MotoGP Assen: Francesco Bagnaia wins as Fabio Quartararo crashes into Aleix Espargaro, then crashes again!

Francesco Bagnaia claims a dominant Assen MotoGP victory, while Aleix Espargaro has produced arguably the performance of his career to finish fourth after being crashed into by Fabio Quartararo.

Unlike one week ago, Bagnaia managed to keep Quartararo at bay on the run to turn one. 

Instead of taking a crucial lead, Quartararo was instead relegated to fourth after out-braking himself behind Bagnaia and running off track. 

Although Quartararo quickly regained second spot, the reigning world champion was then pushed back to third by a charging Aleix Espargaro. 

Behind the top three, Bezzecchi took advantage of Martin struggling for performance to regain his starting position of fourth. 

Needing to take a long-lap penalty due to impeding Maverick Vinales in Q2, Jack Miller elected to take it on lap three. 

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Huge drama as Quartararo crashes into Espargaro!

Peerless all season, Quartararo made his first real mistake of the year as he crashed in Espargaro at turn five. 

Too eager to gain back the time lost to Bagnaia, Quartararo made a very rash attempt as he came from too far back before losing the front of his M1. 

Espargaro, who was down in 15th following Quartararo’s huge mistake, was down but certainly not out…

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The Aprilia rider began lapping five tenths quicker than the leaders as he quickly reeled off Alex Marquez and Alex Rins. 

Meanwhile Quartararo was also back underway, however, the series leader appeared to be ending his race early as he returned to pit lane. 

But instead, Quartararo briefly stopped outside his garage as discussions were had with his team, before ultimately deciding to continue on. 

After failing to take his first long-lap penalty, Franco Morbidelli was then hit with a second penalty. 

However, the struggling Yamaha rider didn’t get a chance to take either penalty as he crashed out at turn five. 

Morbidelli’s retirement was soon followed by another Yamaha rider crashing out, this time rookie Darryn Binder.

If that wasn’t enough, Yamaha’s dreadful Dutch MotoGP got even worse as Quartararo violently highsided on the exit of turn five. The Frenchman’s second crash proved to be the end of his afternoon. 

As rain began to drop, Espargaro was truly on a mission as he overtook Joan Mir and Johann Zarco in three corners.

This came after inheriting tenth place off Takaaki Nakagami who served a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits. 

As Bezzecchi continued to keep Bagnaia honest at the front, Vinales moved into the podium places as Martin began to drop down the order. 

The Pramac rider, clearly not enjoying the tricky conditions, also lost places to Brad Binder and Miller. 

As the rain began to dissipate, the top three were exchanging similar times although Espargaro was still charging hard.

Taking three tenths a lap out of Martin, the Aprilira rider, who was now seventh, could taste a top five result. 

Espargaro – rider of the day? 

As Bagnaia held on for a brilliant and crucial win, Espargaro went from seventh to fourth on the final lap.

After getting through on Martin in sector one, the Argentina race winner produced one of the best overtakes, if not the best of the season as he overtook both Binder and Miller at the final corner.