Netherlands MotoGP: Ai Ogura wins maiden race in Assen after Marco Bezzecchi crash

Japan’s Ai Ogura won his maiden MotoGP race in the Netherlands as Marco Bezzecchi was taken to hospital after a heavy crash.

Italian Bezzecchi, who was leading the championship going into the race in Assen, crashed at over 200km/hr on lap three and was transferred for further examinations after initial treatment at the circuit’s medical centre.

His Aprilia team said the 27-year-old, who missed last week’s race in Brno through suspension for an altercation with a race marshal, was conscious with no major physical or neurological damage, but suffering from “intense pain”.

Trackhouse rider Ogura passed his team-mate Raul Fernandez late to win by more than two seconds for the first Japanese victory since Makoto Tamada triumphed in 2004.

“It’s fantastic, I don’t have much to say but I’m really very happy,” said Ogura, 25. “Many thanks to my team.”

It was a reverse of the result from Saturday’s sprint race which Fernandez won by 0.362 seconds.

The Spaniard’s compatriot Jorge Martin finished third after starting from pole and he now leads the championship standings, with Bezzecchi seven points behind in second and Ogura up to fourth.

Seven-time world champion Marc Marquez came under pressure from Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and KTM’s Pedro Acosta in an early battle for fourth place, before Acosta retired with a problem in his right hand on lap 13.

Bagnaia retired two laps later, and Marquez slipped behind VR46 Racing Team’s Fabio di Giannantonio and his brother Alex Marquez, eventually crossing the line in sixth spot before being penalised a place for exceeding track limits on the last lap.