MotoGP 2016: Miller wins wet and wild Dutch grand prix

The TT Circuit at Assen, as we have learnt from the past, is one of the few races on the MotoGP calendar which are always a bag full of surprises.

The TT Circuit at Assen, as we have learnt from the past, is one of the few races on the MotoGP calendar which are always a bag full of surprises. And with weather gods playing along today in the MotoGP class, it was even more chaotic, making the race results anything but predictable. Marc VDS Honda’s Jack Miller finished the wet and wild race of DutchGP in first place, thereby, becoming the first satellite rider to clinch a MotoGP win in 10 years! Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda came second while Scott Redding of Pramac Ducati secured the third spot on the podium.

Before the start, the DutchGP was declared a ‘Wet Race’, meaning all the riders had to go out on wet tyres. However, 14 laps into the race and the track conditions were drastically worsened since it started pouring down quite heavily, eventually forcing Race Direction to red flag the race. At this moment, Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati was leading a group of riders including Danilo Petrucci, Valentino Rossi, Scott Redding, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. The race was restarted for the remaining 12 laps once the rain started to ease off. Riders started from the same positions as they were on the 14th lap, before getting red flagged.

Rossi pulled ahead from third spot on the grid, followed by Dovizioso and Marc Marquez. But that wasn’t going to be the final order since moments after the restart, the race turned into a crash-fest. Rossi, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Cal Crutchlow, Bradley Smith, Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista – all crashed out of the race turn by turn. Some were able to rejoin while some were not…

Miller rode brilliantly in tricky conditions and rode past Marc Marquez, who was treading carefully on the track, especially after seeing his championship rival Rossi go down in front of his eyes. Reigning world champion, Jorge Lorenzo struggled the whole time in the race but luckily didn’t crash out. He finished the race at a lonely 10^th position, gathering some valuable championship points.

Marquez now leads the championship by 24 points from Lorenzo and 42 points from Rossi after the eight race of the season in Assen.

2016 MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying (25/06/2016)
TT Circuit Assen – 4,545km, 18 turns