What happened today will go down to the books of MotoGP History. First ever win by an Indian Manufacturer "Mahindra" in Moto3, first ever win by the Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami followed by the first ever MotoGP win for the Australian rider Jack Miller.The contemporary Dutch Grand Prix began as a full wet race with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) leading the pack followed by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). Yonny Hernandez (Aspar team MotoGP) stumbled everyone by making brave moves upon Dovi and Rossi to take the lead. As Hernandez started to open up some gap up front, Rossi and Dovi decided not to risk anything in the uncertain conditions. Soon the track began to dry and the Flag was out to swap bikes, and in the mean time Dovi was able to catch up Rossi.
Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) continued his worst form in the wet, by fighting for the last few places. In the meantime Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) joined the party in the front, soon after which Yonny Hernandez lost his front leading to a crash. Nature never showed any mercy and with just 12 laps remaining to the race finish, the rain got too severe leading to low visibility for the riders. Eventually the race was red flagged, and riders began to hit their pits.
As the clock ticked, the rain was only getting worse. After about 10 minutes the rain gave some sort of excuse and the Race Direction decided to restart the race with 12 laps. The Quick restart rule came into use for the first time ever, where the Grid was formed based on the positions after the end of Lap 14. The race was started by Dovizioso on pole followed by Petrucci and Rossi. Soon after the start, Dovizioso lost his front while catching Rossi and destroyed his chance of a podium finish. The following lap was a disaster for Valentino Rossi as he became a victim for a crash in the Turn 10.
Chances of winning were very high for Valentino, which if had happened would have seen him right in between Marquez and Lorenzo in the Championship standings. In all these drama, there was one rider who was making some steady progress. Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) showed some great skills in the wet and soon found himself in the second place, just behind Marquez. Miller soon squeezed through Marquez and made steady progress to open up a big gap to lead the Dutch Grand Prix.
Knowing all the circumstances Marquez decided to hold his nerves, and settle for a safe second place. Jack Miller kept his cool till the end, just to pull off a long stand-up wheelie to the finish line. The podium was completed by Marc Marquez and Scott Redding. The remaining spots were filled by Pol Espargaro, Andrea Iannone, Hector Barbera, Eugene Laverty, Stefan Bradl, Maverick Viñales, Jorge Lorenzo, Tito Rabat, Dani Pedrosa and Danilo Petrucci respectively.
Jack Miller became the first Australian to win a MotoGP race after Casey Stoner. He was also the first non factory rider to win a race after Toni Elias who won the Portuguese GP in 2006. Marc Marquez knew the value of his 20 points for the championship and was seen very happy in the Parc Ferme. Jack Miller unable to control his emotions of the first ever MotoGP victory, punished his Michelin rear tyre with Burnouts.
After Round 8 of the MotoGP World Championship Marc Marquez extended his lead to the standings followed by the Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. The next round is in 3 weeks time at the legendary Sachsenring circuit in Germany, till then stay tuned to BikesIndia.
By: Aravind Rb