Spectacular race by Aleix Espargaró, with a comeback that allowed him to finish fourth after being relegated to fifteenth place after an error by Quartararo, which threw him off the track. Excellent sportsmanship from the Frenchman, who was left without scoring and went to the box to apologize to the Catalan. “I haven’t seen you, if I had seen you he would have lifted the accelerator,” Aleix replied, without reproaching Quartararo for his action. “I didn’t do it on purpose but I wanted to apologize to Aprilia and Aleix,” the World Championship leader later explained. The last overtaking of Aleix to Miller and Binder, in the last corner of the last lap, will remain in the video libraries forever. The pilot celebrated the podium of Viñales, his boxing partner, who finished third after a final stretch of the race in which he knew how to keep Miller at a distance.
The race was won by Bagnaia, followed by Bezzecchi.
The race began with a good start for Bagnaia, Quartararo and Aleix Espargaró, who were ahead. Pecco escaped slightly while the French and the Spanish fought for position. A fight that only lasted five laps, until both drivers reached the fifth corner. In an improper mistake by Quartararo, the Frenchman’s Yamaha lost grip and went to the ground taking Aleix’s Aprilia ahead. The Catalan managed to keep his balance and return to the track in 15th place, between Rins and Luca Marini. They did not believe it in the Aprilia box. He returned to the Quartararo track, in last place but with the bike in very poor condition. He held on for a few laps until he decided to retire but when he got to the box they convinced him to keep running. They clung to the possibility that the rain would appear and that would allow him to get into the points. He entered but only lasted until lap 13, at which point he crashed again, in the same corner but this time in a harder way, jumping in front of the handlebars and hitting his head.
Morbidelli and Darryn Binder also went down and Aleix began his comeback. He overtook Rins, Bastianini, Zarco and Mir. He was placed eighth, with Bagnaia leading alone. And with nine laps to go, the stewards displayed the white flags, which warn that there is rain and allow the bike to be changed. Some drops fell in some sectors of the circuit. Doubts and risks. They all studied. Raúl Fernández retired, which allowed Aleix to move up one position, and Maverick Viñales was placed third, behind Bezzecchi, who was looking for the first podium of his life. Ducati looked to the sky praying that the rain would not get worse and endanger a victory that Bagnaia had in hand
Espargaró was flying, who was cutting half a second per lap and aspired to get into the top five. He fell on Jorge Martín with two laps to go and finally overtook the Pramac Racing driver. He was facing sixth on the last lap and with the intention of attacking Binder and not only overtook him in the last corner but on the same line he left Miller behind. The overtaking of the year and the race of his life. He got between the two and passed them without exceeding the limits of the track. An overtaking that served to cut 13 points from Quartararo and is already 21 points behind the Frenchman. In the end Bagnaia won, with Bezzecchi and Viñales completing the podium. «I feel that in the end everything we are doing is paying off. The bike is getting better and better. This team deserves to be on the podium every weekend”, explained Viñales.
Full day for Augusto Fernández, who achieved his second consecutive victory in Assen (the third of the year). The victory allows him to tie for first place in the World Cup with Celestino Vietti, who was fourth. Ai Ogura and Jake Dixon completed the drawer. Alonso López was sixth, Manu González ninth, Fermín Aldeguer eleventh, Jorge Navarro twelfth, Jeremy Alcoba 14th, Marcos Ramírez 17th and Alex Toledo 22nd. Two from the end Albert Arenas has fallen. «It was a difficult race, although I enjoyed it. At first it was difficult to overtake, so I decided to wait for my moment. When I found myself in the first position, I printed my rhythm although I made some mistakes, but I knew that I could win”, explained Augusto Fernández.
Ai Ogura was not entirely happy despite the great comeback that allowed him to finish second: «I feel a bit disappointed, especially at the beginning. The rear tire was not working well, but when I got it to warm up I felt much better. For today, we are satisfied with achieving this podium”. And Dixon, who completed the box, noted: «It was a very strange race, at the beginning it was very difficult for me but I had more grip at the end. There has been a lot of fighting, I have managed to come back, the bike is good enough to win. A fantastic podium, little by little I am getting closer and feeling better.
The Japanese Ayumu Sasaki has won the race and has released his record. Izan Guevara, who dominated the race until the last two laps, was second. The podium is completed by Sergio García Dols, who has managed to maintain the leadership of the World Cup by three points over his teammate. With five laps to go Foggia crashed in a racing incident with David Muñoz. The race has been decided on the last lap. Sasaki, Suzuki, Masiá and Muñoz overtook Guevara but at turn 9 there was a key incident when Muñoz took Masiá ahead. As regards the rest of the Spaniards, fifth was Artigas, sixth Holgado, 12th Ortolá, 14th Tatay and 22nd Carrasco and Masiá, Muñoz and Adrián Fernández did not finish the race in two separate incidents on the last lap.
“It was a great race for me. I have led at all times, I have had a great pace, so I am very happy. It is the sixth consecutive podium that I have achieved, I cut four points with García Dols and a great result for my team”, explained Izan Guevara. Sergio García Dols, leader of the world championship and third after a great comeback, explained his feelings: “It was a really difficult race, very fast. When I entered the straight, my bike was very slow and I had to go to the limit. Very happy because it’s a great result this weekend.”
