MOTOGP: Bagnaia felt he "had a real chance to fight for the win" at Assen

Having secured a third-place finish at last Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, two-time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia said that he felt he "had a real chance to fight for the win."

Ducati celebrated victory in the Grand Prix of the Netherlands with six-time MotoGP champion Marc Márquez, who claimed his third consecutive Sunday race win – a feat he hadn’t achieved in six years – while also equalling Giacomo Agostini’s tally of premier class wins (68). Francesco Bagnaia returned to the podium in third place.

Márquez got off to a strong start from row two and moved into the lead on lap six. He defended the top spot confidently from Marco Bezzecchi and pulled away in the final stages.

Bagnaia had led the early part of the race for five laps before dropping back slightly. The Italian then closed the gap to the leading duo but was unable to get close enough to fight for the win.

At the end of the tenth Grand Prix of the season, Marc Márquez leads the championship with 370 points, holding a 68-point advantage over Alex Márquez. Francesco Bagnaia lies third, 126 points behind his teammate.

Reflecting on his third-place finish at Assen, Bagnaia said: “Here, for the first time, I felt I had a real chance to fight for the win. Today, when I finally managed to get fully dialled in, it was already a bit too late.

"I was lapping really fast, but I can’t seem to get close enough to the rider ahead. When I try, I end up taking too many risks, which usually lead to me running wide.

"It’s a tricky situation that has been with us since the start of the season, and it seems hard to solve – but we must keep working and take a step forward.”