MADRID, 23 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French rider Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), the Spanish Sergio García Dols (GasGas) and the Italian Celestino Vietti (Kalex) will try to take advantage of the Dutch Grand Prix, the eleventh round of the Motorcycle World Championship that is being held this weekend at the Assen circuit, to go on vacation with a smile and, in the case of the first, with half a title in his pocket.
‘La Catedral’ will be the scene of the last race before the grid takes a ‘rest’ until the beginning of August and the three leaders of MotoGP, Moto3 and Moto2 face it with different pressures, since only the ‘Devil’ knows no matter what happens, he will return to Silverstone (England) as the first classified in the ‘queen’ category.
And it is that in MotoGP is where at the moment there is less emotion, with a Quartararo who is acting as current champion and who dominates the championship quite comfortably after adding his third victory of the year at Sachsenring (Germany) last weekend and second in a row.
The arrival in Europe has brought the greatest dominance of the Yamaha rider, who has only curiously ‘failed’ at his home appointment, at Le Mans, with fourth place. His triumphs in Portugal, Barcelona and Germany are joined by two second places in Jerez and Italy to reach 172 points, 34 more than his main pursuer, the Spanish Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia).
The one from Granollers is being the most regular, but his bike doesn’t manage to have the potential of the ‘M1’ and that deprives him of being able to fight for victories. And without them, currently, cutting back on Nice seems complicated. Also, at Assen, Yamaha has been performing well lately, with three wins in their last four visits, including the last two thanks to Quartararo and Maverick Viñales.
However, in ‘La Catedral’ a complicated weekend is expected due to the weather and that could lead to a change of script in which an Espargaró who could only be fourth at the Sachsenring and who is displaying a great regularity.
After the first two classified, the best placed to be in front are the Ducati, which alternate good races with other negative ones. In the German Grand Prix, the Frenchman Johan Zarco and the Australian Jack Miller accompanied Quartararo on the podium, although the Borgo Panigale brand has not won in Assen since 2008 with the Australian Casey Stoner and is not on the podium in 2017.
GUEVARA, TO ‘HUNT’ GARCÍA DOLS
For their part, in Moto3 and Moto2 there is much more excitement because their respective leaders, the Spaniard Sergio García Dols and the Italian Celestino Vietti, enjoy an advantage over their rivals that does not reach ten points.
The rider from Castellón continues his personal hand in hand with his partner in Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’s team, Izán Guevara, who once again demonstrated at the Sachsenring that he is currently the one with the best pace on the grid.
The Spaniard took the victory over Germany, the second in a row of the season after dominating in Montmeló, and continued to beat García Dols, whose third place somewhat minimized the damage, but who will face the race at ‘La Catedral’ with only seven points of advantage.
Behind both, another candidate for the title was once again placed as the current Moto3 world runner-up, the Italian Dennis Foggia (Honda) who put an end to his losing streak with a second place that still leaves him far from the leadership (51 points ). Repeating the 2021 victory seems key to strengthening his options before the break.
Finally, in Moto2, there are only eight points of advantage between the leader Vietti, penalized for his third ‘0’ of the season at the Sachsenring, and the Japanese Ai Ogura (Kalex), who did not shine last weekend either with an eighth place .
The Valencian Arón Canet (Kalex) also did not take advantage of the Italian’s failure with a ninth place that still leaves him with 17 points, while the one who did take advantage was the Madrilenian Augusto Fernández (Kalex), whose victory in Germany lifted him to third place twelve points before facing a Grand Prix where he was third last year and winner in 2019.
The bad news for the KTM team is that his teammate, Pedro Acosta, second at the Sachsenring, broke his left femur in training this week and will not be able to be at ‘La Catedral.