Fernandez extends Red Bull Rookies Cup lead at Assen

2026 Red Bull Rookies Cup

Fourth round – Assen

Assen was projected to be a key point in the 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup title chase, and it performed exactly the same in two typically frantic races at the Dutch TT.

After this Ryota Ogiwara reached Netherlands with full enthusiasm Doubling in Mugello And Benat Fernandez’s lead was reduced to just 14 points. However, by the end of Sunday morning, that momentum had quickly swung back to Fernandez.

Carlos Cano took Saturday’s opener after 15 laps of heat, elbows and constant shuffling, before Fernandez scored the big championship blow on Sunday. The Spanish points leader took race two at the final chicane after Travis Borg’s brilliant charge from the back of the grid fell just short.

This meant there were two different winners in Assen instead of a Dutch double, but the round still carried major title weight. Fernandez now has three wins and six podiums in eight races, and is 42 points ahead of Asen Ogiwara.

Planks sets the pace, Mounsey gets pole

Guillaume Planc was the fastest rider in qualifying, with the Frenchman clocking a time of 1m45.257, ahead of Fernando Bujosa by 0.184 seconds. Sullivan Mounsey was third fastest, David Gonzalez was fourth, Ogiwara was fifth and Fernandez was sixth.

The times were close, the top 13 were covered in less than a second, and the depth of the field again signaled packed racing to come. The official timing also showed how much depended on stringing together the entire lap; Planks’ best was only 0.026 seconds off his ideal lap, while Bujosa, Ogiwara, Mounsey and Gonzalez all had enough sector speed to be part of the battle for victory.

The grid for race one was reshuffled by penalties for slow riding in qualifying, with Planx, Bujosa, Cristian Borelli and Afonso Almeida all withdrawn. This promoted Mounsey to pole for Saturday’s race, while those penalties were not applied for Sunday’s race two on the grid.

Cano wins race one as Fernandez is penalized

Saturday’s first race took place in 31-degree heat and in no time it became like Rookies Cup arm wrestling, where straightaway speed was only part of the equation.

Mounsey, Fernandez, Gonzalez, Finn Kratochvil, Cano, Kiatisak Singhapong and Kristian Daniel all led across the timing line at different stages, and the lead changed more frequently through the laps. Ogiwara was in the early mix, while Kano worked his way into the front group from sixth on the adjusted grid and began to look comfortable as the race progressed.

The decisive phase came late. Mounsey, Travis Borg and Kiandra Ramadhipa were all in contention for the podium, but dropped out of the lead group with one lap remaining, with no one injured. This removed three riders from an already crowded and volatile victory battle.

Cano then judged the final lap best and crossed the line first, becoming the fifth different winner of the season. Fernandez was in second place, just 0.065 seconds behind, but he exceeded track limits on the run to the final chicane and was penalized one place.

This moved Daniels into second place, 0.274 seconds behind Cano, while Fernandez was placed third. Ogiwara finished fourth, Bujosa fifth, Singhapong sixth and Gonzalez seventh, just 0.777 seconds off the top seven.

The race sheet told an interesting story. Cano’s victory was based more on position and time than raw lap speed; His personal best fastest-lap was only 23rd on the list. Yaroslav Karpushin set the official fastest race lap at the final tour with a 1m45.435, only seven-thousandths faster than Australian novice Archie Schmidt.

Schmidt shows race one pace

Schmidt’s Assen weekend was a mixed affair, but race one provided a useful indication of pace. The Australian qualified 23rd and started Saturday’s race from the seventh row, yet recovered to finish 14th and score two points.

More importantly, his 1m45.442 was the second fastest lap of the race, just 0.007 seconds off Karpushin’s benchmark. He also topped the speed charts with a best speed of 207.6 km/h.

Sunday was more difficult. Schmidt finished 20th, 12.278 seconds behind Fernandez and outside the points. He now has three championship points, but race one showed more momentum than the raw results.

Fernandez snatches race two at the final chicane

Sunday morning’s second race was officially dry, but after a cooler and more slippery morning in Assen it started as part of the wet race start procedure. The race distance was 13 laps, and the original qualifying order returned, placing Planks on pole ahead of Bujosa and Mounsey.

Ogiwara led the first two laps and looked set to keep himself in the title picture, but his weekend changed on lap eight when he fell out of the mid-pack battle. He advanced again, but finished 18th and out of the points.

This left Fernandez with a big opportunity, but he had to earn it. Cano led several laps, González recovered after slipping down the order, and Borg rode the race after starting from the back of the grid.

The 16-year-old Maltese had failed to set a qualifying time and started in 24th place, but he quickly entered the field. He knocked down the temporary fastest lap benchmark several times at the start of the race and was leading the line by the end of lap nine.

He was still moving forward towards the final chicane, but the front of his KTM slipped, then as he lifted the throttle the rear came out. Fernandez was very close to the jump, Gonzalez followed him and Borg somehow saved enough pace to hold on to third place.

Fernandez won by 0.082 seconds from Gonzalez, Borg was third, 0.208 seconds away from victory, and Cano was fourth, just 0.231 seconds away. Singhapong was fifth, and set the fastest lap of the race with a 1m44.981 on the final lap, only 0.002 seconds faster than Ogiwara’s best.

The top six were completed in 0.512 seconds, while the top 13 were completed in 2.190 seconds.

Borg, Bujosa and Singhapong made profits

Borg’s Sunday podium was one of the best rides of the season so far. After crashing out of race one, he converted a last row start into a podium and moved up to eighth in the championship with 62 points.

Bujosa also organized a valuable Essen weekend. Despite a slump in practice and shoulder pain after a race one grid penalty, he finished fifth on Saturday and sixth on Sunday. He finished third in the standings with 90 points.

Singhapong was the second player to leave Assen in a better position than when he arrived. Sixth place in race one and fifth in race two moved the Thai rider to fourth in the championship with 68 points, one point ahead of Gonzalez and three points ahead of Ramadhipa.

Kratochvil, meanwhile, had the momentum but left Essen goalless. He was third fastest in race one, but finished 17th after being penalized three seconds for having insufficient laps remaining to make it following a long-lap penalty for irresponsible riding. After this he was out of race two.

Fernandez rebuilds his buffer

The biggest story, however, was Fernandez.

He arrived at Assen under new pressure after Ogiwara’s Mugello double saw his championship lead reduced to 14 points. He left with a 42-point buffer, 148 against Ogiwara’s 106.

Ogiwara’s fourth in race one kept him in touch, but a crash in race two proved costly. In contrast, Fernandez again showed the quality that has remained with him since his Jerez race one victory: he didn’t need to be the fastest rider on the timing sheet, but he stayed in the fight, avoided the worst of the chaos, and was there when the last-corner opportunity came.

With eight races now completed, the 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup title fight is still alive, but there was a major blow to Ascen Fernandez’s side.

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Red Bull Rookies Results – Assen Race One

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Red Bull Rookies Results – Assen Race Two

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Red Bull Rookies Cup points