Moto3 is back this weekend after a three-week break since the Moto3 Italian Grand Prix in Mugello. Following consecutive victories since the Moto3 French Grand Prix, David Alonso leads the riders' standings. Angel Piqueras started from pole position, but Ivan Ortola took victory in the race, beating Collin Veijer in the final corner.

Grand Prix

Collin Veijer looked set to take a maiden home win in the Moto3 Dutch TT, but an excellent final lap from Ivan Ortola saw him snatch victory in the final corner.

It was Ortola who led from the start, but by lap five things were heating up and the front and the usual Moto3 group battle was developing. Despite the fighting, the top 13 riders were able to break away from the rest of the field, and things were tough to call for the opening half of the race.

Veijer, who had been the dominant rider in practice, took the lead for the first time on lap 11 and, with the help of some battling behind between David Alonso, David Munoz, and Jose Antonio Rueda, was able to escape to the tune of almost one second with three laps to go.

What had helped Veijer was that, when Alonso took second place on lap 16, the riders behind seemed to settle in behind him, relying on the usually peerless pace of Alonso to drag them back to the leading Dutchman.

However, after a few laps it became evident that Alonso was not the rider to lead a charge back to the front, and Ivan Ortola was the first rider to understand this. He took point of the chasing pack on lap 18.

By lap 20, Ortola was on Veijer's wheel, and he'd dropped Alonso, Munoz, and Rueda who continued to battle. Ortola had caught Veijer just before the beginning of the final lap, which meant that Veijer knew he was there, which in turn meant he could plan his defence. As a result, he went to the inside in braking for the final chicane, but Ortola braked later around the outside. Veijer got the better run out of the chicane and drew alongside Ortola, but finally he missed out by 0.012 seconds.

Veijer's loss was Ortola's gain, and in particular the gain of his first victory for the MT Helmets MSI team, which gave the #48 a run out on one of its Moto2 bikes in the break between Italy and the Dutch TT.

Behind Veijer, Munoz won out in the battle for the final podium spot, passing two riders in the final sector to finish third. Jose Antonio Rueda was then fourth, ahead of David Alonso who completed the top five.

Luca Lunetta was the best Honda rider in sixth place, having spent much of the first part of the race trying to break into the top 10, while Adrian Fernandez was seventh ahead of his Leopard Honda teammate and pole sitter Angel Piqueras. Stefano Nepa and Ryusei Yamanaka rounded out the top 10.

Qualifying

Collin Veijer looked certain to take a home pole position at Assen, but a crash in the final corner meant that the advantage swung to his rivals.

It was Angel Piqueras who took the greatest advantage, taking pole position from Taiyo Furusato, while Veijer ended third.

Ivan Ortola was fourth, ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka and Stefano Nepa on row two, while Jose Antonio Rueda heads up row three from Adrian Fernandez and Joel Esteban. Luca Lunetta completed the qualifying top 10, and will line up alongside David Munoz and Tatsuki Suzuki on the fourth row.

P2

Collin Veijer was fastest again in Moto3 P2 at Assen, leaving it late to top his second straight session and take the Moto3 lap record.

P2 was also a milestone session for Moto3, as Ivan Ortola became the first rider to lap the TT Assen circuit in under 100 seconds at a 1:39.790. Ortola was eventually beaten back to third by Angel Piqueras and then Veijer, while David Munoz and David Alonso completed the top five. The top seven ended up lapping in the 1:39s, with Ryusei Yamanaka and Joel Kelso also scraping under the 1:40 barrier.

Taiyo Furusato, Adrian Fernandez, and Luca Lunetta completed the top 10, while Dani Holgado, Stefano Nepa, Scott Ogden, and David Almansa took the final automatic Q2 spots.

P1

Collin Veijer was fastest on Friday afternoon at his home race, the Moto3 Dutch TT. The #95 was almost 0.3 seconds faster than second-placed Ryusei Yamanaka in what was a dominant performance from the Dutchman, akin to that displayed on many occasions this year by championship leader David Alonso.

For Alonso himself, Friday in Assen was something of a struggle, finishing P1 down in ninth place and over 0.6 seconds behind Veijer. Without doubt, it was his toughest Friday of the season.

Between him and Veijer were the aforementioned Yamanaka, the second MT Helmets MSI rider, Ivan Ortola, Adrian Fernandez, Jose Antonio Rueda, Angel Piqueras, Joel Kelso, and Luca Lunetta, while behind the Colombian Dani Holgado completed the top 10.

Tatsuki Suzuki, Scott Ogden, Jacob Roulstone, and Stefano Nepa took the final four provisional Q2 positions.

FP

Ivan Ortola was fastest in Free Practice for the Moto3 riders at the Dutch TT, finishing just under a-tenth-of-a-second ahead of his MT Helmets MSI teammate Ryusei Yamanaka.

Ortola's time meant that David Alonso didn't finish Moto3 Free Practice as the fastest rider for the first time since the Portuguese Grand Prix over three months ago.

This time, Alonso was fourth behind the two MSI machines and the Leopard Racing Honda of Adrian Fernandez. Behind Alonso was Jose Antonio Rueda, rounding out the top five.

Scott Ogden was an encouraging sixth, ahead of Stefano Nepa, Collin Veijer, Joel Kelso, and Joel Esteban who completed the top 10.