Unstoppable Bagnaia continues to slash Martin's MotoGP lead

Pecco Bagnaia rounded off a dominant MotoGP weekend at the Dutch TT with victory in Sunday’s grand prix. 

The factory Ducati rider led from start to finish, crossing the line 3.6 seconds clear of Pramac rival Jorge Martin to close the championship gap between them to just 10 points.

After a three-place penalty for Martin dropped him to fifth on the grid, he faced an even tougher challenge than in Saturday’s sprint to take the fight to an on-form Bagnaia.

Though he swept into third at Turn 1 before quickly challenging second-place Aprilia runner Maverick Vinales and passing him early on, Martin was unable to match Bagnaia’s blistering pace.

The third podium position was hotly contested throughout, with Vinales facing early challenges from Gresini duo Marc and Alex Marquez before VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio got in on the action.

But it was factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini who secured third, charging from 11th on the grid with a characteristic late-race burst in which he made up eight places from lights to chequered flag.

Though Alex Marquez lined up third after Martin’s penalty, he was quickly demoted by Martin, who fought with Vinales as brother Marc took fourth on the opening lap.

Marc Marquez took third at Turn 5 from Vinales, while up ahead Bagnaia extended his lead to almost a second by lap three, having set the quickest lap on the second tour.

The fastest-lap tussle continued between the top two, but Bagnaia had pulled a 1.2s gap to Martin by lap six, while Marc Marquez was a further 1.2s behind with Vinales and Di Giannantonio closing, the Italian making it past at the final chicane for fourth.

An odd moment for Marquez on lap eight saw the Spaniard appear to let Di Giannantonio past for third, gesturing for him to move past, while Vinales was close behind the pair.

Bastianini had hit his stride heading into the final 10 laps, running second quickest on track to only Bagnaia and making good headway into the top seven.

He passed Tech3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta for sixth on lap 17, before another bizarre moment at Turn 9 two laps later saw Vinales move into third ahead of a slowing Marquez and Di Giannantonio in fourth and fifth respectively.

The next lap, Bastianini passed Di Giannantonio for fifth, and then nudged Marquez out the way at Turn 1 on lap 21 to take fourth.

He passed Vinales with three laps remaining, but the gap to the leading pair was too large, and Bastianini settled for third, seven seconds behind Bagnaia.

A mistake from Vinales running wide at the final left-hander allowed Marc Marquez back through to take fourth, and further punishment for Vinales for exceeding track limits dropped him to sixth behind Di Giannantonio.

Acosta was close behind this group until a last-gasp crash that meant Brad Binder - in a lonely seventh - finished as top KTM, with Alex Marquez in eighth and Trackhouse Racing rider Raul Fernandez in ninth.

Franco Morbidelli finished 10th for Pramac ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller and factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, with Johann Zarco the leading Honda in 13th for LCR.

Augusto Fernandez was 14th for Tech3 GasGas, ahead of Trackhouse Racing rider Miguel Oliveira, who was handed a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits on lap 16, but ran into the gravel while taking it and was further punished with a second long lap.

Takaaki Nakagami finished 16th for LCR, while fellow Honda rider Luca Marini was last after a trip into the gravel at Turn 4.

Alex Rins crashed out at Turn 1 on his factory Yamaha, while Marco Bezzecchi crashed out at Turn 5 on lap four, having lost the front on his VR46-run Ducati, and though he remounted, he retired two laps later.

Beleaguered Honda rider Joan Mir crashed out on lap seven at Turn 4.