The numbers speak for themselves. If Assen remains the most prestigious school in the world championship, Pecco Bagnaia, the first rider after Mick Doohan to win three times in a row at the Dutch GP, proves that he is “the” master, with style and without arrogance. The number one of the Red team drives with the tactical and competitive intelligence, the refinement and superiority of Giacomo Agostini and takes full spoils: he is first in FP1, first in FP2, first in FP3, first in Q2, first in the Sprint with fastest lap , first in the race with a record-fast lap (1’31.866 on the 12th lap).
understanding
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There is a perfect synergy between Pecco and the 2024 Red Team: fifth race won, or rather dominated, out of 8 in 2024. Twenty-three victories in the last 54 races. Bagnaia joins Casey Stoner as the most successful rider with Ducati in MotoGP and, what’s more important, he overtakes Martin in the general classification, still leading with just 10 points ahead of the Italian: 190 points for Pecco, 200 for Jorge. The superiority demonstrated by Bagnaia in Assen, especially in the long race on Sunday, with 22 laps in the low 1’22 (last two laps 1’33.045 and 1’33.646 compared to the 1’33.376 and 1’34.379 of Martin who , despite the choice of the medium tire on the front he was never able, not even at the beginning, to stay in front: only Bastianini – still extraordinary in the final show – Marquez, super Di Giannantonio in the final tussle was faster: everyone under ‘1’ and 33), speaks for itself and says a lot about the values on the field, even making high quality matches apparently soporific. This is demonstrated by the pace and fastest lap times: 1st Bagnaia 1’31”866 (12); 2. Martin 1’31”919 (12); 3. Di Giannantonio 1’32”099 (5); 4. Bastianini 1’32”160 (15); 5. M. Marquez 1’32”184 (10); 6. Vinales 1’32”231 (10); 7. Acosta 1’32”253 (11); 8. Binder 1’32”344 (10); 9. A. Marquez 1’32”541 (11); 10. Miller 1’32”702 (11).
podium
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Hats off to Bagnaia and the other two riders on the podium, Martin and Bastianini. Well, very well done Diggia and Marc Marquez who, beyond the final result, demonstrates his value: with the same Ducati as Pecco in 2023 he laps 2 tenths faster, he is the fastest of the riders riding the 2023 Ducatis even if this involves risks, errors and even falls. The leap of the 2024 Ducatis compared to 2023 is demonstrated by the comparison of times: Pole position: Bezzecchi 1’31”472 / Bagnaia 1’30”540; fastest lap in the race: Martin (13) 1’33”065 / Bagnaia (12) 1’31”866; total sprint duration: Bezzecchi 20’09”174 / Bagnaia 19’58”090; total race duration: Bagnaia 40’37”640 / Bagnaia 40’07”214.
superiority
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Therefore, Assen confirms the clear superiority of the Ducati GP24, in the first three places with Bagnaia, Martin, Bastianini, bikes that lap almost a second faster than in 2023, both in qualifying and in the race. The new bike from Borgo Panigale turns much better especially when the rider releases the brakes after braking and is faster in acceleration. More generally, the dominance of the Borgo Panigale cars remains: 5 Ducatis in the top 5 places, 7 Ducatis in the top 10 bikes. Then 2 Aprilias and 1 Ktm, the latter all with soft rear tyres, with only Pedro Acosta capable of making the cars from the Mattighofen company competitive, but still ending up on the ground, because he was always at the limit and beyond the limit. Yamaha and Honda, zero and no riders aboard the Japanese bikes in the top ten: Quartararo 12th, Zarco 13th, Nakagami 16th, Marini 17th with a final delay of 1 minute and 11 seconds. Rins and Mir retired. Yamaha, some signs of revival can be glimpsed. Honda looks forward but the RC213V doesn’t take off, in fact it seems to be going backwards.
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penalty
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Three hours after the end of the race, Marc Marquez was given a 16-second penalty for irregular tire pressure, dropping from fourth to tenth place. Having to stay in the slipstream to maintain pressure is questionable to say the least. Abnormal and convoluted rules that have previously penalized other riders (Quartararo, Rins, Miller, Diggia, Fernandez): but if those are the rules accepted by the Teams, they must be applied and respected. Period.
