ASSEN, Netherlands – Maverick Vinales earned his first MotoGP triumph of the year Sunday at TT Circuit Assen.
Team Suzuki Ecstar teammates Alex Rins and Joan Mir shot into the lead at the start as polesitter Fabio Quartararo struggled to get up to speed. Vinales briefly got around Quartararo, but Vinales got out of shape at the exit of turn one and Quartararo moved back into third a few turns later.
Rins was looking comfortable at the front, but his race ended on lap three in turn nine when he tucked the front of his bike and slid off the track and out of contention. That let his teammate Mir with the race lead for the first time in his MotoGP career.
Mir didn’t keep the lead long as he ran wide in turn 16, giving the lead to polesitter Quartararo. Marc Marquez and Vinales would soon follow, moving into second and third, respectively.
The lead trio stayed locked together, with Vinales looking eager to move to the front. He attempted to pass Marquez on lap 10 in turn one but ran wide, costing him half a second.
On lap 11 Marquez moved into the race lead, slipping by the struggling Quartararo. Vinales, meanwhile, was quickly reeling in the the lead duo from third. With 11 laps left Vinales moved into the lead, dispatching Marquez as Quartararo continued to struggle with his bike.
With nine laps left a mistake by Vinales opened the door for Marquez to take the lead in turn one, but Vinales didn’t stay down and drove back by Marquez to regain the lead.
Vinales then set consecutive fast laps, forcing Marquez to back off as he couldn’t keep the same pace as Vinales could on his Yamaha. That allowed Vinales to claim his first victory since last year’s Australian Grand Prix.
“It feels like I’m dreaming. These have been difficult times for me, because I’ve been out of the three tracks where I thought I had the most potential with the bike,” said Vinales. “My season has been difficult, but I’ve tried to keep the momentum from Catalunya, because I felt really good on the bike. I’m so grateful to the team, because they did a great job this weekend and prepared well for the last laps of the race. I was strong, even one-to-one on the brakes, I knew I could make the overtakes. It was very important to relieve some of the pressure by taking a victory. I think the team will be more relaxed now. Being back on the top step of the podium again feels really good and bringing Yamaha back to its winning ways is the most important to me. We knew we had the potential but hadn’t been able to show it. It’s always a combination between the team’s, the rider’s, and the bike’s efforts. Sachsenring is a track I’m usually fast at, so we’ll try our best.”
Marquez settled for second, while Quartararo finished third. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso finished 14 seconds back in fourth, followed by Franco Morbidelli in fifth.