An overnight thunderstorm ensured temperatures were 29 degrees and moderately cooler for Sunday’s 26-lap race than the previous two days in the Netherlands. 108,388 fans were watching on from packed grandstands as Bastianini and Viñales retained their places in the opening laps to sit 11th and 19th, respectively.

Soon Bastianini was on the move. The Italian gained a place on lap two, before a pass on Fabio Quartararo put him ninth, with 1.2s of empty tarmac ahead to a five-rider fight for fourth. ‘La Bestia’ found his groove, setting his personal best time on lap 11, which brought him within range of the riders ahead.

The #23 rider showed plenty of fight, gaining two places due to separate retirements ahead before getting involved in an exciting scrap with Marc Márquez for sixth, with the pair trading places on lap 22.

Crossing the line in seventh, Bastianini was later classified in sixth after Márquez dropped a place due to exceeding track limits on the final lap. This performance equals the Italian’s best Sunday result of the year.

On the sister KTM bike, Viñales continued to gain positions and set his personal best time on lap 13 as he fought with Jack Miller and Diogo Moreira for 12th. ‘Top Gun’ came out on top in the three-rider scrap but had to drop one position due to exceeding track limits on the final lap. 13th place is the Spaniard’s best result of the year to date.

After three double-headers in eight weekends, Bastianini and Viñales now have ten days to prepare for the Grand Prix of Germany at the historic Sachsenring from 10-12 July.

Enea Bastianini: “It’s been a positive weekend for us – the most solid of the year. At the end I’m happy because we fought for something good today, and we weren’t very far from fourth. All weekend the top three were in another world, but we were very close in the fight behind. We made some improvements to the turning of the bike for today, but I missed a little feeling when I released the brakes. Also, in the end my feeling with the medium wasn’t great. The soft would have been better for my riding style and I was losing a bit on the exit of the fast corners. But it’s not easy to make this decision, and P6 is a good result so I’m happy with today’s race.”

Maverick Viñales: “It was a very tough race, but I feel like I’ve improved all my body, especially on the right side. The race in Mugello was difficult, especially because of arm pump, but here it was great. I still need to improve as in four corners I was losing so much time. Today the bike was moving a bit more with the full tank and the medium rear tyre fitted - plus it was quite windy - but it was nothing that disturbed me. Once the tyres became worn, I felt better, and I could ride in a good way. This is a difficult track so I’m happy to come away with two good performances. Now it’s time to rest and I’m confident we’ll be even stronger in Germany.”

Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “A strong result overall for Red Bull KTM Tech3 here in Assen. Enea showed good pace through the weekend. Starting from 11th on the grid he had a strong P8 in the Sprint and rode a great race today, having a nice fight with the Márquez brothers. This P6 equals his best Sunday result of the season so let’s keep performing and working like this. On the other side, I would say it’s more progress for Maverick. Even if it was difficult, he kept going to get his best result of the season. Little by little we’re closing the gap.”