Dutch GP in MotoGP on Sunday delivered quite a few headlines. First and foremost, the champion, Ai Ogura, who became the first Japanese to win a Grand Prix in MotoGP in 22 years.
Raúl Fernández was second and Jorge Martín third at the TT Circuit Assen, in an unusual finish: Trackhouse, Aprilia's satellite team, ended up being better than the main team, with both its drivers Ogura and Fernández finishing ahead of the Aprilias, Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi (who crashed and ended up in the hospital). In fact, Ogura passed Martín in the 18th lap and Fernández in the 20th lap, to end up achieving a big win that puts him fourth in the standings, passing Marc Márquez.
Ogura, 25-year-old rider from Trackhouse, became the first Japanese rider to achieve a podium in May, finishing third in the French GP, since Katsuyuki Nakasuga in the Valencian GP in 2012. With his victory today, Ogura becomes the first Japanese to win a race in the top category since Makoto Tamada at the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix.
The bad news came when Marco Bezzecchi suffered a serious fall in the second lap, when he was trying to pass Marc Márquez (who ended up seventh). Bezzecchi, the second Aprilia rider, was taken to a hospital in Groningen without serious injuries for medical tests.
The end result means that Jorge Martín is the new leader in MotoGP (193 points), seven points ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (186), with Fabio Di Giannantonio third (177 points), and Ogura fourth with 168 points, while Marc Márquez drops to fifth place (153) and Raúl Fernández, sixth with 138 points.
