KTM disparity exposed in Dutch MotoGP rider ratings

Victory once again for Marc Marquez in the Dutch MotoGP, but the Ducati star was challenged from outside the Bologna brand on Sunday, while, further back there were real struggles for one of the KTM riders in particular.

Marc Marquez - 9.5

Saturday and Sunday were more or less perfect for Marc Marquez in Assen. He missed pole, in fact he missed the front row, but he was flawless in both races, taking the lead early in the Sprint to manage the race from the front, then letting Francesco Bagnaia lead the early stages of the Sunday race before pouncing when the Italian started to fade mid-race.

The negative for Marquez was Friday, not only because crashing twice had the potential to hamper his weekend, but also because it is the kinds of crashes he had on Friday which feel like more or less the only thing that can prevent him from winning this year’s title – especially now, with a 68-point championship lead.

Marco Bezzecchi - 9.5

It’s hard to know what Marco Bezzecchi could’ve done more in Assen. Win? Sure, but we’ve been saying all season how difficult it is to beat Marc Marquez from the perspective of either Francesco Bagnaia or Alex Marquez, so to expect an Aprilia rider to be able to do it in essentially the first they’ve been at the front along with some of the usual Ducati contenders is maybe a bit harsh.

At the same time, it felt like an opportunity for Aprilia to beat Ducati straight up, without the minor caveats of red flags and mistakes from the Ducati riders that were there in Silverstone.

A win in that race would’ve been without question marks, but Bezzecchi admitted in the press conference that he was more or less just hanging onto Marquez in the second half of the race, and it really does feel, in the end, like Bezzecchi achieved the maximum result this weekend.

Apart from Marc Marquez, second has been the maximum for most riders towards the front this year, so, little shame in that for the Italian, who also seemed to have taken a step forward in qualifying speed this weekend, something that had really held him back with the RS-GP until now.

Francesco Bagnaia - 8

Francesco Bagnaia was defending a three-race Dutch TT winning run coming into this weekend, and he was soundly beaten by his teammate.

He ran into the same problems as 2024 in the Sprint, but he was fast in qualifying again, led laps in the Sunday race, and took his second podium in three races.

It feels like Bagnaia is beginning to rebuild his confidence as we approach the summer break. He’s still a way off his teammate, but perhaps he can get onto level terms with Alex Marquez before we go into the summer, as difficult as that will be to accurately tell given the Gresini rider’s hand injury following his Sunday crash.

Pedro Acosta - 8

The first 20 laps of Pedro Acosta’s race were perhaps the best 20 laps we’ve seen from KTM this season, as he seemed to genuinely threaten a podium.

It went away in the closing laps, but Acosta still hung on to fourth place, his equal best finish of the season after France and Aragon, and he was comfortably the best KTM rider on Sunday.

Maverick Vinales - 7.5

Maverick Vinales held the crown of best KTM rider on Saturday, but he was never able to get himself towards the front on Sunday.

Qualifying was once again difficult for the Tech3 rider, and he didn’t have the same sharpness in cutting through at the start that Acosta – starting one place ahead of him in ninth – managed.

Still, a solid weekend from Vinales, much better than both Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder, and a decent finish in fifth.

Fabio Di Giannantonio - 7

Sixth for Fabio Di Giannantonio came after another difficult qualifying for the Italian rider and another poor start.

He made progress in the middle of the race, but that seemed to come at the cost of tyre life as he dropped off at the end and was unable to catch Vinales for fifth.

Franco Morbidelli - 6.5

Franco Morbidelli served his third long lap penalty in two races on Sunday after cutting the chicane to defend from Di Giannantonio.

It was an odd move from Morbidelli, because the precedent is quite well set now that you won’t get away with cutting a chicane without losing time or position. It also perhaps cost Di Giannantonio a shot at Vinales as a result of the extra lap spent behind Morbidelli, although that’s speculative.

The seventh-place finish wasn’t bad for Morbidelli, but the route to it was once again messy.

Raul Fernandez - 7.5

Eighth for Raul Fernandez marks back-to-back top-10s for the Spaniard for the first time since he went 8-10 across the Dutch and German rounds last year.

Clearly the Aprilia works well at Assen, but Fernandez seems better prepared now than ever before to exploit the bike’s strengths.

Enea Bastianini - 7

Ninth for Enea Bastianini marked a great recovery from the Italian, who started 20th after picking up a three-place grid penalty for blocking Alex Rins in qualifying.

The penalty was deserved, but Bastianini’s response was excellent – his best result since he was ninth at Jerez.

Fabio Quartararo - 7.5

Pole position was great for Fabio Quartararo, but the races once again were difficult.

A crash in the Sprint was the result of a used front tyre and the extend to which he is pushing to be competitive on the YZR-M1.

Then, 10th in the race was an underwhelming result not helped by having to run through the gravel. He lost seven seconds avoiding the high-sided Fermin Aldeguer, but still finished as top-Yamaha.

His pace at the end was perhaps enough for the top-six without the time loss earlier on, but on a weekend where he exclaimed that he needs a bike that can win next year, being able to maybe be sixth if everything was normal is unlikely to be the kind of performance that will leave Quartararo particularly optimistic ahead of Sachsenring in two weeks. Especially at a track that has historically been good both for himself and for the Yamaha.

Brad Binder - 3

Brad Binder was the worst KTM rider, which has historically been rare but has felt like a legitimate possibility on many occasions this year. Not a good weekend for the South African, who was nowhere near Vinales or Acosta all weekend, and was out-paced also by Bastianini in the race.

Johann Zarco - 5

France and Silverstone feel a while ago by now for Johann Zarco, who finished only 12th in Assen.

He was the top-Honda rider, but that only means he beat test rider and pro cyclist Aleix Espargaro, and Somkiat Chantra, since Luca Marini remains injured and Joan Mir crashed from 10th place trying to avoid Aldeguer in the aforementioned incident that cost Quartararo time early on.

Alex Rins - 3

When Quartararo is qualifying on pole and Alex Rins is 19th, it’s easy to see why progress at Yamaha might not be going as quickly as hoped by the Frenchman.

Similar differences in performance have been common this year, and Rins wasn’t much better in the race, beaten by his teammate by just over a second despite the mid-race timeloss with Aldeguer.

His pace at the end was a way off Quartararo’s as well, but Rins was at least ahead of the only Pramac finisher: Jack Miller.

Jack Miller - 3

Miller himself was 14th after a fairly anonymous weekend. Recently it’s felt like the positive start he made with Yamaha has faded into something more underwhelming.

When Toprak Razgatlioglu was announced as a Pramac rider for 2026, Miller felt like a legitimate choice for Yamaha to keep alongside the incoming WorldSBK rider, but that feels like it’s slipped away a little in the previous two races.

Miguel Oliveira didn’t finish the GP after lap one contact with Ai Ogura, but he beat Miller in the Sprint, further adding to a perception that Miller’s performance has declined compared to the start of the season.

Somkiat Chantra - 3

Somkiat Chantra took a point in 15th and beat Aleix Espargaro. Nothing exceptional from the Thai rider but those two things are causes for some amount of positivity.

Aleix Espargaro - 5

Not an outstanding race for Aleix Espargaro, who was last of the 16 classified finishers. But he was there to replace Luca Marini without drawing the Honda HRC team’s attention and efforts from Joan Mir. He did that – a competent test rider fill-in performance from Espargaro in his first experience of that specific role.

Miguel Oliveira - 4

Miguel Oliveira’s Sunday race was over after five corners, but his Sprint performance, in which he was the best-placed Yamaha, was something to be pleased about – to an extent. In his apparent battle with Jack Miller to be the aforementioned Razgatlioglu’s teammate next year, Oliveira has performed well in the two most recent races.

Alex Marquez - 7

Alex Marquez’s DNF was not his fault – it wasn’t Pedro Acosta’s either – but it was more or less the end of any slim title hopes he might’ve been clinging onto, especially with the injury he picked up.

He’d also dropped back quite starkly at the start, which was unusual for him this year.

On the other hand, he was solid as ever in the Sprint to take second behind Marc Marquez, and Marco Bezzecchi’s remarkable mirroring of an average 2025 Alex Marquez race in the Sunday race was evidence that it’s not only Alex Marquez’s familial relationship with the championship leader the is preventing him from fighting him more strongly.

Fermin Aldeguer - 6

Two tricky weekends for Fermin Aldeguer in this MotoGP double-header, concluding with a nasty high-side at Assen.

Seventh in the Sprint after Acosta’s penalty was fairly okay for Aldeguer, but the crash on Sunday was unfortunate. It’s a part of being a rookie, and hopefully he will be able to contest the German Grand Prix in a couple of weeks to continue his first-year progress.

Joan Mir - 4

Joan Mir’s Sunday race was looking quite okay until the crash with Aldeguer and Quartararo, running in 10th place. He’d have had a decent chance at a top-10 had he made it to the finish, but he didn’t.

The Sprint crash was less forgivable than the one in the Sunday race, coming at turn three of the opening lap.

Lorenzo Savadori - 5

Ordinarily, two crashes in one weekend for a test rider would be seen as a particularly bad weekend.

But Savadori was impressively fast in qualifying despite an earlier high-side on Friday, finishing Q1 fifth-fastest.

And the Italian was able to try some new tail aerodynamics from Aprilia on Saturday that Bezzecchi adopted for Sunday’s race, having felt an improvement in Warm Up. So, a messy weekend for Savadori, but he was still able to do his job as a test rider, and on this occasion that work yielded a clear reward.

Ai Ogura - 4

16th for Ai Ogura in Sprint was unable to be improved upon thanks to his lap one crash at turn five on Sunday. All in all a tricky weekend for the Trackhouse rider, who qualified only 20th, crashed twice, and was out-classed by his teammate for the first time this year.

Essentially all of that is forgivable for a rookie, but this was one of Ogura’s most difficult weekends of his rookie season in the premier class.