At Assen earlier today, Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia bounced back from a spate of recent DNFs with a convincing win. On the podium with Bagnaia were two somewhat unexpected riders, including rookie Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati), earning his first podium in the premier class, and Maverick Vinales, earning his first podium after moving to the Aprilia factory team.
Championship points leader Fabio Quartararo attempted to move into second position behind Bagnaia early in the race, but he crashed and knocked Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) into the gravel. Espargaro kept his bike upright, however, and joined the race near the back of the field before putting on an impressive ride to finish fourth.
Quartararo picked up his bike and circulated the track rather slowly before entering the pits, and then rejoined the race only to crash again before retiring. Quartararo stated after the race that he was unhurt except for a sore shoulder.
Quartararo remains the championship points leader, but now has a smaller 21 point lead over second place Aleix Espargaro. For full results of today’s race, take a look here. You can find additional details on the MotoGP site. The MotoGP series takes its summer break now before racing resumes at Silverstone in early August.
That was a very impressive run through the pack from AE for sure. I couldn’t stop looking at that big honkin Dutch June bug splattered on Peccos windscreen!
Maybe I don’t understand the politics but it sure seems like KTM gets very little love from the commentators during the races.
How much love do you expect the commentators to give them during the race when the KTMs are rarely anywhere near the front? More often than not, the only interesting KTM story during any given race is Binder’s usual charge from mid-pack at the start of the race to the top six or so by the checkered flag. Oliveira is generally nowhere to be found, and Gardner and Fernandez have basically been MIA the entire season.
What do you mean? Binder usually gets some praise because he often earns it on a Sunday. The other guys get as much talk as one deserves fighting for P18, which is about as much talk as the satellite Yamaha squad and Bradl get. When you are routinely nowhere, you don’t routinely get talked up.
Binder aside, I totally understand why the only breaths wasted on KTM often start with something like, “Poor Remy Gardner…”
Congratulations to Bagnaia. He deserves it and is a phenomenal rider.
I find it weird that the official MotoGP site and most of the press are playing him up so much. He is still in fourth place and behind the lead by a good amount. Anything can happen of course, but my money is in Fabio for the championship.
Is there anyone not openly or secretly willing Aleix to take the crown this year? Gotta be impressed with the guy. I thought it was laughable last year when he proclaimed that he was one of the three fastest guy in the grid. Now here he is 2nd in the championship, racing from P15 after almost getting scuttled to P4 by the end of the race.
Solid rides by Pecco and Bez. It looks like Mav is starting to get his Aprilia dialed. Also impressive efforts from Miller, pulling another great ride despite having to serve a long lap. And props to Binder as well.
If it weren’t for the RXV/MXV bikes being Gen 1 and done I’d be all over that. But instead I’ll be angry with Aprilia for ever and ever amen… Unless Gen 2 arrives, late. Then some if not all will be forgiven.
Would I like to see Aleix the guy and an unusual company win the championship. Yeah, sure. Though Q is doing a pretty good job of rubbing people’s noses in their Yamaha’s are slow comments. I kind of get a kick out of that. Q deciding to watch this race from the kitty litter after failing to take his rival out is also quality humor. Maybe the math that says that both of them chillin’in the litter would only make the guy in third closer to both of them didn’t occur to him.
I don’t see the sense in being angry with Aprilia for discontinuing a line of bikes that failed in the marketplace. The XV line was a brave experiment, but not enough people appreciated what they had to offer. I think perhaps those bikes were just a little too far ahead of their time. Had they come out in 2017 or so, I believe those machines might have found a profitable following.
Agreed. A true shame that those bikes were banned from competing with like displacement bikes. The other manufacturer’s saved themselves many years of embarrassment by just collectively calling for their immediate ban from competition. Many bikes and brands have had lingering teething problems after coming to market, Aprilia certainly wasn’t immune to that with these little beasts. That being said, my own SXV550 remains the most raw machine Ive ever ridden. It was either on the rear tire with a crack of the throttle or on the front tire with the front brake, very little in between.
I was briefly excited at the possibility of a cross between Roland Sands’ MX > road racer conversions and an XV. I think someone actually did one. When you run the numbers you basically wind up with a lighter SV650 with the maintenance needs of a race bike. I can see why it (and the japanese based versions) didn’t really catch on.
I’m not sure there would have ever been a market, in the US especially, for the super moto version. Eluding to what you said, I think the tarmac market has proven out that that it will only pay premiums for light weight so long as it doesn’t come at the expense of durability and longevity.
I believe the dual sport could have carved a piece of the market, though. While I know their popularity is dependent on geography, the street legal enduro race bikes have been big sellers for the KTM brands and Beta. I guess dirt riders are already acclimated to frequent maintenance, and light weight goes a long way when the pavement ends.
As a SuperMoto, I think they missed the window. The 3 KTM flavors seem to get at least a little bit of attention. I don’t know how well that kind of bikes actually sells.
The Roland Sands thing was meant to help club level road racing grow. Used donor MX bikes were supposed to be cheap and durable enough and the bikes should’ve made smaller tracks more interesting. On the durability, I’m guessing those 450 singles don’t hold up as long when run at the top of their rev range all the time. Still seemed like a neat idea. Maybe Supermoto was already answering that need.
Put me down in the “openly” column”. Last week I thought this would be the year that FQ “got it out of his system” (self-sabotage) but here we are again. He’s got a month to get his head straight.
I think Alex can do it if he keeps upright and maintains the pace he’s been showing. FQ will have another bad race or two.
Also agree that it’s nice to see so many different riders fighting for the podium. This is not your Father’s MotoGP.
I personally am not of the opinion that Quartararo has anything to get out of his system. I believe him to be the most talented rider on the grid right now. That said, there are some upcoming tracks that haven’t traditionally been very friendly to the Yamaha. It is possible for Aleix to win it, but I still think it is a long shot, or at least not a particularly easy shot. But yeah, I’m in the “openly” category, too. I’d love to see him win this.
Come on Del. It’s a race. You put your head down and your go. The quality of theTV show couldn’t be further from their minds.
What I really get a kick out of is that Q did a Sena on Aleix and Aleix had none of it, Sweet! I’ll watch a highlight reel just to see that. Don’t hold my beer because I’ll be swillin’ it while I watch this. Bring it Aleix! LOL
It was a good race, definitely more entertaining than any other so far this season. But once again, I was disappointed that there was no real racing going on for P1. First season I can recall that there hasn’t been any P1 racing in any of first 11 races.
Just because Bezzachi wasn’t swapping paint with Bagnaia doesn’t mean they weren’t racing for it. They were swapping tenth’s of a second the entire race. Several of this season’s races have been the same. This is what racing at the highest level looks like.
If Fabio hadn’t lost his patience we might’ve seen him pass for the lead.