The Ducati rider for a moment believed in a third consecutive victory, but a loss of rhythm and the degradation of his rear tire prevented this scenario, causing him to finish further than he thought.
Jorge Lorenzo was both confident and wary when arriving at the Assen track on Friday. Indeed, if it has returned to its highest level by signing two consecutive victories, the Dutch circuit is not known to be easy for the Ducati.
However, he surprised, particularly in qualifying, where he almost took pole position before unfortunately being relegated to tenth place in just a few seconds.
His place on the grid looked to be a handicap, but the Majorcan got off to an excellent start which allowed him to take the lead of the race at the end of the first lap. Long first, he thought he could win again, but had to give up at the end and was overtaken lap after lap.
Seventh on the finish line, he was inevitably disappointed when he arrived at his box: “The wind made the track conditions difficult and I knew it was going to be a complicated race, but I had a good start, one of my best with the Ducati, and I was able to win a lot places and finish the first round in the lead. The pace wasn't very fast and I led for many laps. Then, when Dovizioso passed me, my pace dropped a bit, I started to feel my rear tire deteriorating, and several riders were able to overtake me. The positive thing is that we were able to have a very good race and be competitive for many laps, even if we didn't have the best pace and I'm not very happy with my result final. »
Dutch Grand Prix Assen MotoGP J.3: Ranking
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 41'13.863
2 42 Alex RINS Suzuki +2.269
3 25 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +2.308
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +2.422
5 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +2.963
6 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda +3.876
7 99 Jorge LORENZO Ducati +4.462
8 5 Johann ZARCO Yamaha +7.001
9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati +7.541
10 43 Jack MILLER Ducati +13.056
11 29 Andrea IANNONE Suzuki +14.255
12 44 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +15.876
13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +15.986
14 45 Scott REDDING Aprilia +16.019
15 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda +16.043
16 53 Tito RABAT Ducati +16.416
17 38 Bradley SMITH KTM +29.073
18 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha +33.824
19 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +34.037
20 12 Thomas LUTHI Honda +47.853
Not Classified
9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 9 Laps
10 Xavier SIMEON Ducati 9 Laps
17 Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 15 Laps
