Ivan Ortola secured the victory in the final moments of the race. Credit: MT Helmets
In a thrilling Moto3 competition at Assen, Ivan Ortola made a last-corner overtake to steal the win from local hero Colin Veijer. David Muñoz completed the podium, ensuring an exciting finish to the race.
Angel Piqueras, starting from his first-ever pole position, maintained his lead in the first sector. However, Ortola executed a bold maneuver halfway through the opening lap to take control.
Championship leader David Alonso made an impressive climb from 13th place on the grid, gaining six positions in the first lap. His rival, Daniel Holgado, also made progress by moving up five places.
Holgado successfully passed Adrian Fernandez from Leopard Racing and Tatsuki Suzuki from Husqvarna on Lap 2. Unfortunately, Suzuki crashed on the following lap.
Both Taiyo Furusato and local favorite Veijer overtook Piqueras, placing the Leopard Racing rider in fourth position.
On Lap 7, Ortola and Furusato established an 0.8-second lead over the chasing group. However, Veijer, with his Husqvarna medium front and rear setup, closed the gap in the subsequent laps.
On Lap 9, Muñoz overtook Fernandez in the challenging Turn 7, securing fourth place. This maneuver slowed down the riders behind due to the difficulty of the corner.
Veijer moved up to second place at the halfway point and then made a daring move on the inside of Ortola’s MT Helmets KTM to take the lead at Turn 16 on Lap 11.
After taking the lead, Veijer and Ortola began to create a gap at the front as the pack behind them continued to battle for position.
Furusato’s race came to an end on Lap 15 when he ran off the track at high speed. He later rejoined the race in 13th place after a strong start.
In the second half of the race, the riders had to manage their tire wear to ensure they could finish the race. Despite initially appearing strong in second place, Ortola was overtaken by Alonso and Muñoz.
Ortola fought back and executed a double overtake on Alonso and Muñoz, reclaiming second place and pulling away to secure the position.
Alonso and Muñoz engaged in a series of aggressive overtaking maneuvers in Turn 7 and Turn 16 on the third-to-last lap. They made contact once again on the penultimate lap while battling for the final spot on the podium.
Ortola, with superior tire wear, closed in on Veijer’s Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP bike in the last two laps. He made a decisive move around the outside before the braking zone.
In the final corner, Alonso was overtaken by Muñoz and Rueda, missing out on a podium finish. However, he will extend his lead in the championship standings.
Ortola secured his first win of the season after already appearing on the podium three times. Veijer narrowly missed out on victory.
Muñoz and Rueda finished third and fourth respectively in the closing moments of the race, denying Alonso a podium finish. Luca Lunetta made an impressive climb up the ranks to finish in sixth place.
The Leopard Racing duo of Fernandez and Piqueras claimed seventh and eighth positions respectively. Stefan Nepa and Ryusei Yamanaka completed the top 10, separated by less than a tenth of a second.
Further down the field, championship contender Holgado had a quiet race, finishing in 11th place on his GasGas bike. He crossed the line five seconds ahead of Australian rider Joel Kelso.
Furusato could only manage 13th place after running wide in the fast last sector. Rookie Jacob Roulstone and Joel Esteban rounded off the points-scoring positions.