Dutch Moto2: Raul Fernandez fights back for Assen win
Raul Fernandez got off to a poor start from pole but rallied to bite back and claim a hard earned third win in his rookie intermediate season in the Moto2 Dutch Grand Prix, round nine of the championship.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider was swamped at the start of the Assen Grand Prix, with Aron Canet charging away at the green lights as Fernandez struggled with his Kalex, running wide and dropping to ninth.
The rookie remained determined - he had shown he had the pace to run at the front when he topped warm-up - and fought hard to be able to slot on the back of the lead trio on lap twelve.
Now in his groove, the in demand Spaniard was able to pull away at the front - putting in a new in race record on lap 22 -and over the closing laps was untouchable, providing the performance boost he wanted after his rare fall in Germany.
Remy Gardner remains championship leader at the summer break - bringing home a team 1-2 and his eighth podium finish in nine races.
The Australian was just over a second behind his team-mate over the line but took advantage in the three-way battle for third to pass Lowes as he looked over his shoulder to find out where his rival was on track, passing on the opposite side.
Gardner is now on a total of 184 after taking Augusto Fernandez over late in the race.
The Elf Marc VDS rider won Assen last time it was held in 2019, and completed the podium, his first rostrum visit since the Misano round in the same year.
The error saw his colleague Sam Lowes miss out on spraying the champagne, but the British rider was a safe fourth.
Marco Bezzecchi had another torrid start to his race weekend, starting the race from sixteenth. The Sky Racing Team VR46 rider cut through the pack to make the best of his Sunday race craft, ending up a lonely fifth, gaining an extra place when Fabio Di Giannantonio exited the position with nine laps remaining.
Ai Ogura made himself hard to pass for the Italian but eventually had to concede. The impressive rookie also pulled clear of the chasing pack to claim a superb solo sixth, just one place short of his best finish to date.
Jorge Navarro was a distant seventh for +Ego Speed Up - the best of the riders not on a Kalex for Boscoscuro. The Spaniard survived early contact with Lorenzo Dalla Porta which took him out of the race on lap one after several riders tried to fit into the same small section of track.
Xavi Vierge was a further two seconds back down the track, crossing the line eighth for Petronas Sprinta Racing.
He held off Marcel Schrotter in the run to the chequered flag, who had to settle for ninth for Liqui Moly Intact GP.
Celestino Vietti had an improved race weekend as he completed the top ten, his second best result in his first intermediate season with Sky Racing Team VR46.
Somkiat Chantra fought his way back into the points places in the latter stages to take eleventh for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, just ahead of Aspar’s Albert Arenas, who moved thorugh the pack with him in twelfth.
The final points on offer went to Stefano Manzi (Flexbox HP40) in 13th, a back on form Tom Luthi (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) in 14th and his team mate, the only Dutch rider in the paddock, Bo Bendsneyder - 15th after he came back from a penalty for a jump start at his home grand prix.
Jake Dixon had a penalty to serve for his actions at the last round, which were determined to have caused Augusto Fernandez to crash. The Petronas rider was heading towards the points places when he was penalised again for taking a shortcut at turn 18. The long lap visit saw him rejoin and finish 18th.
Joe Roberts crashed out on lap one before he could complete his sanction for crashing under yellow flag conditions.
Tony Arbolino was taken to the medical centre for a check up following his early tumble, while Aron Canet also crashed out with just five laps remaining.
Like Tatsuki Suzuki in Moto3, Hector Garzo missed warm-up due to an inconclusive PCR test, unfortunately for the Spaniard, he second Covid test was positive, leading to him missing the race.
