Source: MotoGP.

A massive crowd of over 97,000 fans witnessed one of the greatest MotoGP battles ever today, as nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi secured a dramatic last corner victory against Marc Marquez at the legendary TT Circuit Assen.

After a thrilling race-long duel, Marquez made a brave move on Rossi as the duo entered the final chicane on the last lap.

There was contact between the pair, which forced Rossi to run straight on through the gravel at the Geert Timmer chicane.

The Italian managed managed to stay upright though and went on to take the chequered flag 1.242s ahead of Marquez, claiming his third win of the season and first from pole position since Misano in 2009.

Movistar Yamaha’s Rossi, starting from pole for the first time since Valencia last season, led into the first corner and it didn’t take Marquez long to join him after starting from third on the grid, overtaking Aleix Espargaro on the first lap to move into second.

Marquez was happy to sit behind Rossi for most of the race, before making his move and taking the lead into turn 1 on lap 20. Rossi bided his time, and then responded with three laps to go to retake the lead at turn 10.

The Italian then put in his fastest lap of the race in an effort to pull away, but Marquez responded on the final lap to get within striking distance once again as the duo approached the final chicane.

Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo enjoyed a brilliant start from eighth on the grid, and found himself in third after the first lap.

Any hopes the Spaniard had of making it five wins in a row disappeared shortly afterwards though, as Rossi and Marquez pulled away at the front and disappeared off into the distance.

The double MotoGP World Champion eventually crossed the line 14.576s behind his teammate in a lonely third position and slipped 10-points behind Rossi in the world championship standings.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+19.109s) was another four seconds back to finish in a lonely fourth. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro won an incredible battle for fifth that saw four riders all finish within 0.4s of each other.

The Spaniard also finished as the leading Satellite rider after he crossed the line just 0.105s ahead of CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow in sixth.

Espargaro’s teammate Bradley Smith was seventh in front of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa (+24.656s), who had fought back valiantly after a crash in the earlier Warm Up session and a disastrous start that saw him down in 12th after the first lap.

The Team Suzuki Ecstar duo of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales were next across the line in ninth and tenth respectively, ahead of Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci (11th) and the second Factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso in twelfth.

EG 0,0 Marc VDS’s Scott Redding finished 46.663s back from Rossi in 13th, while Loris Baz (Athina Forward Racing) took the Open class victory for the second time in three races ahead of Aspar MotoGP Team’s Nicky Hayden who crossed the line in 16th.

Hector Barbera and Jack Miller were involved in a crash on the very first lap that resulted in the Spaniard having to go to the medical centre for checks on his right leg, although he was later declared free of injury.

Alex De Angelis, Eugene Laverty and Stefan Bradl also crashed out; with the latter finding out he had fractured the scaphoid in his right wrist after an X-ray at the Medical Centre.

Rossi’s (163pts) victory, his 85th in the premier class, means he has extended his lead in the championship standings over Lorenzo (153pts) to 10 points with 10 races to go.

Moto2 World Championship leader Johann Zarco came out on top in duel with rival Tito Rabat in a re-started race at the Motul TT Assen. Completing the podium was Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes, while Anthony West crashed out of the points.

Zarco (159pts) has now extended his Moto2 World Championship lead over Rabat (114pts) to 45 points, with Lowes (96pts) consolidating third a further 18-points back.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira took his second Moto3 victory in a sensational race at the Motul TT Assen, fending off Fabio Quartararo (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and championship leader Danny Kent (Leopard Racing). Remy Gardner was 26th.

Kent managed to extend his lead in the championship standings once more, and is now 57-points clear of Bastianini, with Oliveira another six points back in third.

A Dutch TT double for Bo Bendsneyder making it four Red Bull MotoGP Cup wins in a row. Unlike Friday’s race one where he had to fight to the line with Italian 16-Year-old Fabio Di Giannantonio, this time he built an advantage that grew to three seconds.

It was still Di Giannantonio second, but this time he was scrapping with Oscar Gutierrez and Enzo Boulom for the rostrum places.

That was only decided at the final corner with 15-year-old Spaniard Gutierrez across the grass to claim third leaving Boulom a slightly frustrated 18-year-old Frenchman just off the podium.

Olly Simpson’s race one crash while in contention for a podium left him with a dislocated shoulder and the Australian could not start race two.

2015 MotoGP World Championship
Round three – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW

MotoGP race results:
1. Valentino ROSSI
2. Marc MARQUEZ
3. Jorge LORENZO
4. Andrea IANNONE
5. Pol ESPARGARO
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW
7. Bradley SMITH
8. Dani PEDROSA
9. Aleix ESPARGARO
10. Maverick VIÑALES
11. Danilo PETRUCCI
12. Andrea DOVIZIOSO
13. Scott REDDING
14. Yonny HERNANDEZ
15. Loris BAZ
16. Nicky HAYDEN
17. Alvaro BAUTISTA
18. Mike DI MEGLIO
19. Marco MELANDRI

Moto2 race results:
1. Johann ZARCO
2. Tito RABAT
3. Sam LOWES
4. Alex RINS
5. Thomas LUTHI
6. Xavier SIMEON
7. Jonas FOLGER
8. Mika KALLIO
9. Alex MARQUEZ
10. Simone CORSI
11. Julian SIMON
12. Dominique AEGERTER
13. Takaaki NAKAGAMI
14. Randy KRUMMENACHER
15. Hafizh SYAHRIN
16. Azlan SHAH
17. Sandro CORTESE
18. Marcel SCHROTTER
19. Franco MORBIDELLI
20. Robin MULHAUSER
21. Jesko RAFFIN
22. Axel PONS
23. Thitipong WAROKORN
24. Ratthapark WILAIROT
25. Jasper IWEMA

Moto3 race results:
1. Miguel OLIVEIRA
2. Fabio QUARTARARO
3. Danny KENT
4. Jorge NAVARRO
5. Romano FENATI
6. Enea BASTIANINI
7. Brad BINDER
8. Karel HANIKA
9. Niccolò ANTONELLI
10. John MCPHEE
11. Francesco BAGNAIA
12. Andrea MIGNO
13. Livio LOI
14. Hiroki ONO
15. Philipp OETTL
16. Jules DANILO
17. Niklas AJO
18. Jorge MARTIN
19. Darryn BINDER
20. Jakub KORNFEIL
21. Alessandro TONUCCI
22. Stefano MANZI
23. Ana CARRASCO
24. Matteo FERRARI
25. Gabriel RODRIGO
26. Remy GARDNER (AUS)
27. Jorel BOERBOOM
28. Kevin HANUS

Click here for detailed results