Marc Marquez beats Marco Bezzecchi in a drama-filled race that claimed his brother Alex, who crashed out of the contest.Marc Marquez delivered a clinical masterclass at MotoGP’s Cathedral of Speed to claim victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, while his brother and closest contender, Alex, suffered a race-ending crash that left him with a fractured hand.
As Assen celebrated its centenary of motorcycle racing, the elder Marquez seized control on the second lap on Sunday and did not look back as he extended his championship advantage to a commanding 68 points over Alex, seeking his seventh title.
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi finished second while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia came third, with the two-time champion now staring at a daunting 126-point gap to his teammate after 10 rounds.
Bagnaia had won the last three races in Assen, but despite taking the lead early on, he was pushed down to fourth place before recovering to finish on the podium ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
Marc, who crashed hard twice on Friday, also equalled motorcycling great Giacomo Agostini with 68 premier-class victories and now sets his sights on his former rival Valentino Rossi, who finished his career with 89 wins.
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo had claimed pole position but crashed in Saturday’s sprint, where Marc claimed his ninth victory of the season, and the Frenchman was slow off the line while Bagnaia made the perfec …
