Assen, June 25 (AFP): Italian MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi won a gripping Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday to reignite the evergreen 38-year-old's dream of a 10th world title, as Maverick Vinales' nightmare run continued. Vinales went into this eighth leg of the season in Assen leading the 2017 championship, but after making up ground from 11th on the grid to fifth, he crashed out on lap 12. The Yamaha rider leaves the circuit known as 'the cathedral of speed' trailing Andrea Dovizioso, who took fifth, by four points. Rossi's 10th win at the track lifted him into third, only three points away with defending champion Marc Marquez breathing down his neck, four points behind in the tightest championship battle since the current points system was introduced in 1993. "This place is always special," beamed Rossi. "I race with motorcycles for this feeling: for what I feel in the five or six final laps of the race. That‘s always great and especially after a year without a victory." His teammate Vinales was left bemused by his spill, which thankfully he escaped from unscathed whilst bits of his bike littered the track. "I can't explain what happened, because I don‘t even know why I crashed. I passed there 2000 times, but today was the day," he said. Marquez came in third ahead of Briton Cal Crutchlow and Dovizioso. The surprise pole sitter, MotoGP rookie Johann Zarco, manfully fought off Marquez's attack to the first corner but Yamaha Tech's French rider then lost ground before pitting to change to wet tyres and finished 14th. Zarco held control until he was overtaken by Rossi on lap 12, only to lose his gamble on the track when hit by a downpour.