Ai Ogura is back! The MT Helmets – MSI rider was the big winner of the Moto2 race in Assen, marked by a huge mistake by Fermín Aldeguer that resulted in a penalty, when he was leading, which cost him potentially and probably the victory!
The sky in Assen was cloudy but the temperature was pleasant (20ºC) and the track was dry, so everything was ready for a good race in the intermediate class, with Fermín Aldeguer starting from pole position.
Ogura had a great start and quickly moved into first place but Aldeguer didn’t take long to react and a couple of corners later he took the lead in the race. Tony Arbolino was growing and came third, with Alonso López fourth. Manuel González was fifth.
Arbolino wanted more and reached second place, but Ogura soon responded. Sergio García was the fastest on the track at this stage and had just risen to fifth place, and, soon after, fourth to the misfortune of the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team rider.
The leader continued to be Aldeguer, who was setting the fastest lap in Assen, at a stage when García was already third. Ogura was second, 0.920s behind #54, but he saw García very aggressive in the attack, with the overtaking happening moments later.
With 18 laps to go Aldeguer received a warning for exceeding the track limits, and off the track it was Celestino Vietti who crashed, and soon after it was 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 victim of the Dutch circuit, although initially it seemed like he had control over 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.
BIG contact between Mario Aji and @AyumuSasaki1 💥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 30, 2024
Unfortunately that brought Ayumu down 😔#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/UPl9K2T8l8
On the next lap, history was made, with García setting the fastest lap ever in the category, running in 1:35.977s.
The race was half over, with 11 laps to go, and 11 completed, and Aldeguer was leading by 1.217s over García. Ogura was third, 0.145s behind his teammate. Arbolino was fourth and López threatened the position, just 0.083s behind #14. The overtaking was completed moments later.
In turn 12, García made a huge mistake when he went wide, he went off the track and Ogura didn’t forgive him, thus returning to second place. This battle and mistakes “only” benefited Aldeguer, who now continued in the lead with 1.707s over his most direct opponent.
And out of nowhere… drama, and what drama! Aldeguer, at a high level, once again made a mistake that is not new for the rider: while he was leading, he again exceeded the track limits and was penalized with a Long Lap, which adds an average of 3 more seconds to the laps, having said that, the lead would probably be lost to #54, with the MT Helmets duo not even dreaming of what was to come!
In fact, Aldeguer still did a beautiful Long Lap but moved into third place, and from the 1.432s advantage he had for second, he was 0.949s behind the leader, now Ogura. In total Aldeguer lost 2.5s.
Jake Dixon, showing up great, was already fourth, after reaching fifth a couple of laps ago.
With five laps to go, the top ten was in the top ten, with Aldeguer already less than 0.6s behind the lead. A highly intense end to the race was to be expected.
Soon after, García took the lead of the race, with four laps remaining in the race, but Ogura responded and returned to the front at Assen. And the scenario 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 a 0.241s advantage over Aldeguer, García was third at 1.222s and everything was up for grabs.
The race remained very balanced until the end and with Ogura in control despite Aldeguer’s attempts, with both riders giving their all and at the limit.
In the end, the victory for Ogura, and the respective rise to second place in the Moto2 world championship, was confirmed. Aldeguer was second and García third.
Top 20 in Assen: