Ayumu Sasaki didn't give up on a recovery until the last minute and managed to overtake Izán Guevara to win for the first time this year in Moto3
It was with emotion. Ayumu Sasaki never gave up on regaining the lead in the Moto3 Dutch GP. And he succeeded on the last lap, when Izán Guevara was about to win for the fourth time this year. The Japanese rider held off the Spaniard's pressure and triumphed for the first time in 2022.
Guevara tried until the last lap to retake the lead and be the first to see the flag, but he could not. He finished in second place. The third place went to the leader Sergio García, who took advantage of the end of the race to climb the field and reach the podium. He remains at the top of the championship.
Tatsuki Suzuki minimized the problems of Leopard, which saw a Dennis Foggia withdrawal, by finishing fourth. Completing the top-10 were Xavier Artigas, Daniel Holgado, Stefano Nepa, Ryusei Yamanaka, Deniz Öncü, and Kaito Toba. Brazilian Diogo Moreira finished in 16th place.
With this result, García continues to lead the World Driver's Championship, now with 182 points, only three more than Guevara. Dennis Foggia is third, 67 points ahead of the leader. Sasaki is fourth, with Jaume Masià, Deniz Öncü, Suzuki, Andrea Migno, Carlos Tatay, and Xavier Artigas rounding out the top-10.
Moto3 now goes on vacation and will be back in action on August 7, with the British GP at Silverstone.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 World Championship.
Find out how the Moto3 Dutch GP went:
Despite partly cloudy skies, the track was dry. The ambient temperature was 20°C, with the asphalt reaching 27°C. The humidity was 68%, with the wind blowing at 10 km/h.
At the start, Tatsuki Susuki came out very well and took the lead, with David Muñoz taking advantage to move up to second, ahead of Ayumu Sasaki, who soon acted to pass the Spaniard and regain second ludar. Dennis Foggia also reacted quickly and passed the BOÈ rider to take third.
On the opening lap Izán Guevara took third place ahead of Muñoz. Sasaki also did not wait to attack and took the lead, ahead of Guevara, Suzuki and Muñoz.
At the end of the lap, it was Guevara who managed to take command, with a firm maneuver over Ayumu. Muñoz was third, ahead of Suzuki, Adrián Fernández and Jaume Masià.
Suzuki took second place from Sasaki and began to lead the chase for Guevara, but was unable to take Guevara's position. Muñoz took fourth place, ahead of Masià and Foggia. Sergio García was already seventh, while Brazilian Diogo Moreira was 16th.
On the seventh lap of the race, Muñoz passed Masià and took third place, but was soon overtaken by Suzuki. Meanwhile, Luca Lunetta, Diogo Moreira and Dennis Foggia were punished with long laps by the race direction. The Italian veteran was sanctioned for cutting the last chicane.
With 14 laps to go, Guevara was 0.3 seconds ahead of the pack, as the battle between Suzuki and Sasaki for second was developing. Still, the gap quickly narrowed, bringing the first group back together.
If the two Japanese could not attack, Masià did not have the same problem. The Spaniard attacked his rivals and took the second place, but soon after he left the door open to Ayumu's reaction, who even made an attempt towards Guevara. Izán held the lead, with Muñoz taking advantage of the situation to take second place shortly after, followed by the Japanese duo, McPhee and Jaume.
Even though Guevara followed closely behind, he held on to the lead. With eight laps to go Sasaki was second, ahead of McPhee, Suzuki, Muñoz, Foggia, Masià, Artigas and Garcia, who was not as competitive as in previous races. Moreira was only 22nd.
With five laps to go, Foggia crashed in turn 2 after a fight with Muñoz. The veteran was pushed into the zebra in the dispute with the rookie and ended up losing control, which resulted in a crash. It was his third crash in four races.
Guevara, on the other hand, was firmly in the lead, now followed by Masià. Sasaki and Muñoz were right behind, but the field was still very compact and changing all the time.
With three laps to go, Sasaki managed to take the lead from Guevara at De Strubben, turn 4. The Spaniard tried to respond immediately, but the MAX rider held on to the lead. Meters ahead, Izán pressed again and this time managed to retake the lead.
On the next lap, Ayumu put himself in front again, but the change was much faster. Sasaki didn't give up and attacked again, retaking the lead. Suzuki took advantage of the conflict and moved up to second, with Masià also passing Guevara. Were García's prayers being answered?
On the final lap, Sasaki was feeling the approach of Suzuki, who managed to take the lead only briefly. Guevara regained third place, and then second. In the final meters, Muñoz and Masià tangled in turn 5 and dropped out.
Sasaki managed to take the flag at the front, with Guevara in second, ahead of García, who made an unlikely recovery by taking advantage of crashes in the final meters. Besides Muñoz and Masià, John McPhee also crashed at turn 5, but in a separate incident.