MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The intermediate class race at Assen had a familiar plotline, with Fermin Aldeguer seemingly unbeatable at the front, until the Spaniard shot himself in the foot with a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits and was then faced with the unsurmountable obstacle of Ai Ogura. The Japanese rider kept his cool under the pressure of a very close final lap and celebrated his second victory of the season. Aldeguer had to settle for second, while Sergio Garcia was another main contender until he lost touch with the duo in the last few laps and claimed a lonely third place. 

Ogura had made the perfect launch to take the lead at the start, but poleman Aldeguer had already retaliated by turn 3. Garcia kept close but came under early fire from Tony Arbolino, Alonso Lopez and Manuel Gonzalez, the trio demoting the championship leader down to 6^th, with Diogo Moreira, Jake Dixon, Albert Arenas and Senna Agius also in the early top 10. 

Aldeguer might have been mildly surprised to see Arbolino’s name on his board at the start of lap 3, the Italian trading second with Ogura, but despite his early progress, Arbolino didn’t last too long at the front, allowing Garcia, Lopez and Gonzalez back ahead by lap 4. With Ogura seemingly unable to keep up with the early pace set by the poleman, Garcia took over the pursuit by lap 5 and was left with a one second gap to close to the leader. Aldeguer’s record pace didn’t come without a cost, the leader getting an early warning for exceeding track limits, but that didn’t make him any slower and the MT Helmets-MSI duo struggled to bridge the gap despite setting a red-hot pace themselves. Lopez and Arbolino were already starting to lose touch with the podium positions, over a second behind by lap 10 and fending off Gonzalez, Dixon and Moreira. Aron Canet and Arenas were briefly featured in the top 10 as well, but both Spaniards crashed out at turn 4 and handed their positions to Somkiat Chantra and Agius. 

Things had settled at the front by the halfway point of proceedings, Aldeguer still managing an advantage of over a second on Garcia and Ogura, the first change coming on lap 12 when Ogura punished his teammate’s mistake at turn 12 to take second. The fight for 4^th had dropped three seconds behind and a fading Lopez was easy prey for Arbolino, Dixon and a rapidly recovering Chantra, who had started 17^th on the grid and was 7^th with 10 laps left. 

In a bit of a déjà vu, the track limits curse hit Aldeguer again with 9 laps remaining but a perfectly executed long lap penalty dropped him only half a second behind Ogura and Garcia with 7 laps left. Ogura enjoyed his time in the spotlight until Aldeguer bridged the gap with 5 laps to go and that forced Garcia to make his move for the lead, which Ogura immediately responded to. Aldeguer seized an opportunity to demote Garcia at Stekkenwal with 4 laps left and the championship leader soon dropped from the victory battle after a couple of laps peppered with mistakes.

Ogura and Aldeguer started the final lap separated by only a couple tenths of a second, but the Japanese rider never offered an opportunity for an attack and Aldeguer had to settle for second at the chequered flag. Garcia took it easy in the last few laps and claimed third over three seconds later, while Dixon was best of the rest in 4^th. Chantra’s late pace helped him into an impressive 5^th, ahead of Arbolino, with Ramirez demoting Lopez and Gonzalez to claim 7^th on the final lap. 

Garcia’s podium appearance limited the damage in the world championship standings but Ogura now becomes his main rival, 14 points behind his teammate. Forced to sit out the race following a collarbone fracture in practice, Joe Roberts drops to third, 23 points behind the leader. The SpeedUp duo of Lopez and Aldeguer are now trailing by 51 and 55 points respectively. 

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