Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez opted for a🅘 surprise soft rear tyre in Sunday’s Dutch MotoGP aꦓt Assen, which proved a shrewd choice as he clinched victory in a pulsating race.

The reigning champion normally selects a harder compound rear but in contrast to many of his main rivals on🐽 Sunday, the reigning champion went in the opposite👍 direction.

Marquez expl✃ained: “It was strange because normally in the last races we go to the hard and everybody with the soft, ꧑and today it is opposite: many people with the hard and we were with the soft.

“This time if you check a little bit the tyre allocation the softer in some points were harder than the🐭 hard – yes, it is like this and it is something that is sometimes difficult to understand, but the softer in some areas was harder than the ﷺhard tyre and for that reason I chose the soft because I feel better in some corners.

“Then even 😼with the hard I was able to be fast but I feel more drop.”

Runner-up Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales, whꦑo completed the top three, both chos🥂e the harder Michelin rear.

Suzuki rider Rins said: “In my case, with the hard one I was feeling much better. Yesterday on the qualifying I was trying to be strong on the first laps, to 💟see if it was getting hot fast.

“It’s🔜 strange that many riders weꦐre riding with the soft and many riders were with the hard one, but I was feeling a little bit easier to control the grip, control the spin with the hard and we chose the hard one.”

For Vinales, hi💮s decision to run the hard rear was ไall about ‘feeling’.

“It’s about feeling because the tyres are great right now with Mich🤡elin, especially on the rear because the rear has really good grip and is consistent,” he said.

“It’s all about feeling and if you prefer to have a little bit more turning or more stability, so both tyres worked really well and I tried also the hard in FP2 and i𝔉t was great, so it’sജ just about feeling and nothing more.”