Ai Ogura is back! The MT Helmets – MSI rider has been the great winner of the Moto2 race in Assen, marked by a tremendous mistake by Fermín Aldeguer that earned him a penalty, when he was leading, which potentially and probably cost him the victory!
The sky in Assen was cloudy but the temperature was pleasant (20ºC) and the track was dry, so everything was set for a good race in the intermediate class, with Fermín Aldeguer starting from pole position.
Ogura made a great start and quickly moved into the lead, but Aldeguer was quick to react and a couple of corners later he took the lead. Tony Arbolino grew and was third, with Alonso López fourth. Manuel González was fifth.
Arbolino wanted more and reached second position, but Ogura was quick to respond. Sergio García was the fastest on the track at that moment and had just moved up to fifth position, and shortly after, to fourth, to the dismay of the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team rider.
The leader was still Aldeguer, who set the fastest lap in Assen, when García was already third. Ogura was second, 0.920s behind #54, but saw García very aggressive in the attack, and the overtake occurred moments later.
With 18 laps remaining, Aldeguer received a caution for exceeding the track limits, and off the track it was Celestino Vietti who went to the ground, and shortly after Zonta VD Goorbergh. In addition to the two, there was also a double fall, with Arón Canet and Albert Arenas also on the ground.
With 15 laps to go, Ayumu Sasaki was another of the victims of the Dutch circuit, although initially it seemed that he had control of the bike off the track, but the gravel “trapped” the Japanese rider who, even so, tried re-enter the track. the race but without success.
GREAT contact between Mario Aji and @AyumuSasaki1
Unfortunately that brought down Ayumu #GDutch foto.twitter.com/UPl9K2T8l8
— MotoGP (@MotoGP) June 30, 2024
On the next lap, history was made, with García setting the fastest lap in the history of the category, setting a time of 1:35.977s.
The race was now halfway over, with 11 laps to go and 11 already completed, and Aldeguer was leading by 1.217s over Garcia. Ogura was third, 0.145s behind his teammate. Arbolino was fourth and Lopez was threatening the position, just 0.083s behind the #14. The overtake was completed moments later.
At turn 12, García made a huge mistake by going off track and Ogura did not forgive him, returning to second place. This battle and the mistakes “only” benefited Aldeguer, who now remained in the lead with 1.707s over his closest rival.
And out of nowhere… drama, and what drama! Aldeguer, at a high level, once again made a mistake that is not new for the driver: while he was in the lead, he once again exceeded the limits of the track and was penalized with a Long Lap, which added an average of 3 more seconds to the laps, meaning he would likely lose the lead to the #54, and the MT Helmets duo didn’t even dream of what was to come!
In fact, Aldeguer did a nice Long Lap but moved to third place, and of the 1.432s advantage he had for second place, he was 0.949s behind the leader, now Ogura. In total, Aldeguer lost 2.5s.
Jake Dixon, with a great performance, was already fourth, after reaching fifth position a couple of laps ago.
With five laps to go, the top ten were in the top ten, with Aldeguer already less than 0.6s behind the leader. A very intense end to the race was to be expected.
Shortly after, García took the lead of the race, with four laps remaining, but Ogura responded and took the lead again in Assen. And the stage for García became darker, with Aldeguer also passing in front of him: Ogura, Aldeguer, García, Dixon and Arbolino.
With three laps to go, Ogura remained in front and with 0.241s of advantage over Aldeguer, García was third at 1.222s and everything was at stake.
The race remained very balanced until the end and with Ogura in command despite Aldeguer’s attempts, with both runners giving their all and to the limit.
In the end, Ogura’s victory was confirmed, and he moved up to second place in the Moto2 world championship. Aldeguer was second and García third.
Top 20 in Assen:
