A cloudy day at the cathedral, also know as TT Assen, saw the rider take part of the qualifying session and the sprint race. With a contested battle for pole, it was Marco Bezzecchi who took the lead on the grid, followed by Francesco Bagnaia and Luca Marini at front.

1. Marco Bezzecchi /// 2. Francesco Bagnaia /// 3. Luca Marini
4. Fabio Quatararo /// 5. Brad Binder /// 6. Aleix Espargaro
7. Maverick Viñales /// 8. Johann Zarco /// 9. Alex Marquez
10. Jorge Martin /// 11. Miguel Oliveira /// 12. Jack Miller
13. Fabio Di Giannantoino /// 14. Takaaki Nakagami /// 15. Franco Morbidelli
16. Raul Fernandez /// 17. Marc Marquez /// 18. Enea Bastianini
19. Lorenzo Savadori /// 20. Stefan Brald /// 21. Augusto Fernández
22. Iker Lecuona /// 23. Jonas Folger

Lights were off and sprint was underway, with Pecco Bagnaia gaining the lead on the first laps, as Brad Binder, Marc Bezzecchi, Fabio Quatararo and Luca Marini closed the top 5. Bagnaia attempted to separate from the chasing group on the first couple of laps, but was caught again by Bezzecchi and now the head of the race was a 4 bike race.

Without hesitation, Bezzecchi made a move on Bagnaia and gained the race lead, meanwhile a bunch of riders were getting track limits warnings, on which Brad Binder, Fabio Quatararo and Jorge Martin were some of them. Meanwhile, Bezzecchi started to create a gap ahead of the Ducati of Bagnaia.

As the sprint had 5 laps left, the race direction turned the attention at the battle for 3rd, as the 4 riders involved were fighting to the limit figuratively and literally, as some of them would receive a penalty if they cut a turn on track, Aleix Espargaro overtook Jorge Martin and was now 5th, meanwhile the battle between Brad Binder and Fabio Quatararo intensifies, as both riders were racing with a warning.

Eventually, Marc Bezzecchi crossed the line and won the sprint race, as Bagnaia finishes 2nd and Binder 3rd, but a unexpected turn of events emerged, as Binder got penalized for track limits exceeded at the last lap and received a 3-second penalty, meaning that the 3rd place was now for Fabio Quatararo.

Sprint results:

1. Marco Bezzecchi /// 2. Francesco Bagnaia /// 3. Fabio Quatararo
4. Alex Espargaro /// 5. Brad Binder /// 6. Jorge Martin
7. Maverick Viñales /// 8. Enea Bastianini /// 9. Alex Marquez
10. Luca Marini /// 11. Jack Miller /// 12. Jack Miller
13. Takaaki Nakagami /// 14. Augusto Fernandez /// 15. Franco Morbidelli
16. Lorenzo Savadori /// 17. Marc Marquez /// 18. Raul Fernandez
19. Miguel Oliveira /// 20. Iker Lecuona /// 21. Jonas Folger
22. Stefan Brald

DNF: Fabio Di Giannantoino

A great weekend so far for Marc Bezzecchi, as the young Italian rider attempts to close the gap at the championship standings, with a potential race win on tomorrow’s race, that could be a strong momentum impact just before the summer break.

MiniBikers – MotoGP
2023 Dutch GP
Sprint Race