This Assen weekend was nothing but a long way of the cross for Lorenzo, while on identical bikes Danilo Petrucci challenged Valentino Rossi for victory and Andrea Dovizioso took the lead in the World Championship.
The Ducati GP17 was brilliant during the Grand Prix, but Jorge didn't seem to be able to make the most of it. At the end of free practice, he was in fourteenth position, and therefore had to go through Q1 in order to qualify for the next stage. But he never made it to Q2, setting the eleventh time in Q1 and therefore starting from twenty-first place on the starting grid, ahead only Bradley Smith and Tito Rabat
He therefore started from the seventh row and moved up little by little, reaching twelfth position on the eighteenth lap after having overtaken Espargaro Pol, Loris Baz, Sam Lowes and took advantage of falls. When it started to rain lightly, he returned to the pits on the twenty-first lap like other drivers to take his second machine on wet tires. But, like these other drivers, Jorge could not take advantage of an increase in rain, and he had to settle for fifteenth place with one lap.
According to Jorge Lorenzo, “Today I had a race like those of 2014 or 2016. Unfortunately, with these variable weather conditions, I am simply not capable of being fast.
“When it started to rain, I thought the situation was going to get worse and I decided to come back to the pits to change bikes and start with rain tires.
“But the rain didn't increase and I had to settle for fifteenth place. Unfortunately, we are still half a second short of the lap to be able to stay with the leading group, so we now have to turn the page as soon as possible and look forward. »
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
