147 lbs per Wiki IIRC). During breaking, I noticed in the GB race that Rossi maximally increased upper body height, and maximally splayed his leg on the side of the approaching corner, apparently to act as wind catch to increase breaking force.
Rossi might weigh a few lbs more than his primary combatants. I wonder if extra breaking force provided by his wind sail technique equalizes what might be a breaking advantage for lighter racers. Also, I wonder if Rossi’s weight is related to what is typically a slower start at the beginning of races.
MM looks more jockey sized than VR.
Well, in this particular case, MM got to watch VR turn around to give him a “thanks, bro” look and then wheelie across the finish line a second ahead of him. So that might be penalty enough.
“What form of blackmail and/or coercion does Repsol Honda employ to prevent Dorna from penalizing MM? Pictures of Dorna’s President in a compromised situation, possibly?”
Spanish oil company with the “best” Spanish rider and Dorna is a Spanish organization as well? Only thing saving Rossi from a false penalty is that he himself is bigger than motorcycle racing as a whole.
Glad to see someone starting to put MM in his place. He is the young face of MotoGP but he’s not “the” face of MotoGP. That is Rossi and it will be until he retires.
MM was never in the lead going into the chicane, not in the lead during the contact with VR, not in the lead through the chicane.
Looks to me, MM simply had too much speed going into the chicane, if not for the contact with VR, MM would have gone down or gone wide in the chicane or gravel.
Exactly. There was no way Mark makes that corner, not without hitting Rossi or running through the gravel.
Certainly an interesting end. On your couch it’s easy to say Val should have done this or that, but at speed you have to make instantaneous decisions. His was to go straight after getting bumped to the outside. To me it was his only move, and it worked out brilliantly. If that had been a right hand turn following instead of a left, he’d have been out of the race and Marquez would have won. Btw both mm and Val left the course after the bump, mm went into the grass also outside the turn, and neither gained position so MM has no gripe. Both have done it many times, the cork screw at Laguna Seca for both comes to mind, a week or two ago for Marquez when he went wide on the start and came back on the course and kept going. I think calling it a ram is a bit much, but it certainly was a bump. People love that in Moto 2 and Moto 3, and call it exciting racing.
Regardless those two set a pace that had Lorenzo wondering where everybody went lol.
Congrats to Val and looking forward to Germany.
Bottom line, MotoGP is NOT a contact sport and MM needs to be penalized! So far, in 2015, we have seen too many close calls between him and other riders! Going above 150MPH is a very risky business when you act like him! In racing there are 3 types of riders: slow starters fast finishers, fast starters slow finishers and the very few fast all the time. In reality a real champion can go through all three fases depending on racing conditions. MM is proving more and more that he can not handle the pressure of coming from behind.
I agree, he is extremely reckless and needs to grow up. He was so mature before his incident, but the brat wants to win at all cost – and it does not matter if he takes somebody with him. I just hope that he does not cause the death of somebody.
Bottom line, MotoGP is NOT a contact sport and MM needs to be penalized! So far, in 2015, we have seen too many close calls between him and other riders! Going above 150MPH is a very risky business when you act like him!
Can MM make a pass without crashing into someone? Time to start handing out penalties for his bone headed, over aggressive moves.
MM is out of control. He’s going to get someone killed or crippled one of these days. I get that some think it’s just racing, but it’s not when you kamikaze someone and hope it works out. He needs a serious penalty and maybe he’ll develop some more racing strategy and utilize the great skills he has.
Was I the only one standing there wondering what the heck just happened? That was some crazy ending. I didn’t know if there was going to be some protest and MM would get the win. The race to the computer to see official results some hours later confirmed it was as we saw. OK! Great!
Now back to Rossi’s dirt bike training as he lifted the front wheel to help clear the gravel he was about to hit. Brilliant!!!!!
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2015/06/27/marquez-i-didn-t-think-he-d-cut-the-corner/178954
“I was quiet and calm during the race and studied Rossi a lot, learning when I could overtake him and attack. I made a mistake with three laps to go, but I made it back. The whole race I focused on studying the last chicane perfectly, I knew where to put the bike to limit his space but I didn’t think he’d cut the corner. In the end I feel we won the race, but five points don’t really matter for me.” – MM
What a bunch of crap. Marquez doesn’t even make that corner without using Rossi as a bumper rail to keep his own bike on the track. He overshot that corner, big time. Meanwhile, Rossi took the correct inside line and beat Mark to the spot. Rossi was turning, as the corner demanded. Marquez was still going nearly straight.
Watch the video, Mark. You hit Rossi, again. You forced him off the track. He beat you into the chicane, and there was no beating him to the checkers on the exit. He beat you fair and square. Well, Valentino played it fair and square, anyway. You didn’t. Rather than concede the spot to which Rossi arrived at first, you rammed into him.
Bottom line, no, you didn’t win the race. You lost, poorly, and rather than accept defeat either on the track, in your mind, or to the media, you pull this garbage. Show some class, kid.
As for this…
“I learnt some motocross from Rossi today!”
Errr…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-FD76BwB08
Look familiar? Oh, and btw, notice what Rossi did after the race? He came over and gave you an enthusiastic hug. He congratulated you, as a proper sportsman would. He didn’t pout to the media that he really won the race.
It’s easy to be gracious in victory. Showing that same grace in defeat is a lesson you need to learn. It’s time for you to grow up.
Oh, and while you’re at it, stop ramming people every time you find yourself behind them!
Great comment all around, love the “Oh and while you’re at it” bit too!
+1
There’a reason Rossi is a fan favorite.
Harquez will be proud of himself when he replays Rossi’s move in a future Assen contest, just as he was when he imitated the master at Laguna.
I agree. MM was off the track on the left hander. Where id he expect Rossi to go? Was he to stop, let MM through then continue?
I’m a big Rossi fan and think it was just a racing incident,but you cut the chicane than you should be relegated to second place. The fact that it was Rossi probably played a part..
Uh, after Marc Jackass knocked him off line and across the beach? WHAT?
I many series, if you cut the track for safety purposes, then you must give back any positions earned during the maneuver. The way I see it is that MM pushed him out there, while he was 1st. No position to give back.
Wow…I guess missed the part where Rossi just decided to cut the chicane for no reason (other than to cheat)…
Also, Marquez didn’t stay on the track either. He too cut the corner and went through a portion of the gravel. There is no way to penalize Rossi, not without levying the same penalty on Marquez, and because Marquez clearly forced Rossi off the track the Honda camp has no argument.
you can also look at it in the context of the famous last lap/last corner contacts at Jerez. whereas Assen is a right hander that switches back left prior to the finish line, Jerez is a continuous left. a block pass in Spain robs the OTHER guy of momentum, the block pass in the Netherlands robs YOURSELF of momentum. again, keeping in mind the winner is he who crosses the line first.
Take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning.
– the Doctor
heh heh I have never been a racing fan but all this is getting me stirred up!
Great race. I haven’t watched any replays from different angles but looks to me like once again MM coming from too far back in a do or die manoeuvre. The only thing different to occasions where he’s wiped out other riders is that Rossi was lucky and skilled enough to stay on.
Doesn’t look like Rossi had any chance of avoiding him without running off the track. Or am I misreading this?
Awesome race though and great to see rossi stick it to him.
Your impressions were my first thought, but on reviewing some of the aerial footage it really seems to me that Rossi actually was waiting on Marquez to do this as an “excuse” to use the off-track short cut to win the race.
That’s just silly. Rossi had no way of knowing whether that gravel was so deep that he wouldn’t make it through.
Rossi was on his line and simply beat Mark to the spot, again, and Mark simply tried to bulldoze his way into an occupied spot, again, and he ended up hitting Rossi, again. The only difference is this time no one went down as a result of Mark’s recklessness.
I’m not denying it was a make-or-break move by Marquez, but I do think Rossi played this shortcut route in his back pocket. Remember Hayden’s similar track through the gravel in his win over Edward’s at Assen 2006. If you look at the aerial footage you can see Rossi straighten right up and go gravel without a moment’s hesitation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hci4Zp636SI
Watching that overhead view, how are you not noticing that Marquez’s line entering the chicane gave him no chance of making that corner, not without using Rossi as a bumper to keep his own bike on the track. If Rossi isn’t there, Marquez runs straight through to the gravel.
In fact, that’s exactly what Marquez probably intended to do. He entered that corner on such a straight line that his only option of making it would have been to cut through the gravel. Just one problem, though. Rossi was in his way, and by hitting Rossi he forced him off the track and into the gravel. Rossi’s arc entering the chicance clearly shows his intent to hold the inside line through both kinks of the chicane.
Marquez is just pissed because he forced Rossi into doing what his own line said he was obviously planning on doing himself.
excellent video!! thanks!
btw, extremely risky on both sides as MM also went through the grass.
Sorry, but I don’t buy it. I don’t care how much dirt bike experience you have, that’s an awfully risky maneuver just to save 5 points in the championship (especially less than halfway through the season). 100+ mph through a gravel trap that could be several inches deep, on racing slicks, after jumping a curb…?
C’mon.
I tend to agree. When MM was entering the turn there was plenty of room between them, even if MM wasn’t in the lead. Rossi closed in and made minimal contact – rode straight through the chicane – and made it all look good.
Reminds me of soccer players taking a dive.
Nonsense. He was bumped/stood up. There was no choice but to ride straight through the gravel and hope it came out ok. You can see that Marquez used up all of the pavement himself, that would leave Rossi trying to corner on grass/turn. Not happening.
If it was a move on purpose (I do not think so), and legality aside, it’s an infinite showing of cold blood, self confidence and skill, because nobody can guess what can happen crossing the gravel.
The spaniard has had too much luck in his aggressive way of fighting a position, and now that he’s not winning he’s showing his bad loser attitudes
If Marquez had succeeded in taking out Rossi then and costing him the win, I would have liked to watch what happened next. For a little guy Marquez sure sets away with a lot of over aggressive maneuvers.
Except that he’s one of the best riders in the world and I’d have a bad time imagining he wasn’t aware of the depth of the gravel. He also has incredible electronics making the bike both stable and able to pop a regulated wheelie quite easily.
re: “he’s one of the best riders in the world and I’d have a bad time imagining he wasn’t aware of the depth of the gravel.”
the gravel at Assen is precisely the same depth of the sand found on the beach at Pesaro/Urbino.
Fully agreed. How many times does MM have to do this before he actually gets a damn penalty?
Agreed. From what I can recall this is his third “get out of jail free card” this season.
I’m going to allow it. it’s the Ramshoek at Assen. the sight of of million classic over/under pass attempts. rewind back and you’ll see crutchers add to his highlight real with a massive wheel wiggling, leg dangling divebomb on dovi.
a, reel.
Proper race this. Moral victory my ass, Marc. You’d have done the same thing if you were in Vale’s position. Did you just expect him to leave a gap for you and say “after you”?
Still, the way he hauled back that half second gap on that last lap was impressive. Was on the ragged edge, bike squirming about, his feet slipping off the pegs, etc.
Also a great battle for fifth.
A little bit of recklessness by MM and a little bit of an inspired response by VR.
I loved watching it!
In fact i like Vale.
The problem is that Lorenzo has a style.