An unfortunate end to the race for Salac and a confirmation of the form of the reigning world champion. What did the Dutch Grand Prix offer?

The World Road Motorcycle Championship has had a busy June, with three consecutive events in three weeks. The latest was the Dutch Grand Prix at the famous Assen circuit, which featured on the calendar for the first ever season of MotoGP history in 1949. The upcoming six-week break has prompted riders battling in all three cubatures for the world championship title to get the best possible result to boost their motivation for the second half of the season. What did this year’s Tourist Trophy show before the well-deserved summer break?

Moto3: Trouble for championship leader Holgado

Spaniard Daniel Holgado is likely to spend the summer break brooding over his performance in Assen. The current Moto3 championship leader recorded a horrendous qualifying session in which he set the worst time of all.

Starting from the last position on the grid, he promised a potential fight for at least the points for Sunday’s race. However, the 18-year-old threw away his chances on the opening lap when he crashed. While Holgado dug his machine out of the duck and got back on, a 25th-place finish helped his rivals close in on him in the standings.

It was Holgado’s Moto3 World Championship chasers Jaume Masià and Ayumu Sasaki who finished the Dutch VC in the top two places. From a comfortable 41-point lead, the gap has now narrowed to 16 points.

Holgado must therefore put the Assen race behind him and arrive at Silverstone in the UK with the aim of returning his lead to its pre-Netherlands values as soon as possible.

Moto2: Salac ran out of petrol just before the finish

There’s nothing worse than retiring from a race a few hundred metres from the finish. Filip Salač, the only Czech rider in the World Championship, had another good result in his sights in Assen.

Despite finishing thirteenth in the previous grand prix at the Sachsenring in Germany, the Mladá Boleslav native competed 21 out of 22 laps with riders just below the top 10.

However, on the last lap, Salač mysteriously started to drop from eleventh place. With no yellow flags flying anywhere, it was obvious that the Czech may have suffered an unfortunate technical fault at the very end of the Dutch GP. In the end, Salač himself admitted to Nova TV that he ran out of petrol just before the finish due to excessive rear tyre slippage.

The Moto2 race was dominated by Jake Dixon for the first time in his career, ahead of Aio Ogura and Pedro Acosta, who took the points from championship leader Tony Arbolin.

After eight races, this duo’s lead over third-placed Dixon is already so big that this year’s world champion should be decided between them. Salač, on the other hand, dropped to sixth overall after just three points from two races.

MotoGP: Ducati and Bagnaia continue to rule the world

There is no doubt that Ducati is going for another overall victory among the MotoGP constructors. The Italian stable won all of Sunday’s races except for the VC USA, in which Alex Rins surprisingly triumphed, but only after a mistake by Francesco Bagnaia.

It was Bagnaia who rode to his fourth win of the season in the Dutch GP, scoring nine podium finishes in the last five Grands Prix – and therefore ten races. However, the Italian was outclassed in Saturday’s sprint by teammate Marco Bezzecchi, who had to settle for second place on Sunday.

The biggest loser of the weekend was KTM’s Brad Binder. He lost third position in both the sprint and the main race by exceeding the track limits in the same corner.

As these were infractions from the last laps of the races in question, the ruthless commissaires deprived the South African of double the podium joy. Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha benefited from the situation in the sprint, while in Sunday’s race the podium fell into the lap of Aleix Espargar on Aprilia.

Bagnaia’s lead in the championship heading into the summer break stands at 35 points over Jorge Martín, who has not followed up his perfect weekend in Germany. Only one championship “pint” behind him is Bezzecchi.

Moto3 riders’ standings for the 2023 season (after 8/20; top 10 only):

1. Daniel Holgado (Sp., KTM) 125 points
2. Jaume Masià (Span., Honda) 109
3. Ayumu Sasaki (Jap., Husqvarna) 99
4. Iván Ortolá (Span., KTM) 94
5. Deniz Öncü (Tur., KTM) 94
6. Diogo Moreira (Bra., KTM) 77
7. David Alonso (Col., Gas Gas) 65
8. Xavier Artigas (Span., CFMoto) 57
9. José Antonio Rueda (Span., KTM) 52
10. Stefano Nepa (Ita., KTM) 46

Moto2 riders’ standings for the 2023 season (after 8/20; top 10 only):

1. Tony Arbolino (Ita., Kalex) 148 points
2. Pedro Acosta (Spa., Kalex) 140
3. Jake Dixon (Brit., Kalex) 104
4. Alonso López (Spain, Boscoscuro) 92
5. Arón Canet (Spain, Kalex) 76
6. Filip Salač (CZ, Kalex) 72
7. Somkiat Chantra (Tha., Kalex) 59
8. Sam Lowes (Brit., Kalex) 58
9. Manuel González (Spain, Kalex) 52
10. Celestino Vietti (Ita., Kalex) 51

2023 MotoGP rider standings (after 8/20; top 10 only):

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 194 points
2. Jorge Martín (Spa., Ducati) 159
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 158
4. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 114
5. Johann Zarco (Fra., Ducati) 109
6. Luca Marini (Ita., Ducati) 98
7. Jack Miller (Aus., KTM) 79
8. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) 77
9. Fabio Quartararo (Fra., Yamaha) 64
10. Álex Márquez (Span., Ducati) 63

Source: MotoGP