MotoGP in Assen

30.06.2024

Sprint

Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team are the winners of the eighth Sprint Race of the season at the TT Circuit Assen, at the end of a masterful performance for the reigning world champion aboard his Desmosedici GP machine #1. Enea Bastianini put together an excellent comeback from eleventh place on the grid all the way up to fourth position at the finish line.

After securing the pole position courtesy of a new outright lap record for the Assen circuit (1:30.540), Bagnaia had the perfect start to the encounter and stayed in the lead up to the chequered flag – thanks to an excellent race pace. After the initial stages, Pecco began pulling away gradually and crossed the line 2.5secs ahead of Martín – which allowed him to narrow his gap to the championship lead down to 15 points.

Bastianini showed all his competitiveness in the race following a challenging qualifying session, which relegated him on the fourth row of the grid. Enea’s comeback was a consistent one, which culminated in a perfect overtake on Alex Márquez at the final chicane for fourth position. With only five laps left, however, the gap to the top three turned out to be too big for his rostrum hopes.

The eighth Sunday race of the 2024 MotoGP season will get underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time (GMT +2) after the traditional, 9:40am warm up.

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“At this track, it is important to stay extremely focused while riding in a smooth and precise way and without overdoing, as this circuit is quite the unforgiving one. I’m very happy with how this sprint race went: to be lapping under the 1’32secs barrier from start to finish was incredible, so I’m satisfied at every level. It wasn’t easy, because I can’t say I love the soft front-tyre option as it makes the bike move a bit too much at the front. I didn’t push in the first three laps and Jorge (Martín) was very close, but then I was able to build some margin as the race progressed. Let’s see how tomorrow goes: if the conditions remain the same, then I believe our tyre choice won’t change.”

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 4th
“It was quite an unusual day. I expected to be quicker this morning: we didn’t change anything on the bike, so I was expecting a similar feeling to the one I had yesterday. Instead, the bike was moving a lot more, even though the wind was not as strong. The traffic on the track surely didn’t help either. We started the afternoon with a different base set-up and things went a lot better; I managed to complete some overtakes and finished fourth. I was hoping to get on the podium, but it wasn’t to be, so let’s see if we can achieve this goal in the longer race.”

Race

Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo team have completed the perfect weekend in the Netherlands courtesy of an incredible win in the 25-lap MotoGP race that took place today at the TT Circuit Assen. Enea Bastianini put together an impressive comeback as he secured third place at the end of a heroic performance in the second part of the encounter.

Bagnaia had yet another perfect start to the race from pole position as he managed to create a little separation with his immediate opponents on lap one. In the following laps, Pecco had in Martín the only rider able to not lose touch to the lead. Thanks to an unmatched race pace – which included the new best race lap in 1:31.866 – the Italian rider managed to overcome the Spaniard’s resistance and to cross the line a lonely winner. Following today’s success, Bagnaia reaches a total of 23 wins with Ducati in MotoGP, equalling the current record held by Casey Stoner.

After a more challenging than expected first part of the race, Bastianini managed to find the right feeling with his Desmosedici GP and courtesy of a streak of quick lap-times, he managed to bridge the gap with the group of riders fighting for the podium (made of four other rivals). Enea’s second half of the race was perfect, as in five laps he managed to go from seventh all the way to third before successfully defending his position up to the chequered flag.

With the #DutchGP drawing to a close, Francesco Bagnaia is now only ten points shy of the championship lead in second place, with Bastianini fourth and 64 points in arrears of Martín. The Ducati Lenovo Team still leads the team standings with 326 points, with Ducati on top of the manufacturers’ standings (278 points).

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action in less than five days for the German Grand Prix, taking place at the Sachsenring on July 5-7.

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“I really had fun this weekend and everything went perfectly. I’d like to thank the team because we did a fantastic job: on Thursday we already had a clear idea regarding the bike set-up and after FP1 we were basically ready. The race today was 30 seconds faster than last year, which is incredible. I managed to be quick and precise, the weather was fantastic and we were able to show our full potential. Next is Sachsenring, where I expect two hard-fought races.”

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 3rd
“It was incredible, even though the race itself was a bit of a strange one. I tried to push hard from the beginning, but I was struggling a bit with the rear end, especially on the exit of the right-hand corners. The feeling improved lap after lap and, when the others slowed down a little, I managed to keep my pace and also push a bit more. I managed to bridge the gap to the riders fighting for the podium: I gave it a go and have fun with some overtakes and ended up third. Obviously, I knew Pecco was out of reach and Martín also did a good job in trying to stay with him, so it’s good this way. I’m very happy and I’d like to thank the team for the work done because two days ago we were not in the position to do well, while now we’re on the podium.”

Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“It was an incredible weekend, after another memorable one at Mugello. Pecco put together a weekend without any single mistake as he set it up perfectly on Friday and kept the same level up to today’s chequered flag. I must congratulate him because once again he’s shown the type of champion he is. Enea also had a great race today and I believe he could have battle for at least second place had it not started from the fourth row. To see him overtaking his opponents in such decisive and precise way is surely an excellent sign and we hope he can continue this way at the Sachsenring.”

Race results

Pos.	Nr.	Driver	Team	Bike	Time
1	1	F. Bagnaia			40:07.214
2	89	J. Martin			+3.676
3	23	E. Bastianini			+7.073
4	49	F. Di Giannantonio			+8.299
5	12	M. Viñales			+8.258
6	33	B. Binder			+16.005
7	73	A. Marquez			+21.095
8	25	R. Fernandez			+22.368
9	21	F. Morbidelli			+23.413
10	93	M. Marquez			+23.868
11	43	J. Miller			+24.004
12	20	F. Quartararo			+24.057
13	5	J. Zarco			+42.767
14	37	A. Fernandez			+42.871
15	88	M. Oliveira			+44.429
16	30	T. Nakagami			+46.246
17	10	L. Marini			+70.937
DNF	31	P. Acosta
DNF	36	J. Mir
DNF	72	M. Bezzecchi
DNF	42	A. Rins

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