Maverick Viñales took the first win for Yamaha this year in Assen, pulling away from a battle with points leader Marc Marquez (Honda), who finished in second position. From pole position, rookie Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) battled at the front early in the race, and led several laps, before falling off the pace and finishing in third position.
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) started from 14th position but quickly found a good rhythm and was moving through the pack when he low-sided and took Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) down with him early in the race. Both Rossi and Nakagami appeared to be unhurt, but did not rejoin the race.
Marquez continues to enjoy a large points lead in the championship. Follow this link to full race results. For additional details and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
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As a Lorenzo fan, it’s been a few rough years. As a racing fan, this has been a great year. While Marc is clearly the class of the field, there are a bunch of bright spots all over the place. Mav seems to be getting back into form. Fabio shows lots of promise. Rins is making the Suzuki a contender. Dovi and Danilo have their moments on the Ducati. Rossi still brings in the fans and impresses with his dedication to racing.
Further down the list are a bunch of very talented riders and racers on terrific bikes, even if the may not be in championship or podium contention. I keep cheering for Tito & Miguel, even though they are struggling.
I still believe that a healthy Lorenzo will figure out the Honda and give Marquez a run for his money.
Looking for excellent races through the end of the year.
Rossi is not slipping its is just due to the fact He is not competing with Sete , Max , Nicky, Melandri, Loris, Barros, Ukawa, Checos, Nakano,Tamada,Edwards, ect. Very good rider with lucky timing.
People say that about every singularly dominant athlete in every sport. Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Usain Bolt, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Tom Brady, etc. It comes with the territory.
How would #93 do against a Repsol Honda-era Valentino Rossi, when #46 was at his peak? How would he do against a peak Mick Doohan on the top Honda of his era?
No one knows. What we do know is that no one has ever been as good at his age as Valentino is right now, and has been over the past half decade, and we also know that no matter how badly #46 struggles, more often than not he still manages to end each season as the top points scorer for his factory and team. It was true last year, too, as well as the year before, and the year before that, and he led the series in 2015 the entire season, until that final b.s. race in Valencia.
Right now he is mired in an historically bad patch of misfortune, with three straight DNFs, but were it not for an inch or two of green paint at the exit of the final chicane in Holland Valentino’s blistering run in P3 would have secured his place into Q2, and the entire weekend likely turns out quite differently.
This, after being taken out early on in Barcelona by #99. Right now, Valentino simply has buzzard’s luck. Race long enough, it will eventually happen to everyone.
Except, that race crashes and missed races as seasons wear on are becoming trends for the older Rossi. He crashed twice at the end of last year. He didn’t stand on the podium after the tenth race of last year. He went from winning, to riding for consistency, to now struggling for consistency. He is becoming a frequent flier in P1 as well as his crashing in five of the last ten races. The fan eye-test and actual results both show that he is an extremely savvy great that is going through the expected rhythm of getting older.
I don’t disagree that Rossi is getting older and a bit slower. My response to Todd mostly had to with his contention that Rossi’s dominance was the result of beating relatively poor competition, as if Rossi was Giacomo Agostini, or something.
I was also pointing out that even as Rossi has aged, he has still managed to be the top Yamaha rider nearly every year.
Nearly every year? Perhaps not.
2010 Lorenzo 383pts Rossi 233
2011 Lorenzo 260prs Rossi 139 (Ducati)
2012 Lorenzo 350pts Rossi 163 (Ducati)
2013 Lorenzo 330pts Rossi 237
2014 Rossi 295pts Lorenzo 263
2015 Lorenzo 330pts Rossi 325
2016 Rossi 249pts Lorenzo 233
2017 Vinales 230pts Rossi 208
2018 Rossi 198pts Vinales 193
Rossi was top dog (vs Yamaha) 3 times in 9 years, and only one of those by a significant margin. 3 of 7 if you toss the Ducati years. Not even close to “nearly every year”.
No championships since 2009. His competitiveness is impressive, but not his sportsmanship. It’s amazing that he still runs in the top group, but his dominance in the sport has been over for a long time.
Yea Agostini was a real slacker. Sure he raced against some chumps, and he was riding a superior bike most of the time, but he also raced and beat Mike Hailwood, Jim Redman, Johnny Cecotto, Barry Sheene, Jarno Saarinen, Phil Read, riding largely equal bikes, and most times winning the 350cc race and the 500cc race on the same day.
He won 10 IOM TT’s
He won 7 Ulster Grand Prixs
and won the 1974 Daytona 200 riding first time for Yamaha on a two stroke beating Yvon Duhamel, Kenny Roberts, Gary Nixon and Gene Romero to name a few.
The point is that Rossi seems to be slipping back this year more than any other time. No one doubts his legacy.
Have you forgotten his years @ Ducati? He’s in a pretty rough patch lately (3x DNF’s in a row!) but had two second place finishes just prior, which is as well as he’s done the past couple years. He should naturally be in decline, but I’m not ready to write him off yet.
The only year sine 2010 where Rossi has had much success after Assen was 2016, when he posted four 2nd’s without a win. The best Yamaha tracks have mostly been already run, and a long hot summer grinds ahead with travels to Asia and Australia. Rossi hasn’t posted a win after Assen since a single one in 2015. This year he doesn’t leave Assen in first, second, or third. Trends don’t show him getting stronger and maybe not even holding pat.
Me neither…but the odds are getting longer. Right now he just seems lost, esp as other Yamahas aren’t. This track proved to be theirs….
I don’t know about that. Rossi has found it on Sunday many times when the other Yamahas seemed “lost” themselves.
The “Sunday finds” are managing enough consistency (2-5 finishes) to stay a really far back 2-3 place for the year. Nicky is the only rider in decades to win a championship with consistency over winning. The point structure rewards being able to win several races while limiting DNF’s.
Rossi is quite a few years past being able to win the high side of several races. The Yamaha may not be the dominant machine that it was, but how much ownership does Rossi have in this? It’s a matter of opinion, but I think it’s quite a bit. He has the power to insert himself and preferences quite a bit. It’s clear that he and Maverick are on different planes with their preferences.
I was surprised at amount of headshake on Fabio’s bike. He had to get out of the throttle a number of times to make it stop. His recent surgery on his right forearm must have been painful as he put ice on it in immediately after the race.
Rossi is now in fifth and 88 points out of the lead. Father Time is not kind to the reflexes of those north of 40 years old.
Father time is not kind to the reflexes of those north of 30 years old, but Vale persists. There are guys barely more than half his age in MotoGP who would give anything to ride as well as he does.
Felt bad for Rins and Alex Marquez.