After seeing Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo defeat him in four consecutive races, Valentino Rossi knew he had to dig deep to beat the Spaniard at the Dutch TT in Assen, round eight of the MotoGP Championship. He did just that, taking a stunning pole position, his first since Valencia last year and then winning the race after a thrilling battle with the Repsol Honda of Marc Marquez, Rossi's first victory from pole since Misano 2009.
After the lights went out, Rossi and Marquez edged away from the field, after the Spaniard had passed Aleix Espargaro's Suzuki and from then on the pair were in a class of their own, with their nearest rival, Lorenzo, around four seconds behind them as they continued their private duel at the front, Rossi fending off attacks from Marquez and not buckling under pressure.
Marquez though would not disappear, and, with seven laps to go, Marquez made his move into turn one and took the lead for the first time, but crucially couldn't pull away from Rossi, who stayed right on the back of the Repsol Honda before re-passing the reigning world champion with just three laps to go.
As the pair entered the last corners on the final lap, Marquez made a lunch up the inside of Rossi, but as they turned into the corner they touched, Rossi going straight on through the gravel and Marquez over the astro-turf, Rossi looked behind and saw he was safe, and crossed the line to win the Dutch TT, and crucially extend his championship lead to ten points over Jorge Lorenzo.
Behind the leading pair there was a great battle for fifth place, with Espargaro's Suzuki, his Brother Pol on the Tech3 Yamaha, Cal Crutchlow on the LCR Honda, Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati among the rider's battling it out, with Dani Pedrosa joining them late on after an awful start from 4th place. The battle was eventually won by Pole Espargaro.
Ahead of the battle, Andrea Iannone on the other Ducati had made his escape and was in a very lonely P4, not having the pace to catch Jorge Lorenzo but having plenty of pace in order to pull away from the squabbling pack behind him. Over the course of this year, Iannone has really matured and is certainly someone to watch for the future. If Ducati's new GP15 can keep delivering, don't rule out a win for him later this year, and of course for Dovizioso to!
None of the battling behind though could bother Valentino Rossi, who took his third win of the year in fine style, even if the last corner incident with Marquez was a bit controversial! Rossi last won the championship in 2009. Can he finally take the crown again this year, and equal Gicomo Agostini's record of eight world titles in the premier class? Let's wait and see. Until next time folks. Ciao!
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