MotoGP™: Viñales and Yamaha hit top form at Assen

The Motul TT Assen –round eight of the 2019 MotoGPTM World Championship – was won by Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales, ahead of Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT). Every one of the six Michelin tyre specifications available for the race was used, with three different specs making it onto the podium to provide a further illustration of the French products’ performance and versatility.

Racing on medium and hard MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, Viñales started from second on the grid but a timid getaway saw him drop fourth during the first of the afternoon’s 26 laps.

Following the fall of early pace-setter Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR), he recovered second spot on Lap 3, however, to split Marquez and Quartararo who is now the youngest ever rider to score consecutive MotoGPTM pole positions at the age of just 20 years and 70 days.

After dominating free practice, the French rookie effectively claimed his third pole in just eight races thanks to a new qualifying lap record for the Dutch circuit with a time of 1m32.017s. That’s six-tenths faster than the previous best posted by Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in 2015.

Running on the same tyre-pairing as Viñales, Quartararo led the Motul TT Assen from Lap 3 until Lap 11. Márquez (medium and soft MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear) appeared ahead fleetingly but the French youngster managed to head the field again until Lap 16.

Viñales and Márquez then traded the lead several times over the next two laps before the Yamaha rider succeeded in defending his lead to the flag to claim the sixth victory of his career. It was also his and Yamaha’s first success since last year’s Australian Grand Prix.

Viñales is now the fifth rider to have won a race this year, along with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Márquez, Rins and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team).

Márquez settled for the points that went with second place, while Quartararo – the day’s best-placed Independent Team rider – clinched his second straight podium finish.

Dovizioso came out on top in the battle for fourth place, chased over the line by Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Petrucci.

The top 10 was rounded out by Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR), Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) and Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).

The six different versions of the MICHELIN Power Slick available in the Netherlands were selected for the race which saw the track temperature soar to 44°C.

The result has extended the lead of Márquez (160 points) in the Riders’ standings to 47 and 52 points respectively over Dovizioso and Petrucci.

Next race: HJC Helmets Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, Sachsenring (July 5-7).