Dutch Moto3: Sasaki takes first win in Assen thriller

An elated Ayumu Sasaki worked incredibly hard to𒊎 keep in touch with long term race leader Izan Gu🅰evara, moved to the lead at the right time and kept his head as his rivals battled and crashed out behind to win the Moto3 Dutch Grand Prix at the Assen TT track.
Round eleven had an ex🐓plosive end to an alread﷽y exciting race, which was a scrap from start to finish.
The 𒉰Sterilgarda Husqvarna Mꦆax rider had started as polesitter and converted his second appearance in the top slot on the grid this season after he also started there in Qatar when Guevara was penalised, into a first race win in style.
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The Japanese🉐 rider couldn’t just sit in behind the Spaniard as fighting for posiꩲtion was a constant and when he was able to hit the front after rehearsing his move on Guevara, he fell back into the clutches of the lead group, allowing the #71 a small gap up front - a luxury in the race.
Sasaki wꦆon by an eventual 0.314s as th🔴e drama unfolded behind his success.
The in-form Guevara was dropping like a stone before a wild move from afar from fourth by David Munoz on the final lap took Jaume Masia, who was sizing up a lunge ⛄for the lead and John McPhee, who had worked hard to join☂ the breakaway five up front, out of the race.
Having lead from the third lap after taking over from early f🐭rontrunner Tatsuki Suzuki, being out front proved to have been a disadvantage for the GASGAS Aspar team rider as all of the rehearsal moves his rivals had run behind him on each other all hit him ♊at once.
Running solo for much of the weekend again and two break𝄹away wins meant the #28 needed to show a different skillset. He d♋id with aplomb, keeping out of trouble at the crash and claiming a superb second.
Garcia stages comeback from 18th on the grid
Both Aspar riders hꦛad a great day with championship leader Sergio Garcia starting from 18th on the grid after a qualifying session in which he never really featured near the front, citing traffic and crashes as his downfall.
He turned that around to be ninth after one lap, then saw his progress halted before following McPhee back to the ⭕early lead group of Sasaki, Guevara, Suzuki🐈, Foggia and Munoz.
Garcia came from miles back in the run t🌌o the line to snatch third and almost catch his team-mate for second, after an epic lunge forward from the final chicane.
Top Honda finisher Suzuki was caught by surprise by the move, with the Leopard man finishing off the podi🎉um in fourth.
There was 🎃a gap back to Xavier Artigas who pulled clear of the second group on track for fifth with🔯 CFMoto PruestelGP.
Daniel Holgado and Carlos Tatay both has penalties to serve in the race. Tatay’s double lap was🐓 handed out for causing the crash at the beginning of the Sachsenring race last week, while Holgado’s was for his FP3 fall where he headed straight towards Elia Bartolini and the marshals rescuing him from the gravel.
Topping warm-up Holgado showed he was race-ready and applied that to make up the places he ꦦlost in the loop to come back for sixth for Red Bull KTM Ajo as both top KTM and top rookie.
Stefano Nepa was right behind in seventh for Angelus♓s MTA Team after qualifying dowꦕn in 14th.
There was a gap back to Ryusei Yamanaka, who had spent much of his raceജ outside the points before climbing to eighth at the front of the next group on track for MT Helmets-MSI.
He had Deniz Oncu (Red Bull𓆏 KTM Tech3) and Kaito Toba (CIP Green Po💧wer) battling behind on their way to ninth and tenth respecrively.
Riccardo Rossi wasn’t far off the duoᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ in eleventh for SIC58 Squadra Corse, with Ivan Ortola recovering from his penalty for cutting the chicane for tewlfth on the second Angeluss MTA entry.
The final points on offer went to Lorenzo Fellon (SIC58 ꧋Squadra Corse) in 13th, Carlos Tatay (CFMOTO Racing PruestalGP) after his penalty in 14th and Andrea Migno, who was also penalised in the race for cutting the chicane in 15th for Rivacold Snipers.
As with qualifying, where he was 19th, jus🎶t missing out on Q2, Diogo Moreira just missed out on the points in 16th for MT Helmets -MSI.
Joshua Whatley was close to his best ever finish in 20th. He was the only VisionTrack bike to finish after Scott Ogden crashed out at turn seve✱n.
Assen non-finishers
Before Ogden, Elia Bartolini had only just left the race at the same corner. Dennis Foggia hit the kerb as he tried to battle Munoz and was flicked off and out of the lead g🎀roup with five laps left to run. Foggia had staged a rtuen to the front after running over the green at the chicane previously.
The final lap not only s⛎aw the big crash, instigated by Munoz with Masia collected and McPhee out, but was also when Adrian Fernandez and Joel Kelso also ended thier day in the gravel.
Where does that leave the championship?
Izan Guevara looked set to takeꦗ over💙 at the front in the title standings after leading for much of the race but Sergio Garcia’s last lap run which saw him third means he holds on in the championship standings - now leading the way by just three points.
Guevara remains second with 179 - in turn ღclear of Dennis Foggia who saw his hop🔴es take a gigantic dent after another DNF. He remains third on a distant 115 points.