That’s the end of our adventure at the TT Circuit Assen, and it is fair to say that the Red Bull KTM Tech3 crew concluded it in a good way! Maverick Viñales placed his KTM in the top 5 behind the RC16 of Pedro Acosta in 4th, and Enea Bastianini was not far off, finishing in 9th after starting from P20. It is the first top 10 for the Italian since the Grand Prix of Spain in Jerez, one result that will be good for the morale of the troops!
Grand Prix of The Netherlands
Our own superhero Maverick Viñales arrived at the main event with the confidence of a solid sprint performance in Assen which saw him grab the 6th spot on Super Saturday. Ready to do it all over, and even more hungry, Viñales lined up once again in P10 with decent track conditions, and opted for the hard-medium tyre combination, as many on the grid. The HRC Honda and LCR squads appeared to be the only ones to make the bet of the soft at the rear. When lights were out at 14:00 local time, Maverick gained one position to 9th and kept it close behind Fermin Aldeguer, with Fabio Di Giannantonio behind. Strong at the braking, Maverick got the better of rookie Aldeguer entering lap 3, and he moved up to 8th, finding himself now just 0.231 seconds off pole sitter Fabio Quartararo, who had lost ground following his contact with Franco Morbidelli at the start. Alex Marquez’ crash on lap 6 meant P6 for ‘Top Gun’, who now had Morbidelli at sight next, as Quartararo had dropped to 13th. Maverick increased the pace, which allowed him to progressively close on Morbidelli who was 1 second away. After 14 laps, the number 12 had completely closed the gap on the one who put an end to his chances of podium in Mugello. Glued to the back wheel of Morbidelli, Maverick stayed close, awaiting for his chance. Opportunity seized, and P5 conquered, when Top Gun saw a way on the inside of the VR46 rider in T10-T11. That gave him a bit of fresh air, and he could make a small gap moving ahead. The front-4 closed by Pedro Acosta was 2.8 seconds away, with still 10 laps to go. That gap grew to 4 seconds with just 3 laps to go as Maverick struggled with the drop of the rear tyre, but the good thing is that the gap to Fabio Di Giannantonio remained constant too, so it became a matter of holding the pace, to try securing P5, which was going to be the maximum of the day. Task complete with Top Gun crossing the finish-line in 5th, another strong result for Viñales, which concludes another extremely positive weekend. The quest for that first podium in orange KTM continues though…
Forced to start from 20th today following a 3 position grid penalty, Enea Bastianini took a decent start as he jumped from 20th to 16th to lead teammate Brad Binder who had dropped in the opening lap. He found a way next past Lorenzo Salvadori in the third sector of lap 2 to make a first entry in the point-scoring positions, with Raul Fernandez next ahead. Enea’s solid early pace gave him a boost to continue his ascension, and he could overtake Fernandez in lap 4. P14 for the number 23, with 6 positions already gained in just 4 laps. Some crashes ahead saw the Italian jump to 9th behind Johann Zarco on lap 6, and the next lap he could overtake the Frenchman to P8, but Fernandez was in for the fight, and overtook Bastianini shortly after. The Italian appeared to feel better than the past day on his RC16, and he was providing us with consistent lap times which allowed him to keep contact with Fernandez, as the battle for 8th awaited. A sudden small drop saw Enea lose a bit of ground, which gave Binder the opportunity to overtake our Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider, but Enea was quick to refocus and he claimed back his 9th place. However, Raul Fernandez was more than 3 seconds away, 8 laps to the checkered flag. Enea could not catch up on the 25, and settled for 9th, his first top 10 result since Jerez, so this one will be good for morale. Let’s take it all in, and continue working in that way! Next up for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad is Sachsenring! See you in two weeks for the Grand Prix of Germany, on July 11-12-13!
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "We are quite happy! It was once again a very positive weekend, we had great potential. I felt good during the race, I had a really good feeling with the front, but somehow I was not able to bring the rear to the end of the race. Ten laps to the end, I felt a huge drop at the rear, and I could not bring in the good lap times to catch up to the front guys. However, we must be very positive, we have made our way to Parc Fermé, and a top 5 is a really good reward for us. We saw today that we had the rhythm of the front, but P10 on the grid is not enough if you want to fight with them at the front, so our target for the next round will be to place the bike on the first two rows. Let’s continue working, let’s stay focused on the goal, and Germany will be a very good challenge for us!"
ENEA BASTIANINI: "It is one of our best results of the season, but it was also one of the best races in terms of feeling on the bike. I felt a bit more comfortable compared to yesterday, but the issues remain the same. When I am taking a slipstream, it is much easier for me to make the change of directions, but when I am alone, I can not push, the bike feels heavier, so it is a problem because we are losing time. I was lapping like the other KTM riders at the start when I was with other riders, but when I was alone in the middle of the race, I lost time unfortunately. I hope that we really figure out why this happens so we can improve!"
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "It is once again another strong weekend overall for our Red Bull KTM Tech3 team. We did not really know what to expect for Maverick Viñales after he qualified in P10, but he managed to take two really good results, 6th in the sprint, and 5th today in the main race, which shows that he is in control. Assen is not an easy track for our package, but he showed that he could be strong even with adversity, so congratulations to Maverick who is now inside the top 10 in the championship, and most importantly we really feel that we have all the tools to make a strong second part of the championship. I really would like to congratulate Enea Bastianini. He was upset yesterday after receiving his 3 grid position penalty, because he knew that P20 would make things even more difficult. However, he kept pushing, and led the second group to take a final 9th place from 20th on the grid, so well done! The bike is still not perfect for him, but we have made steps forward, so we need to keep going in that direction. A little week of rest for us, and then we will get ready for the next double header, starting with the German Grand Prix!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 40'14.072
2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), Aprilia Racing, +0.635
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, +2.666
5. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +10.124
9. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +23.687
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 307pts
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 239pts
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 181pts
10. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 69pts
15. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 42pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'30.540 - 180.5 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'31.866 - 177.9 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'30.540 - 180.5 km/h
Top Speed: 2015 - A. Iannone (ITA) - 319.8 km/h
