Oliveira Wins Dutch Thriller

Jun 27, 2015
3 min read

Miguel Oliveira won a sensational Moto3 Grand Prix at Assen after a seven-rider fight for the lead that went right down to the wire. The Portuguese rider made his intentions clear from the start, getting the holeshot at the start and lead for the opening two laps. The lead changed for the next 22-laps and it was going to be bravest on the brakes into the final chicane. The Portuguese rider had retaken the lead through the Ramshoek from Fabio Quartararo on the final lap and got to the apex of the GT chicane first, holding on to take his second victory of the season.

Quartararo had a shot at the front on the third lap but didn't hit the front again until the final lap when he forced his EG 0,0 Honda up the inside of Oliveira's Red Bull KTM at turn nine. Oliveira steaming up the inside of turn sixteen forced the Frenchman wide, and to complicate matters he had the Leopard Racing Honda of Danny Kent on his inside. Quartararo, hard on the brakes into the chicane, edged ahead of the Briton to take his second podium of the season.

Kent, ideally, would liked to have hit the front and run away with it as scrapping could be a recipe for disaster. However the Briton doesn't shy away from a fight. It early ended in tears for him when he and Romano Fenati nearly collided coming into the final corner. This curbed his rhythm and he dropped out of the podium spots into 7th. A stunning move at the Ramshoek on the Estrella Galicia pairing allowed Kent to take 3rd and extend his championship lead to 57 points.

Jorge Navarro took the lead with just five laps to go and displayed incredible cornering ability that allowed him to hold onto that lead right up until the final lap where he dropped to 4th. Romano Fenati completed the top five for the SKY Racing VR46 Team.

Enea Bastianini started from pole and looked a dead-cert for a podium finish but a mistake at turn five on the final lap sent the Italian wide and dropped him to 6th. Brad Binder enjoyed a good race in 7th, with Karel Hanika slipping to 8th having started on the front row. Niccolo Antonelli and John McPhee completed the top ten.

Antonelli was lucky to stay mounted when a lurid moment under braking for turn one saw his Ongett-Rivacold Honda try and break away from underneath him. Though he held onto it, his moment resulted in the demise of Maria Herrera. The Spaniard had been running in a very respectable 9th and was set for her first ever top ten finish.

Her team-mate Isaac Vinales had gone down the lap previous when the Mapfre Mahindra of Juanfran Guevara clattered into him as a result of his team-mate, Francesco Bagnaia, forcing the Spaniard to sit up and into the path of the Husqvarna. Guevara pulled into the pits with damage one lap later.

The big casualty of the race was Efren Vazquez, who went down at turn five whilst involved in the fight for the win. His championship challenge lies in tatters now as the Spaniard is a demoralising 89 points down on leader Kent.

Niklas Ajo will leave Assen having garnered a few more fans after saving a massive high side at the final chicane on the last lap. The Finn somehow held onto the handlebars and steered his bike away from the barriers. He crossed the line with his knees dragging on the ground to 17th.

Race Top 15:

1st Miguel Oliveira, Red Bull KTM Ajo

2nd Fabio Quartararo, EG 0,0 Honda

3rd Danny Kent, Leopard Racing Honda

4th Jorge Navarro, EG 0,0 Honda

5th Romano Fenati, SKY Racing Team VR46

6th Enea Bastianini, Gresini Team Moto3 Honda

7th Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Ajo

8th Karel Hanika, Red Bull KTM Ajo

9th Niccolo Antonelli, Ongetta-Rivacold Honda

10th John McPhee, Saxoprint-RTG Honda

11th Francesco Bagnaia, Mapfre Mahindra Team