Fermin Aldeguer looks like the sure winner for a long time in the Moto2 race at Assen, but receives a long lap penalty at the beginning of the last third of the race because he had violated the track limits too often. Ai Ogura takes the lead and defends himself until the end against Aldeguer and MT Helmets team-mate Sergio Garcia, who ultimately finishes third. Marcel Schrötter, in his Moto2 comeback as a replacement rider for Deniz Öncü, comes in 18th.
In the drivers’ championship, Ogura can now reduce the gap to championship leader Garcia to just 14 points. Joe Roberts has dropped to 23 points due to his injury-related retirement, and Aldeguer is in fifth place, 55 points behind.
Moto2 in Assen: The racing film
The starting line-up: 1. Aldeguer, 2. Ogura, 3. Garcia, 4. Gonzalez, 5. Lopez, 6. Arenas, 7. Arbolino, 8. Moreira, 9. Dixon, 10. Vietti, 11. Agius, 12. Ramirez, 13. Canet, 14. van den Goorbergh, 15. Binder, 16. Alcoba, 17. Chantra, 18. Guevara, 19. Foggia, 20. Bendsneyder, 21. Munoz, 22. Schrötter, 23. Baltus, 24. Sasaki, 25. Aji, 26. Masia, 27. Artigas, 28. Escrig
Joe Roberts Joe Roberts (broken collarbone), Filip Salac (concussion) and Xavi Cardelus (broken leg) cannot take part in the Dutch TT after heavy crashes in the Moto2 training sessions.
Begin: Great start from Ai Ogura! He leads into turn one, then Fermin Aldeguer follows ahead of Sergio Garcia. Tony Arbolino also gets off to a really good start and is already fourth ahead of Alonso Lopez and Manuel Gonzalez.
1 round: Aldeguer immediately counters and regains the lead in turn five. Then things get hectic: Garcia also attacks Ogura, but the Japanese driver doesn’t take this lying down and counters. Then Arbolino and Lopez get involved and are then able to pass Garcia.
2nd round: Arbolino takes second place from Ogura.
3rd round: Arbolino in reverse gear! He loses three positions in just a few corners and falls back behind Ogura, Lopez and Garcia, meaning that all four Boscoscuros are currently in the lead. In the final chicane, Arbolino also loses fifth place to Gonzalez.
4th round: Aldeguer is able to pull away slightly at the front. Garcia recognises the danger and overtakes his team-mate Ogura to pursue the SpeedUp driver.
5th round: Arbolino takes back fifth place from Gonzalez. Celestino Vietti has to go through the gravel in the final chicane and loses a few positions, he is now only in P14.
Meanwhile, local hero Zonta van den Goorbergh retires from the race early after a crash.
6th round: Aron Canet and Albert Arenas also crashed in turn two. The TV images cannot clearly determine this, but they probably flew off independently of each other.
8th round: The next crash: Ayumu Sasaski was also hit. After a slight contact with Mario Aji, he came off the track in turn 15 and eventually fell to the ground in the gravel trap.
11th round: Just in time for the half-time break, the picture at the front is becoming clearer. Aldeguer is already 1.3 seconds ahead of Garcia and Ogura. Lopez can no longer keep up with the pace of his Boscoscuro colleagues and has already dropped more than two seconds behind. He has Arbolino, Jake Dixon, Gonzalez and Somkiat Chantra right behind him.
12th round: The two MT Helmets riders swapped places: Ogura overtook Garcia after a small mistake in the fast turn 12. Behind him, Arbolino overtook Lopez.
14th round: Long lap penalty for Aldeguer! He disregarded the track limits one time too many. The SpeedUp driver is (still) leading by 1.5 seconds.
Meanwhile, Dixon is on the rise. He has overtaken not only Lopez but also Arbolino, putting the Briton in fourth place.
16th round: Aldeguer completes the long lap – unlike in Barcelona without crashing – and falls back to third place. He is just over half a second behind the new leader Ogura.
18th round: Garcia is in the lead! He squeezes past Ogura in the final chicane, with Aldeguer lurking right behind.
19th round: Ogura immediately counters in turn one and regains first place. Garcia then makes a small mistake in turn 7. Aldeguer is immediately on the spot and grabs second place.
20th round: Garcia now seems to be having major tire problems. He is sliding a lot and losing contact. This means that the victory will probably be decided between Ogura and Aldeguer.
21st and penultimate round: Aldeguer is hanging on Ogura’s rear wheel, but cannot yet launch an attack.
22nd and final round: Ogura drops the hammer again and gains a lead of several meters. Aldeguer can no longer get within striking distance.
Finish line: Masterful performance by Ogura, he wins in Assen! Aldeguer has to settle for second place, Garcia completes the podium in third. Last year’s winner Dixon comes fourth, then Chantra ahead of Arbolino and Marcos Ramirez. Lopez ultimately only finishes in eighth place, Gonzalez and Senna Agius complete the top ten. Vietti finishes in eleventh place, the last points places go to Dennis Foggia, Jeremy Alcoba, Bo Bendsneyder and Darryn Binder. Marcel Schrötter finishes in P18.