Pedro Acosta managed to salvage at least one point at the sprint race in Assen. At the tenth round of the MotoGP World Championship, the KTM factory rider finished ninth, one day before the Dutch Grand Prix (Sunday/14.00/Sky). His teammate Brad Binder (South Africa) came away empty-handed in 14th place on the traditional circuit.
Raul Fernández celebrated his second sprint victory of the current season. The Spaniard edged out his Aprilia teammate Ai Ogura (Japan) into second place, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Italy) claiming third on his Ducati. At the end of May, Fernández had triumphed in the sprint race at Mugello – now he backed it up.
“I am overjoyed. We are stronger in the sprint now than last year,” Fernández said after the race. Aprilia dominated proceedings: championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Italy) finished fourth, his teammate and direct title rival Jorge Martín (Spain) followed in fifth – both ride for the Aprilia factory team. The customer team of Fernández and Ogura proved stronger than the works squad.
Francesco Bagnaia (Italy/Ducati), who will take over Martín’s Aprilia seat for the new season, initially crossed the finish line in sixth but was demoted to seventh for a track limits violation.
World champion Marc Márquez (Spain), who had extended his Ducati contract by two years until 2028 just days earlier, was promoted to sixth as a result.
