Fernandez wins Assen sprint as Aprilia locks out front row, Bezzecchi defends championship lead

Qualifying dominance

Aprilia placed all four of its RS-GP machines in the top four grid slots for the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen. Jorge Martin claimed his first pole position since the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, ending a wait of more than 600 days. The Spaniard's late flyer of 1:30.812 knocked championship leader Marco Bezzecchi off the provisional top spot by a mere 33 thousandths of a second. Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura split the factory duo with a lap just 0.011 seconds slower than Martin's, making it an all-Aprilia front row.

To get a pole position in Assen, in the Cathedral, is so emotional. It is one of the biggest moments of my career.

Raul Fernandez briefly claimed provisional pole for the second Trackhouse entry, only to have his time deleted for exceeding track limits. He settled for fourth, ahead of the leading Ducati of Francesco Bagnaia in fifth and the VR46 machine of Fabio Di Giannantonio in sixth. Defending world champion Marc Marquez endured his worst qualifying session of the season. Both of his flying laps in Q2 were cancelled for track limit infringements, leaving him seventh on the grid. Alex Marquez did not take part in qualifying after a heavy crash on Friday and will start from the back of the field, though he has not yet been ruled out of the remainder of the weekend.

Sprint race charge

In the 13-lap sprint, Raul Fernandez converted his pace into victory. The Spaniard bided his time before hitting the front with ten laps to go, then pulled a gap of more than one second with four laps remaining while Ogura and Di Giannantonio battled behind. That advantage held to the chequered flag, securing a double podium for the Trackhouse team. Ogura held on for second, and Di Giannantonio completed the rostrum on the VR46 Ducati.

I am very happy and proud of all the guys who have worked this weekend. Qualifying was so good. Unfortunately, I met a yellow flag in my best attempt today.

Bezzecchi crossed the line fourth, salvaging solid points after a frustrating run. Pole-sitter Martin dropped from the lead to fifth, having been passed successively by Fernandez, Ogura, Di Giannantonio and finally his own teammate. Bagnaia and Marquez followed in sixth and seventh, with Enea Bastianini, Fabio Quartararo and Pedro Acosta completing the top ten.

Championship picture

Bezzecchi arrived at Assen holding an eight-point advantage over Martin, but the sprint result saw that lead trimmed to just seven points. By finishing one position ahead of his main rival, the Italian limited the damage after a tense week that included a crash and disqualification at the previous round in Brno. Bagnaia, who this weekend confirmed his switch from Ducati to the official Aprilia squad for the 2027 season, sits further back in the standings. Marquez, hunting a third consecutive victory, lost ground with his seventh-place finish.