Assen MotoGP: Marc Marquez wins eventful wet/dry race
Marc Marquez coped with changeable weather, pitstops, a mistake and a fighting Andrea Dovizioso to take an eighth-straight MotoGP win in the Dutch TT at Assen
Although Dovizioso was not able to hang on ahead of Marquez's Honda and end Ducati's win drought, he still claimed second, with Dani Pedrosa third.
Valentino Rossi's fifth place was the best Yamaha could salvage from a terrible race.
A brief rain shower as the riders headed for the grid caused a delayed start as officials gave the field two extra reconnaissance laps to decide whether to start on slicks or wets.
The handful of riders who pondered slicks thought better of it before the start - though Rossi stuck with slicks until the end of the green-flag lap and only then bailed out, forcing him to start from the pitlane.
Marquez burst past polesitter Aleix Espargaro off the line, but wet weather ace Dovizioso was soon right with him, and the pair swapped positions four times on the opening lap.
The world champion managed to establish a narrow lead before they both pitted for their slick-shod bikes early on.
With everyone doing likewise, they were soon back to the front, but not before Marquez had slid off the road on his cold slicks and let Dovizioso ahead.
The Ducati managed to hold a four-second lead for a while before Marquez started creeping closer, finally slipping back into first place at the chicane with 10 laps to go.
Dovizioso kept in touch for a while then slipped back in second, as Marquez charged clear and maintained his unbeaten 2014 run.
Pedrosa broke clear of Aleix Espargaro - after a dice in which they passed each other countless times - to complete the podium, with Forward racer Espargaro hanging on for fourth.
Rossi made it back from his pitlane start to finish fifth, picking his way through a dice including Andrea Iannone and Alvaro Bautista, who followed him home.
But it was an awful day for Jorge Lorenzo, who was never on the pace.
He lost ground by leaving his switch to slicks too late, and then fell as low as 17th as he struggled for speed on his second bike. He finally finished 13th.
Cal Crutchlow shone in the damp at first and eventually took ninth, losing out to a charging Bradley Smith - who finished right on Bautista's tail for seventh - late on.
Paul Bird rider Broc Parkes produced the greatest underdog ride, capitalising on an early switch to slicks to run sixth.
He held his own among the faster bikes and nearly clung on for a top-10 finish, until Stefan Bradl passed him in the closing laps. Bradl had earlier crashed on his way to the grid when the shower hit.
Drizzle in the second half of the race prompted many teams to begin preparing their wet-weather bikes again, with Marquez and Honda among those considering second pitstops.
Only Colin Edwards took the plunge, and he was soon back in again as the brief shower swiftly stopped.
Results - 26 laps: Pos Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap 1. Marc Marquez Honda 43m29.954s 2. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati +6.714s 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda +10.791s 4. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha +19.199s 5. Valentino Rossi Yamaha +25.813s 6. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati +29.003s 7. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda +30.882s 8. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha +30.985s 9. Cal Crutchlow Ducati +44.031s 10. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda +48.662s 11. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia +51.863s 12. Scott Redding Gresini Honda +1m00.329s 13. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha +1m04.641s 14. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda +1m05.980s 15. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Aprilia +1m17.611s 16. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda +1m19.753s 17. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda +1m27.630s 18. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki +1m28.142s 19. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati -1 lap 20. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki -1 lap 21. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia -1 lap 22. Colin Edwards Forward Yamaha -3 laps Retirements: Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 8 laps
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