Magnificent Marc: Dutch TT Glory for the Championship Leader

It is Marc Marquez's world and we are just living in it in 2025; another weekend comes around and here we are talking about how Marc took the double...again. There were, however, plenty of talking points from the Dutch Grand Prix, and we are going to go through them here, starting with the sprint.

It may have been the perfect result, but it wasn't the perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who only managed fourth on the grid, with his nearest title rivals ahead. Quartararo managed to secure another pole position this year, but dropped like a stone through the field in both races. But before the end of lap 1, Marc had jumped Pecco and Alex and made it to the front.

The move for the lead came into the final chicane. Marc dived up the inside of Quartararo, which later allowed Alex through into turn 1. The pair began to settle into the race and while it looked like Alex might make a move, he was happy to sit behind his older brother. He received some comments for this, with many suggesting that Alex doesn't race Marc as hard as he races others. This sparked a bit of a debate over the weekend, but it is becoming apparent that the two are unwilling to battle too hard.

But that didn't mean the sprint was dull. Silverstone race winner Bezzecchi was making moves from fifth on the grid, diving up the inside of Bagnaia and Quartararo into the final chicane to move up into the podium places. From there he began to chase down the Marquez brothers, but was unable to launch an attack on Alex. He did, however, bring Digia with him, who managed to battle his way through on Pecco.

To compound his misery, Quartararo dropped it at turn 10 as the front end washed away, another sign that he is having to push far too hard on that bike to keep up with the Ducatis and the Aprilia. It meant a good result for Vinales, who finished in sixth behind Bagnaia, and Aldeguer in seventh. Morbidelli and Acosta rounded out the points scoring positions.

We mentioned on our podcast last week that it was possible, and even expected, that Marc Marques would equal second place on the MotoGP/500cc Grand Prix victories list, putting himself behind Rossi in the record books. Victory at the Dutch TT means Marc is now equal with Giacomo Agostini, who attended the race at the weekend, and is just 21 victories away from Rossi. To put that into perspective, Rossi sits on 372 starts from 2000-2021, Marc on the other hand has only 199 between 2013 and 2025 to his name. It is entirely possible that Marc could go on to top that table in the next couple of years.

He didn't quite have it all his own way though, as Bagnaia got off to a brilliant start to grab the holeshot into Turn 1. Quartararo once again dropped down the order, losing out to the Marquez brothers in the opening phase. It wasn't long before Marc made a move on Alex, and then Bez made a move on Alex, dropping second-place in the championship down to fourth. Pedro Acosta's move on Quartararo brought the KTM man up to the back of the Gresini shortly after, where we see our first bit of drama.

With Pecco and Marc battling the pace was slow enough to bring the chasing pack close together. Spotting an opportunity, Acosta tried to make a move on Alex Marquez into the opening corners. Not wanting to give up the position, Alex pushed the KTM out wide at the hairpin. The two rubbed together as they powered onto the back straight, until it ended with Alex's front wheel buckling and the bike tumbling into the grass. He took quite a fall and has since fractured his hand.

Bagnaia's race settled in to the usual lack of pace compared to his teammate, and left him vulnerable to a flying Bez behind. The Aprilia man pounced in his usual spot and set off after Marc, leaving Bagnaia to battle a rapid Acosta. It really was quite the run to the flag as Marquez and Bezzecchi began setting fast laps, trading lap times, and pushing each other hard. But, Marc's true race pace lies in how he treats his tyres, and in the last few laps, Marc stretched his legs and secured the victory, but what a performance from Bez, again. Acosta brought Vinales and Digia with him, but Bagnaia held on to the final podium place.

So Marc, Bez, Pecco your podium finishers, Acosta a close fourth with another KTM of Vinales behind for a strong weekend for the Austrian manufacturer. Digia took the honours at VR46, finishing ahead of Morbidelli. Those two battled hard, with the latter receiving a long lap penalty for shortcutting the final chicane. Fernandez secured more points for Aprilia in eighth, ahead of Bastianini and Quartararo in tenth. Binder, Zarco, Rins, Miller, and Chantra rounded out the points. A strong weekend for KTM, with all their riders securing key points.

I'm not going to go into it again, but Jorge Martin has continued to make noise about his contract over the weekend and subsequent days post-race. However, Bez and Fernandez putting in good performances on the Aprilia can only strengthen the Italian team's position in those negotiations. Bez is now fifth in the standings, just 15 points behind Digia. The factory Aprilia team are now also in fifth just 16 points behind KTM in the standings, which would indicate that maybe they don't need Martin, things are going well and they clearly have a very good bike in race conditions.

Alex Marquez had to undergo surgery following his crash on Sunday, and has since shared positive results following his medical check. Alex was deemed unfit during the race, meaning he needs to pass a physical before he is allowed to race. It is yet unconfirmed if he will be able to race at the German Grand Prix in just over a week's time, but if he was going to miss any race this year, it would be the one that is a guaranteed Marc win. It could be a huge blow to any championship hope he might still have.