MotoGP: Rossi vs Marquez In Epic Assen Battle

The Doctor has done it again in Assen, seeing off a resurgent Marquez after a thrilling fight to the finish.

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After Jorge Lorenzo’s victory in Catalunya, we were stocking up on popcorn ready for a Yamaha face-off between Rossi and Lorenzo in Assen. The Doctor was hanging on to the top of the table by his fingertips, and Lorenzo was giddy with victory after four consecutive wins.

To our surprise, it was another Spaniard who came roaring out of the grid to challenge the nine-times world champion. The audience were treated to a glorious replay of this season’s early races as it was Rossi vs Marquez all over again, battling it out for the entire race.

Valentino Rossi qualified in pole position this weekend, an important advantage for him to have any chance of beating the speed machine Lorenzo. He set an excellent pace all weekend, showing that he was very comfortable on the Yamaha YZR-M1 and ready to shake off the competition. That was exactly what he did, although it was a surprise to see that his main challenger was none other than Marc Marquez.

We had a strong sense of deja vu as the two champions pulled away from the rest of the pack, with Rossi setting the pace for Marquez to follow. There were no heroics or close calls for a long time, with Marquez watching and waiting for his chance. It was extraordinary to see the young Marquez’s control of the bike and of the situation, keeping close behind his rival without taking his usual risks.

On lap 20, Marquez finally saw an opening and overtook Rossi into turn 1. With only 3 laps to go, Rossi took the lead again, but Marquez had worked hard for this and wasn’t letting go of a badly-needed victory. Marquez rode to the limit and got a bit too close to Rossi on the final chicane, forcing the Doctor onto the gravel.

This off-road detour had the opposite effect of what Marquez was hoping for. Rossi took the opportunity to show the full force of his experience by holding his nerve on the bike and staying upright. He cut the corner, ending up back on the track just in time to cross the line in first place.

Rossi must have been pleased to have knocked Lorenzo off the top of the podium, but this race was as nail-biting for him as it was for the crowd. He said: “I tried to push hard again towards the end and couldn’t shake Marc off, then I got a bit worried because I was really at the limit of myself and the bike. Marc overtook me and from behind I saw he was very fast, but I knew I could go a little faster…I think it was a great battle as the last time we fought he won.”

Marquez couldn’t have hoped for a much better result, as he has gone from crashing out to standing on the podium again. His softer approach has clearly helped his performance, and it’s good to see him showing the skill that won him two world championships.

Marquez said: “I was quiet and calm during the race and studied Rossi a lot, learning when I could overtake him and attack…It’s important for me and the team to come back, especially in a track where we have struggled before. We enjoyed the track and the bike and with a lot to improve, especially at the end of the race. I took care of the tyres a lot and now we head to Germany. I learnt some motocross from Rossi today!”

So, what happened to the ‘unbeatable’ champion Jorge Lorenzo? He was a familiar face on the podium in third, but found it impossible to keep up with his teammate, trailing by a huge gap of 14.576 seconds across the finish line. Lorenzo did incredibly well from a terrible qualifying position, to end up on the podium.

Unfortunately, by the time Lorenzo had sailed past the rest of the paddock in the first lap, he found himself looking at an empty track as Rossi and Marquez sped away up front. He said: “I tried to keep up with the pace of Valentino and Marc, but they were really strong and I realized that today was not the day…Valentino was a little bit more competitive here from the beginning, Marc improved his bike and was more comfortable to keep up the pace and for us it was the opposite.”

Our British riders had a mixed experience. Scott Redding for EG Marc 0,0 VDS had a difficult race, finishing in 13th. Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith were caught up in their own race-long battle in which five riders were battling for 5th place. Crutchlow and Smith finished within 0.069 seconds of each other, with Crutchlow taking a respectable sixth place.

Bradley Smith only missed out by a tiny margin to gain 7th place, and was happy to have put in a solid performance which saw him climb up from 12th on the grid. “Overall, I am pleased to walk away from the Assen track with another solid finish even though it was hard work in this race,” he said. After his excellent finish in Catalunya and a good finish in Assen, Smith is still the top Brit in the championship.

Cal Crutchlow went home with some points for the first time in four races, and just narrowly missed out to Pol Espargaro for the top satellite rider position. He may be down, but he isn’t out, and seems to have enjoyed being part of the action and finally crossing the finish line. He said: “Battling with all the other riders was good fun, but I honestly wanted to be further up than I was. That said, I needed to finish the race so sixth is not so bad.” He usually performs well at Sachsenring in Germany, so we look forward to another great performance on July the 12th.

Lorenzo’s winning streak may be over for now, but it’s certainly not the end of the road yet. With 10 races left to make up the extra 10 points, there’s a good chance that Lorenzo could overtake the Doctor and grab the top spot in the championship standings. In Germany on July the 12th, we’ll see if Lorenzo can close that gap that’s opening up between him and his teammate. Despite Marquez rising like a phoenix, it may be too late for anyone who doesn’t ride a Yamaha!

What did you think of Rossi vs Marquez?

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Here at Two Wheel Centre, we’ve been blogging all the way through the 2015 MotoGP. You can catch up on all the action as it happened by reading our race reports for Catalunya, Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, The Americas and Qatar. Until next time at the Grand Prix Deutschland – auf wiedersehen!

Photos courtesy of www.motogp.com