Crash ruins race day for Raúl Fernández
Up to ten riders fought for victory on the final lap of the Moto3 Dutch TT at Assen, with Aron Canet eventually taking the flag by just 0.035 seconds from Romano Fenati. John McPhee returned to the podium for the first time since Argentina, after edging out Jorge Martín, Jules Danilo and Marcos Ramírez. Local favourite Bo Bendsneyder crashed over the finish line after colliding with a rival and missed out on the points at his home race. Joan Mir maintains his championship lead although the gap has now dropped from 45 points to 30 ahead of Canet after his ninth place finish today.
There were no rewards for the Mahindra Gaviota Aspar Team despite the best efforts of Raúl Fernández, who crashed at the start of the final lap after an impressive comeback. The Spanish youngster, riding at Assen in place of the injured Albert Arenas, started from 30th position but for several laps his pace matched that of the lead group as he came through to fight for a top twenty finish until his crash.
Raúl Fernández (DNF):
“It was a very fun race and we took a big step forwards after taking smaller steps all weekend. We have improved little by little. The crash was a shame but I was fighting in the top twenty, which was my objective today. It was difficult to get up there because I didn’t make a good start and it was hard to keep up with the lead group but once I got going I knew I could fight with them. I just have to keep learning.”
