Ai Ogura is back! The MT Helmets – MSI rider was the big winner of the Moto2 race at Assen, which was marred by a huge mistake by Fermin Aldeguer which earned him a penalty when he was leading, potentially and probably costing him the win!
The sky in Assen was cloudy but the temperature was pleasant (20ºC) and the track dry, so everything was ready for a good race in the intermediate category, with Fermín Aldeguer starting from pole.
Ogura made a great start and quickly moved into first position, but Aldeguer was quick to react and a couple of corners later he took the lead of the race. Tony Arbolino continued to grow and finished 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 at Assen, at a time when García was already third. Ogura was second, 0.920s behind the #54, but he saw García very aggressive in his attack, and the overtaking 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 “caught” the Japanese rider who, even so, tried to get back into the race but without success.
GREAT contact between Mario Aji and @AyumuSasaki1
Unfortunately that brought down Ayumu #Dutch GP pic.twitter.com/UPl9K2T8l8
— MotoGP (@MotoGP) June 30, 2024
On the next lap, history was made, with García setting the fastest lap in the category, lapping in 1:35.977s.
The race was halfway through, with 11 laps to go and 11 completed, and Aldeguer leading by 1.217s from 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: when he was leading he once again exceeded the limits of the track and was penalized with a Long Lap, which adds an average of 3 more seconds to the laps. That being said, the lead would likely be lost to 54th place, 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, who had a very good time, was already fourth, after having reached fifth place 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.
Garcia soon took the lead with four laps to go, but Ogura responded and moved back in front at Assen. And the situation for Garcia became darker, with Aldeguer also passing in front of him: Ogura, Aldeguer, Garcia, Dixon and Arbolino.
With three laps to go, Ogura remained in front and with an advantage of 0.241s over Aldeguer, García was third at 1.222s and everything was at stake.
The race remained very close until the end and with Ogura controlling the race despite Aldeguer’s attempts, with both drivers giving everything 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:
