A weekend of absolute dominance by Pico Bagnaia at his favorite track, Assen, meant in many respects that the Dutch TT team was all about the MotoGP world champion and Jorge Martin's valiant efforts to try and stay relevant.
But the level of performance from both cars was so high that the real talking points of the weekend were behind them, with penalties, incidents and surprise results helping to add plenty of excitement to the action behind them.
Of course, this means there are plenty of metrics that can be used to rank the network based on performance on the opening weekend of this season's contestant ratings.
Scoring points on the grid based on their performance not only in the main event but also in Saturday's sprint race is obviously all subjective – but it doesn't just come from the final result of the race, it takes into account things like the machines they're using and the pre-race expectations of them .
1 pico bagnaia
It started: the first race: the first I finish: 1- The first
Banaya leads all training sessions. He qualified from first place with a new lap record. He led both races every lap, setting new race lap records en route to wins on Saturday and Sunday.
MotoGP weekends couldn't be more dominant than the one he enjoyed in Assen. An important reminder of who is still the leader at the Ducati team.
2 Jorge Martin
I started: Fifth Fast enemy: the second I finish: the second
Given the struggles he faced on Friday, there was an element of fear about Martin's sprint as he tried to chase down dominant title rival Bagnaia.
But thanks to his efforts, the championship leader managed his races to the fullest, doing his best to secure second place twice without ever being in danger of getting stuck in the gravel trap. It may not have been his best result of the year, but it was one of the most impressive weekends for Martin as he maintained his 10-point lead in the standings.
3 Fabio Di Giannantonio
It started: the fourth race: Fifth I finish: the fourth
There really is no better way to remind the world how talented you are when you're looking for a job than to throw yourself straight into the fray on the podium against more experienced, higher-ranked opponents and win – but that's exactly what Di Giannantonio was able to do at Assen.
As strong as anyone on a Ducati GP23 – including Marc Marquez – his performance should increase his future value as he negotiates a seat in 2025.
4 Enea Bastianini
It started: The tenth Fast enemy: the fourth I finish: 3- The third
If Bastianini had been able to start races the way he finishes them, he would already be a MotoGP world champion.
With his ability to manage his tires better than anyone else and with incredible late-race speed, this weekend was a perfect example of how he gives himself a lot of work to do in the early stages.
Considering that he had to fight his way through the pack, it is doubtful that he would have been able to challenge his team-mate Bagnaia's dominance – but he should have at least been much closer to Martin in both races.
5 Maverick Vinales
It started: 2nd Fast enemy: 3- The third I finish: Fifth
A weekend where it's hard to believe there aren't more offers for Viñales.
He looked like the best of the rest against the title contenders in the sprint race, so he should be able to repeat that form on Sunday.
However, a late attack from Bastianini not only demoted Viñales off the podium, but also opened the door for Marc Marquez and Di Giannantonio to cross, and Viñales was fortunate that Marquez's post-race penalty helped fix what should have been better. On Sunday by facing the Aprilia rider losing his position due to exceeding the track limits.
6 Marc Marquez
I started: VI race: Not finished I finish: The tenth
You have to feel a little sorry for Marquez, because his performance in Sunday's race was certainly better than the 10th place he achieved in the final classification.
Marquez suffered an unfortunate tire pressure penalty, and it was not reflective of the way he is currently making the 2023 Ducati work. However, there are no excuses for what happened on Saturday, when an incident that was no one's fault but his own seriously damaged any ambitions he still had to win the title. Marquez is now 58 points behind Martin with plenty of work to do.
7 Raul Fernandez
It started: eleventh race: seventeenth I finish: VIII
This wasn't exactly the race-leading performance we've seen from Fernandes in the past few weeks, but Assen nonetheless marked a solid weekend for him.
He has kept in touch with the Aprilia factory machinery despite being on a year-old bike and has consistently outperformed teammate Miguel Oliveria, exactly the kind of strong work that will now help define his primary goal of staying with the Trackhouse team for 2025.
8 Alex Marquez
I started: the third Fast race:eighth I finishSeventh:
With Johann Zarco missing from the Ducati line-up, the role of the rider who disappears after the green flag only to suddenly appear at the finish line in a good place will pass to Alex Marquez in 2024.
He's quietly doing his job at the moment, getting good results in the process, and after another good weekend in Assen, it's no surprise at all that the team have renewed him for another two seasons.
9 Brad Bender
It started: VIII race: VI I finish: VI
A fairly standard weekend for Binder at a track where he and KTM have never really shined.
Almost completely invisible even as the Austrian brand's top rider, he is lucky to have inherited sixth place in the final seconds of the race when his 2025 team-mate Pedro Acosta crashed.
It was at least a race that Binder and KTM were expecting to have before trying to bounce back next time at the Sachsenring.
10 Fabio Quartararo
It started: 12 Fast enemy: Seventh I finish: 12
There was a lot of potential coming to Assen from Yamaha, given the successful Valencia test beforehand and the new engine as a result.
Quartararo also performed well in the sprint race, finishing 10th.
But it wasn't there for him on Sunday. With (as usual) struggling to control the car in the opening laps, it was a case of damage limitation at the end, which led to a rather lacklustre result.
11 Johann Zarco
I started: seventeenth race: sixteen I finish: Thirteenth
Zarco's trick at the moment seems to be his ability to work his way to the top of Honda week after week.
Perhaps better able to manage the balance between pushing hard to the point of crashing (like Joan Mir) and cruising too slowly (like Luca Marini), Zarco repeatedly finds himself in a position to pick up the pieces when others are struggling, a big deal reflected in his decent points-scoring run on Sunday.
12 Pedro Acosta
It started: Ninth Sprint: The tenth I finish:Not finished
Another reminder that while he may be very fast, Acosta is still a rookie in the MotoGP championship.
After struggling in the sprint on Saturday, he seemed to recover on Sunday to take his usual place in the top three. However, he eventually fell behind as his tyres ran out, asking for too much late and paying the price when he crashed.
13 Franco Morbidelli
It started: Seventh race: Ninth I finish: Ninth
Ducati's progress continues for Morbidelli, as his long road back to competitiveness and (perhaps most importantly) confidence continues.
A pair of 90s isn't great but it's solid, even if it's somewhat tarnished by the fact that it was the only 2024 Ducati to finish on the podium in Assen (and a long way from it too).
There is clearly still a lot of work to be done, and it is no surprise that he would like to stay on for another year on a Ducati bike in 2025 to continue that.
14 Augusto Fernandez
I started: 20 Fast enemy: 15 I finish: 14
This was not the worst weekend of Fernandes' season despite his pre-race predictions, but the long, fast turns in Assen were always going to be a challenge for him.
But he managed to make some progress over the weekend, get back into shape, and at least be in a position to pick up some championship points by getting to the checkered flag on Sunday.
15 Jack Miller
It started: 13 race: Thirteenth I finish: eleventh
As with his team-mate Binder, the weekend in Assen was not expected to be easy for Miller on the KTM.
However, the reality is that disappearing into the middle group is not what he needs now as he fights for a seat in 2025, especially when the bike-related excuses are somewhat mitigated by Binder being five places ahead of him and up. In form Acosta looks faster.
16 Joan Mir
It started: eighteen Fast enemy: 14 I finish: DNF
Another weekend without points but lots of crashes for Honda rider Mir.
Seemingly (and perhaps inexplicably) getting closer and closer to renewing his deal with Honda, his commitment to pushing a tough bike beyond its capabilities when other riders are happy to settle down must at least be a testament to his continued commitment to making a comeback. To winning ways as soon as possible.
17 Alex Reines
I started: 15 race: nineteenth I finish: DNF
This weekend was a glimmer of hope for Rins and the Yamaha project (thanks to the new engine specs). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see that light on Sunday when he crashed out of the race after a very serious crash in the first corner.
The race showed that all is not yet there, especially compared to the performance of teammate Quartararo, but the work is slowly paying off.
18 Miguel Oliveira
It started: sixteen race: 12 I finish: 15
It was a frankly disappointing weekend for Oliveira as he never looked like he was in a position to threaten a decent result.
Due to a long lap penalty that he failed to execute correctly and had to repeat, he was lucky to only pick up one point from a completely normal weekend.
19 Taka Nakagami
I started: 21 Fast enemy: Eighteenth place finished: sixteenth place
It's hard not to feel a little sorry for Nakagami now.
In the same boat as everyone else on a Honda when he tried to extract anything at all from the RC213V, it just wasn't quite right for him – but unlike everyone else, there's a sense of running out of time without a deal for next year.
Waiting for new parts to try and fix some of the Honda's issues, those haven't arrived yet and won't be anytime soon, which means it's just frustration after frustration for now.
20 Marco Bezzicchi
I started: fourteenth race: eleventh I finish: Not finished
Bizzicki is traditionally strong in Assen, but it seemed he spent more time this week in the gravel traps than on the track, punishing himself quite as he struggled to find any solution at all to his problems with the 2023 Ducati bike. He crashed in the race and retired soon after , on the fifth lap of 26.
The end result was a weekend that no VR46 Ducati rider will ever forget.
21 Luca Marini
It started: nineteenth Fast enemy: DNF I finish: 17
A tougher weekend for Marini than he's used to this season.
With a technical issue in Saturday's race sending him into the pits early and tarnishing his impressive record of reaching the checkered flag, contact with Augusto Fernandez on Sunday sent him onto the gravel.
Data collected, yes, but another frustrating weekend.
Neither Aprilia factory rider Aleix Espargaro nor test rider Lorenzo Savadori were classified after them. Weekend withdrawal After accidents in the speed race on Saturday.
