Assen MotoGP: Top 5 quotes after race
Valentino Rossi secured a sensational victory at the end of a dramatic Dutch Grand Prix weekend at the TT Circuit Assen, snatching first place by 0.063s
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
| Cla | # | Rider | Bike | Laps | Time | Gap | km/h | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 46 |  Valentino Rossi |
Yamaha | 26 | 41'41.149 | 169.9 | 25 | |
| "I‘m so happy, and for different reasons, because it‘s a very important victory for the championship, but especially the feeling of coming back to the number one spot after one year is fantastic. Sincerely, I race with motorcycles for this feeling: for what I feel in the five or six final laps of the race. That‘s always great and especially after a year without a victory. It was a great race and a great battle with Petrucci and everybody else. I‘m also happy from a technical point of view, because we worked a lot on the bike and we changed the chassis and now I feel like I can ride the bike more in my own manner, in a better way. Everything is open and this year we discovered that, from one track to the other, the situation can change a lot. We have to wait for next week and try to be competitive also at the Sachsenring.” | ||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci |
Ducati | 26 | 41'41.212 | 0.063 | 169.9 | 20 |
| "It's a great result. I am very happy for this P2 although I have to admit that for a long time I had the taste of victory in my mouth. I was convinced I could pass Valentino in the last lap. Everything was set for the overtake but unfortunately I struggled to pass Rins and Barberà who were lapped. It’s a pity. I am sure, however, that tomorrow morning I will realize what we did: a great weekend. And to be honest I can not wait to be in Germany. I want to win!". | ||||||||
| 3 | 93 |  Marc Marquez |
Honda | 26 | 41'46.350 | 5.201 | 169.6 | 16 |
| "I’m very happy with the podium and with our race, as we were competitive enough in the dry at this track, which isn’t one of the best for us. Of course conditions were quite tricky and in this kind of situation you can lose or gain many points. I opted for the ‘safe’ option, more or less. Maybe I would have been able to try and fight for the victory, but honestly I had some warnings and thought it too dangerous for the Championship, so I decided to be consistent in the race and to push hard at the end. I paid close attention as it was hard to understand where the limit was, but in the end I was able to manage well. We’re just 11 points down on the lead and that’s important, no matter the fourth position. Now we go to some circuits that could be better for us, so let’s keep working hard and see what happens." | ||||||||
| 4 | 35 |  Cal Crutchlow |
Honda | 26 | 41'46.392 | 5.243 | 169.6 | 13 |
| "I’m pleased to finish and pleased to finish fourth. I was a little disappointed with my pace in the middle of the race, I had some sort of problem with my front tyre and I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to. But I still thought we were on for a good result and kept battling. I got a bad start and that really hindered me, as well as not starting from the front rows. I think that really cost me the podium or even the chance to fight for the win because the pace was not drastically fast. After it started to rain I kept a cool head, but I made a mistake by showing Marc (Marquez) and (Andrea Dovizioso) Dovi my hand, I went too early and should have passed them on the last lap. As it was, Marc just followed me and passed me on the second to last corner and there was nothing I could do. But it was a great fight, I really enjoyed it and credit to the podium guys.” | ||||||||
| 5 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso |
Ducati | 26 | 41'46.476 | 5.327 | 169.6 | 11 |
| “Today’s race was a very difficult one and having to start from row 3 complicated things a bit. At the start I wasn’t able to be very smooth and I lost touch with the leading group, but I remained focussed to see where I could recover and when Viñales crashed in front of me, I pushed hard to get back up with the leading group. At that moment I was the quickest on the track and this is a good sign for our bike. When I came up on the leaders it started to rain but you couldn’t really see where the track was dry and where it wasn’t. For this reason I didn’t want to take any risks and I tried to finish the race in the best possible way to score some valuable points for the championship. We go back home in the lead of the table and it’s a new emotion for me because I’ve never been in the lead of MotoGP. I want to thank all my team because this weekend we again worked really well and despite the constantly changeable weather conditions, we made the right decisions, we stayed calm and in this end it all paid off.” | ||||||||
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Petrucci extends World Superbike deal with Barni Ducati
Petrucci says WSBK harder than he imagined after first podium
Injury, COVID, camels and redemption: Petrucci's Dakar odyssey
Martin admits he is unlikely to stay with Pramac MotoGP team beyond 2024
Why “mature” Martin will start to cause headaches in 2024 MotoGP title race
The scars left by Lorenzo's Ducati flirtation
Streets of Long Beach receive changes ahead of the IMSA, IndyCar doubleheader
The Chinese Grand Prix's Chaotic Return and Cloudy Future
Kirkwood: “More durable” tires hindering passing on street circuits in 2024
IndyCar Long Beach: Start times, how to watch on TV, entry list & more
Can anyone stop "changed" Bagnaia as Ducati tightens its grip on MotoGP?
The signs that MotoGP's Japanese powerhouses are changing
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments