Brad Binder misses out on podium due to penalty

Brad Binder crossed the line third at the Dutch MotoGP but a penalty for exceeding track limits saw him demoted to fourth missing out on a podium finish ahead of the mid-season break.

Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia won the Dutch MotoGP at Assen on Sunday, extending his championship lead.

Brad Binder misses out on podium

Pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi took second ahead of Binder who would see his third place handed to Aleix Espargaro.

Binder had suffered a similar penalty in Saturday’s sprint race but remains a championship dark horse.

Binder’s teammate Jack Miller crashed out early in the race, with the Australia going down towards the conclusion of the first lap.

By contrast Binder made a blinding start snatching an early lead in front of a reputed 105,000 at Assen.

French duo Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo came together for another spectacular off early in the race.

When Maverick Vinales parted ways with his Aprilia after just three laps, the race lost a fourth rider.

Enea Bastianini dropped out of the race, and Brad Binder was closely monitoring Bagnaia who had nicked the lead off the South African with Bezzecchi close behind.

Miguel Oliveira was forced to abandon his Aprilia as the 26-lap race’s halfway mark drew near.

After ten circuits, Bezzecchi climbed up to second and began to closely pursue Bagnaia, who was nearly one second ahead of him.

However, despite his best efforts, Saturday’s sprint champion Bezzecchi was unable to summon the necessary pace to deny Bagnaia his fourth win in eight races this year.

Bagnaia takes charge

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Jorge Martin is 35 points behind Championship leader Bagnaia going into the summer break.

“It’s fantastic! It wasn’t easy, they were pushing a lot behind,” said Bagnaia after the win.

“I was on the limit.

“I love this track,this crowd — Assen, you are fantastic!”