Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were fortunate to remain upright after a high-speed clash in the early stages of Sunday's thrilling Dutch MotoGP at Assen.🐻 

Having bolted from tenth on the grid to lead th🎃e opening lap, Lorenzo had then wrestled the advantage back f🏅rom Marc Marquez and would keep his Ducati up-front for the next eleven laps.

But it wasn't without incident.

While Lorenzo was unable to break🌞 away, Rossi replaced Marquez as his nearest rival.

The pair were just a few bik💮elenths apart when, on lap 5, Lorenzo lost the front of his Ducati after cutting across the kerb a little too heavily through the fearsome, 200km/h, Meeuwenmeer right-hander.

Lorenzo save♔d the slide, but the sudden loss of speed meant he was promptly rammed by Rossi.

Both riders stayed onboard their machine💧s, which were left🔥 baring scars from the incident.

"It was a very scary moment there, but I didn't know what happened behind me," Lorenzo said. "I didn't know if someone crashed into the back, I didn't know which rider it was, whether it was Márquez or another rider, but finally it was Valentino. We've been very luc🐬ky.

"Still wit💛h Michelin, we have a little bit more grip on the edge of the rear tyre than the front. At Le Mans I lost the front, and ha🤡ppened again here. 

"I just went a little bit more inside and I touch💛ed the wh🗹ite line and the front closed.

"So to avoid the crash, I was almost crashing, but I had to reduce the spee🎐d and Valentino didn't expect this lack of speed in that corner, and he hit me in the back of the bike. 

"Very scary moment, and if ꧒it had have been a crash with all the group behind, it could have been very very dangerous. 

"But it was the front closing, so I wﷺas lucky not💙 to crash." 

Rossi said: "We were very lucky☂, me and Lorenzo, because Lorenzo cut too much Turn 12, lost the front and I arrived behind with a lot more speed and I hit him. 

"But we were♕ very lucky because I hit him perfectly [✅squarely in the back] so we don't crash."

Lorenzo later dropped to seventh place, ending his hopes of three wins in a row, with defending event winner Rossi finishing fifth after a brakꦦing-incident with the other factory Ducati of Andrea Doviz🐼ioso.