Rossi Wins Epic Duel With Marquez In Holland

Jun 27, 2015
4 min read

Valentino Rossi's pole position for the 2015 Dutch TT had everyone excited. We've seen him fight his way through the field this season, but since Jorge Lorenzo's turn of form that hasn't been possible. Lorenzo started 8th, so it seemed the job was easier. But Marc Marquez had shown a good pace in morning warm-up and seemed much more content with his bike following qualifying.

From the off it was Rossi vs Marquez, Yamaha vs Honda, Italy vs Spain for victory in Holland. Usually we see Rossi run a slightly harder front tyre because he enjoys the braking stability and Marquez run a softer front as so he can feel his way through the corners. That was different today. The Honda rider knew just how well the M1 was performing around the TT Circuit Assen, especially with the new chassis fitted which offered more agility. So Marc had to try something different and opted for the medium front tyre.

As the race progressed it was clear to see just where each other's strengths were; Rossi through the long turns three, four, five and the fast Ramshoek section of track, and Marquez on the brakes into the GT chicane and turns 6 and 8. This made for a cat and mouse scenario, but it was Rossi who held sway keeping his cards close to his chest, as was Marquez. A 1:33.739 from the Italian on the third lap followed by a 1:33.617 on the next one for the Repsol Honda rider suggested that this duel was going right down to the final lap.

Marc made a move at turn one with seven laps left to go; a small error from Rossi exiting the chicane giving the Spaniard the run he needed to pull alongside and use the superior barking stability of the medium front to snatch the lead away. Rossi didn't give up and sized the Honda up over the next three laps. Rossi, with three laps left to journey, steamed back underneath Marquez into turn ten, Marc hanging on up the inside. But Rossi had the drive exiting eleven, pulled the pin andstretched out an advantage of seven-tenths in sectors three and four.

Marquez wasn't finished yet and knew that he had to utilise his braking strength on the final lap if he was stand a chance of winning the Grand Prix. The Spaniard clung on through the final two sectors and slammed on the anchors into the final turn. But Rossi had already started tipping into the corner. The pair touched, Rossi forced wide onto the gravel and the bike bouncing underneath him; Marquez nearly losing the front end as he changed direction.

At that moment everyone had Assen 2006 in their minds, but unlike Colin Edwards that day, Rossi stayed up right to take his third win of 2015 and his 85th career victory. In the same breath he also took Yamaha's first ever run of six consecutive wins, and became the most successful rider at Assen with nine wins.

None of that will matter to him; the only important thing is that he leaves Holland still in the lead of the standings by ten points.

Team-mate Jorge Lorenzo made an excellent start, mugging both the Espargaro brothers having jumped up to 5th off the line. Right up with the leading duo by the tenth turn things looked good for the Spaniard. But that was where the progress stagnated and he dropped 13-seconds behind his team-mate. Whereas Rossi was able to set-up the new chassis to his liking, Lorenzo seems to have taken a backwards step.

Andrea Iannone broke away from the pack behind him fairly early on and settled into a lonely old time in 4th.

The scrap behind was frantic however. Both Tech 3 riders, Cal Crutchlow, Dani Pedrosa, both Suzuki's, Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso were all vying for 5th spot. Pol Espargaro nicked it on the final lap, whilst Cructhlow and Bradley Smith crossed the line separated by just 0.069s. Dani Pedrosa recovered from a poor start which saw him down in 12th by the end of lap one to finish 8th. The Spaniard injured his thumb in a crash in morning warm-up and rode in a considerable amount of discomfort.

The Suzuki's opted to run the soft rear tyre, but didn't show the pace we'd expected of them. Aleix Espargaro started the race in the middle of the front row and ended up 9th, whilst Maverick Vinales was 10th. This should have been a good weekend for the team as the circuit really plays into the GSX-RR's chassis strength. They'll need to quickly rectify what went wrong this weekend with Sachsenring on the horizon – anther circuit ideally suited to the GSX-RR.

Andrea Dovizioso was the big loser in that scrap. Having been up in 5th at one stage and looking like he was about to hunt down Iannone, he began to slip back again. He dropped to a very disappointing 12th. Tyre durability has been a problem for the Desmosedici of late and it seems as if it hit hard today.

Loris Baz took top open honours in 15th and has closed the gap between himself and Hector Barbera in the open standings to just two points. Incidentally, the Spaniard crashed out of the race on the opening lap after an incident with Jack Miller at the chicane.

2015 Dutch TT Result:

1st Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

2nd Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

3rd Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

4th Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team

5th Pol Espargaro, Repsol Honda Team

6th Cal Crutchlow, CWM LCR Honda

7th Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

8th Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

9th Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki Ecstar

10th Maverick Vinales, Team Suzuki Ecstar

11th Danilo Petrucci, Octo Pramac Racing Ducati