Le Mans is a very different track to Mugello, and Mugello is different to Catalunya. And yet, as we arrive at the TT Circuit Assen, one man has ruled them all in Moto2: Alex Marquez.

The EG00 rider is now the newchampionship leader by seven points despite a non-score at Jerez through no fault of his own, and in Barcelona he showed he could do it from sixth on the grid.

The bad news for his rivals is that each of the three-in-a-row wins – something he’d never done before – has been taken with a significant amount of time in his pocket and at Catalunya in the post-race Press Conference he said it himself: he made zero mistakes.

In addition, until this season, the only back-to-back wins he’d taken had been in Moto3 in his Championship-winning 2014 season at Catalunya and Assen.

The good news is that everything can change in an instant. It’s an over-used trope but it’s true – as Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) proves. A lead and a shield of invincibility accrued in the first part of the season in now fourth overall and a third DNF in seven races, so he’ll be top of the list wanting to hit back.

But Marquez, along with the likes of Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) – the man closest to the number 73 in the standings and a rider with a solid record at Assen – will be big hurdles in the Italian’s way. Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) also remains very much a man in form, and Speed Up were second in the hands of Fabio Quartararo last season.