What a phenomenal race from Petrucci! Impressive from start to finish, the Pramac driver threatened Valentino Rossi all the way to the finish line. Only six hundredths separated the two Italians under the checkered flag. And we will never know what would have happened if the blue flags had been conveniently presented at the end of the race to the slower drivers who were taking a lap.
Danilo has progressed enormously this year, and Ducati's idea to give him a Desmosedici GP17 through Pramac Racing proved to be a good one. After his podium at home in Italy, Petrucci continued his development to climb among the greats, as this Assen race has just proven. Seeing him disappointed at the finish after only finishing second was particularly impressive.
Facing his friend and idol Valentino Rossi, Danilo did not flinch or hesitate. He tried everything possible and it must be recognized that he did not come far from getting on the first step of the podium. Finishing six hundredths behind Vale, while being hampered by late racers, was a fantastic performance.
Qualified on the first row, in third position, Petrux made a good start to the race in fourth place, behind Johann zarco, Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi. Then he overtook Zarco halfway through the race, and then Marquez a few laps later. He then found himself alone in the lead against Valentino, even managed to overtake him on the twenty-second lap, then finished royally on the second step of the podium.
According to Danilo Petrucci, “ This is an excellent result. I am very happy with this second place, but I must admit that for a long time I had the taste of victory in my mouth.
“I was convinced we could beat Valentino Rossi in the last round. I had everything prepared, but unfortunately I had problems overtaking Rins and Barbera who were one lap away. Very unfortunate.
“But I'm sure that tomorrow I will achieve what we did: a good weekend. And I also say that I'm looking forward to being in Germany. I want to win ! »
Dutch Grand Prix results:
1- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – 26 laps
2- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.063
3- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 5.201
4- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 5.243
5- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 5.327
6- Jack Miller – Marc VDS 0.0 EG – Honda RC213V – 23,390 +
7- Karel Abraham – Pull & Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – 36,982 +
8- Loris Baz – Royal Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – 37,058 +
9- Andrea Iannone – Ecstar Team Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-RR – 37,166 +
10- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 1'01.929
11- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1’09.384
12- Tito Rabat – EG 0.0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 1’10.121
- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 1’10.344
14- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha to Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1’35.655
15- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP at 1 lap
16- Hector Barbera – Royal Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP at 1 lap
17- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR 1 lap
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 115 points
2 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 111
3 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 108
4 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 104
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 87
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 77
7 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 62
8 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 60
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 58
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 51
11 Jack MILLER-Honda 40
12 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 34
13 Scott REDDING-Ducati 33
14 Loris BAZ-Ducati 31
15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 28
16 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 23
17 Tito RABAT-Honda 23
18 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 21
19 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 20
20 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 11
Photos © Pramac Racing
