In the very early stages of the Tissot Dutch Grand Prix, while in the thick of the action, he lost four positions, going from second to sixth. Then, shortly after the halfway point, when he had caught the leading pair and was in third place, he was caught by the director while sparks were flying from his Aprilia in the lean due to a problem with the rear lowering system. Was Ai Ogura's race, who seemed to be in contention for the win at Assen, compromised?
After a few corners, things seemed to be back on track. And the Japanese rider from the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team was back in the hunt for the lead. He passed teammate Raul Fernandez on the next lap, dropping behind leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), who came through a few corners later. He took the Dutch GP victory ahead of his two teammates, with Fernandez second and Martin following, at the end of a Sunday marked by several mistakes, retirements, and dramatic turns that had a major impact on the title race.
But let's take it one step at a time.
Off
to a good start, Ogura was the most decisive: starting from second on the grid, he entered the first corner in the lead but was overtaken on the exit by Martin, who had more momentum. At the same time, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), third, was overtaken by Fernandez and dropped to fourth place. The rider from Rimini a few corners later defended himself from an attack by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who lost time in the maneuver and was passed by his teammate Marc Marquez. The Spaniard, unlike the other top riders, had gambled on a soft rear tire instead of a medium. The reigning world champion overtook Bezzecchi shortly thereafter, moving into fourth place.
Repeated overtaking
The first lap, full of overtaking moves, concluded with Fernandez attacking Ogura at the final chicane, which put the Spaniard in second place behind leader Martin. The Japanese rider responded at the first corner of the second lap, with a maneuver that, however, cost them both time. Marc Marquez, who was chasing them, thanked them and moved from fourth to second in one fell swoop, but Fernandez quickly put the wheels back in front. Ogura, however, was overtaken within a few corners by Bezzecchi and Bagnaia, finding himself sixth.
Bezzecchi out.
Then came the twist that had the most serious impact on the championship: at Turn 15, at around 190 km/h, Bezzecchi lost the front of his RS-GP and flew off.
Ogura climbed back up .
At the start, the battle for second place favored Martin, who opened up a several-meter lead. As the laps went by, however, Fernandez closed in. Behind them, on lap six, Ogura moved into third place. At that point, he was about three seconds behind the race leader. As the Japanese rider closed in on the leaders, a battle raged behind him between Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), and Bagnaia, pursued by Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who, like his brother Marc, was running a soft rear tire.
More surprises
Then came two more twists: Acosta retired on lap thirteen of the scheduled 26. Bagnaia, who in the meantime had moved up to fourth place, retired on lap fifteen.
The decisive maneuvers
On lap sixteen, the top three were very close. Ogura, in third, seemed ready to attack Fernandez. But his Aprilia appeared to have a problem, sparks flying from the rear. It recovered shortly after, leaving #79 with more meters to make up. He certainly didn't hold back. On lap 17, he overtook his teammate, and on lap 18, Martin, who was soon overtaken by Fernandez as well. The podium positions thus froze, while the battle for fourth place heated up behind him.
Four-way brawl
On lap 20, Di Giannantonio attacked Marc Márquez at the final chicane; the two touched, and the Spaniard forayed into the gravel while the Roman cut the chicane. The #49 thus suffered a long lap that, with four laps to go, dropped him to sixth place behind the Márquez brothers, with Alex having passed Marc in the meantime. It was a heroic race for #73, bruised by a heavy crash on Friday and still recovering from his injury in Barcelona.
The three were together at the end, with Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), already involved in some skirmishes with Marc Marquez, moving in to have his say. Di Giannantonio prevailed, moving up to fourth place in the final two laps. He crossed the finish line ahead of Alex Marquez and his brother Marc, but was penalized for exceeding track limits towards the end and dropped behind Bastianini, ultimately dropping to seventh place.
The MotoGP World Championship standings
Winner, Ogura takes his first MotoGP win and brings Japan back to the top step of the premier class podium for the first time in 22 years (Makoto Tamada in 2004). In the overall standings, Martin takes the lead with seven points more than Bezzecchi. Di Giannantonio is third, 16 points behind. Ogura overtakes Marc Marquez and moves into fourth place, 25 points behind the leader.
