Miguel Oliveira took his second career victory in Moto3 after fighting his way to the front of another thrilling seven-bike scrap at Assen. The lead changed several times per lap with Estrella Galicia pair Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Navarro coming agonisingly close to their first win but Oliveira timed his late move to perfection, snatching the lead decisively at the penultimate corner.
Starting from pole position, Enea Bastianini was another rider chasing a first Grand Prix win and the Italian led a leading group comprising of Oliveira, Danny Kent, Romano Fenati, Brad Binder and the two Estrella Galicia teenagers. Fenati’s extra corner speed through the Ramshoek left-hander often saw him lead the pack into the final chicane but with two laps remaining, Navarro had muscled his way to the front with Kent pushed to the back.
Oliveira, who had spent a number of laps in front through the middle phase of the race, dived back into the lead at Ramshoek on the penultimate lap but the emerging threat was coming from Quartararo who scythed past his teammate into second at the chicane. Halfway around the last lap, the rookie hit the front with a dive up the inside of Oliveira at Stekkenwal but as the riders fought four abreast on the run to Ramshoek, Oliveira edged ahead again to claim a stunning victory for KTM.
Having played it cool at the back of the group, Kent made rapid progress on the last lap and the championship leader looked to have taken advantage of Oliveira’s manoeuvre to snatch second from Quartararo but the Frenchman left his braking later at the final chicane, enabling him to hold off the Leopard Honda. Navarro missed out on a podium in fourth with Fenati relegated to fifth ahead of Bastianini and Binder.
Karel Hanika couldn’t go with the frontrunners despite qualifying on the front row although the Czech rider did finish in the lead of the second group, with eighth place the prize. Niccolo Antonelli and John McPhee rounded out the top ten and were among the riders to benefit from a dramatic incident for Niklas Ajo who was highsided out of his seat at the chicane, leaving him to cling on to his handlebars and cross the finish line on his knees in seventeenth.
MOTO3 MOTUL TT ASSEN: RACE RESULT (22 LAPS)
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