Starting from the second row at Assen, Miguel Oliveira takes second victory of the season. Brad Binder finishes seventh and Karel Hanika places eighth.

Oliveira, Moto3 race, Dutch MotoGP 2015

Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Miguel Oliveira won an exciting Moto3 Dutch TT –the last to be held on a Saturday- with an excellent performance. The win was his second of the season, after a triumph at Mugello, and allows him to close the distance to the series leader by nine points. Brad Binder, seventh, and Karel Hanika, eighth, rounded off a great Saturday for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team.

Sixth on the grid at Assen, Oliveira took the lead of the race at the first corner, imposing a fast pace from the start that soon split the race. A group of seven riders led the way, with Brad Binder at the back of the group.
With continuous overtaking at the front, Oliveira had to defend the lead at all times and study his rivals ahead of the final and decisive lap. Determined to fight for victory, the Portuguese made a definitive pass in the final sector of the circuit, to take the chequered flag first at Assen.

Binder remained in the front group throughout the race, finishing in seventh place – just ahead of  teammate Hanika. The Czech rider, who started from third on the grid, had dropped down to eighteenth before clawing his way back to eighth.

In the overall standings, Miguel Oliveira remains in third place with 102 points, just 6 points off second. Binder is seventh -66 points- while Hanika lies fourteenth -26 points. This is the second victory for Red Bull KTM Ajo in Assen from four Moto3 events there. The next round of the season will be held on the weekend of July 10th to 12th at Sachsenring: The German Grand Prix.

Race – Results
1. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 37:54.427
2. Fabio Quartararo (Honda) +0.066
3. Danny Kent (Honda) +0.117
4. Jorge Navarro (Honda) +0.179
5. Romano Fenati (KTM) +0.252
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +0.540
8. Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +21.406
 
Moto3 World Championship Standing 2015
1. Danny Kent (Honda) 165 points
2. Enea Bastianini (Honda) 108 points
3. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 102 points
4. Romano Fenati (KTM) 86 points
5. Efren Vazquez (Honda) 76 points
7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 66 points
14. Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 26 points

 Miguel Oliveira,
“I’m happy with my performance today, because I did not make too many mistakes and it was a pretty difficult race. To be honest, after the warmup I did not know if I could take the victory, having ridden behind Kent. But in the race I made a good start and I tried to believe in myself, concentrate and go forward. I followed a good strategy and I put myself in a good position to overtake the other riders. In the final braking move I tried to defend my position and I managed to win. It was fun, with a lot of overtaking, but it was very hard and the race felt quite long. I managed to maintain a good pace; it was difficult with the strong wind today, so at the end we had to be very focused.”

Brad Binder,
“I’m not entirely happy with the race today. During the race I could not stop the bike as I wanted. When braking going into the corners, I had a lot of problems with the front and it became very difficult. I was in the group, but could not fight with others because every time I tried to go fast on a corner I lost the front. I feel I could have kept up with the frontrunners and got a better result, but the risks necessary to achieve that were too high. The positive is that we know which direction we have to take and I’m ready for the next race.”

Karel Hanika,
“I’m happy to have finished after several races without scoring points. I didn’t make too bad a start. I lost some positions, but I was riding with the fastest riders and I think I might I could have kept up with them. On the third lap I made a mistake at the last chicane, I went wide and I lost some positions. I tried to recover as soon as possible and I set my fastest lap right afterwards, but another rider pushed me wide again and I lost another ten places. That meant that the front group got away. It was not easy to fight back, but my only option was to try to be the first rider in the second group. I’m happy to have done that, but I hope not to repeat these mistakes and finish in the first group next time.”

Aki Ajo,
“It was fantastic. We had decided we were going to attack in this race and Miguel [Oliveira] did really well. During every lap he tried to stay in the top three positions. Before the start you could see in his eyes that he would win. It has also been a good race for Brad [Binder], who at the last two races was not very comfortable with the bike. During this weekend he has made great progress and has improved his feeling a lot.  Finishing in the front group is a very good result. Karel [Hanika] started from a good grid position, but unfortunately he was trapped in the second group and it was impossible to return to the first group, even though I think he had pace to be there too. In the end he led the second group. It has been a good day for us.”