Ai Ogura claimed a landmark maiden MotoGP victory in a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix at Assen, becoming the first Japanese rider to win in the premier class since Makoto Tamada at Motegi in 2004.
The Trackhouse Aprilia rider beat team-mate Raul Fernandez by 2.004 seconds after a race full of drama and incident. Ogura launched from second on the grid to grab the holeshot, only for polesitter Jorge Martin to sweep through at Turn 2. Fernandez then moved ahead of his team-mate at the end of the opening lap and looked the biggest threat for victory.
Ogura's afternoon nearly unravelled on lap 16, when a problem with his ride height device dropped him off the back of the leading pair. He managed to unlock the device and rediscover his pace, passing Martin for second at Turn 1 on lap 18 and sweeping past Fernandez for the lead at Turn 9 two laps later before streaking clear to the flag.
Martin completed an all-Aprilia podium and left the Cathedral of Speed with the championship lead after team-mate Marco Bezzecchi crashed out heavily on lap 2 at Turn 15. Bezzecchi, who had been leading the standings, was taken to hospital for checks and now trails Martin by seven points. Fabio Di Giannantonio is 16 behind, Ogura 25 adrift, and Marc Marquez 40 off the pace after a difficult weekend for the Ducati rider.
Behind the podium, Di Giannantonio finished fourth despite a late long-lap penalty, with Alex Marquez fifth. Enea Bastianini was promoted to sixth after Marquez was penalised for exceeding track limits on the final lap. Fabio Quartararo was the leading Yamaha in eighth. Brad Binder was later hit by a 16-second tyre-pressure penalty that dropped him to 11th, promoting Alex Rins and Luca Marini into the top ten.
Pecco Bagnaia retired with brake problems on lap 15, Pedro Acosta pulled out with a physical issue, and Joan Mir, Franco Morbidelli and Toprak Razgatlioglu also failed to finish.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1099807/1/ai-ogura-takes-maiden-win-wild-assen-motogp-marco-bezzecchi-crashes-heavily
- https://www.mcnews.com.au/motogp-2026-assen-race-ogura-trackhouse/
