Paolo Casoli followed up his Oschersleben race win with the closest possible third place finish at Assen, being separated from the second step of the podium by only 0.003 seconds, in what was a dramatic and crash-filled race. Casoli had led for most of the early laps, but was overhauled by the Hondas of eventual winner Fabien Foret and Iain MacPherson.

Casoli was pipped over the line at the end of lap 11, the race was halted on lap 12 when Yamaha Motor Germany's Christian Kellner crashed on the oil of his own R6 at the braking area for the first chicane. A further six riders were to fall victim of the oil in short order, red-flagging the race. Kellner suffered a dislocated bone in his neck, but was fortunate to escape much more serious injury. A trackside marshal received a compound fracture of his leg after being struck by a crashing bike, the race was called a result from the end of lap 11.

Kevin Curtain scored a season-best fourth place on his OPCM Yamaha, while James Whitham (Yamaha Belgarda), still recovering from his big crash at Brand Hatch a month ago, took seventh, ahead of Kellner's team mate Jörg Teuchert. Despite his fall, Kellner was credited with tenth.

In the championship, Casoli moved from fifth place to fourth, the highest placed Yamaha rider. Foret now leads the series, on 173, his only rival Fujiwara (Suzuki) lies second on 156, Chambon (Suzuki) is on 142, and Casoli has 128. Andrew Pitt (Kawasaki) with 125 points crashed and ruled himself out of the championship fight.

Paolo Casoli - Yamaha Belgarda - 3rd - "Like Oschersleben, qualifying was difficult and I had some set-up problems on my bike - but in the race it was perfect. Half way through I thought it was possible to win but Foret was very fast and it was impossible to make a break on my own. When Foret came past I thought that it was OK and that I would try to pass on the last lap, but then the red flag came out. I thought that I had second position so when I was given third I was very disappointed."

James Whitham - Yamaha Belgarda - 7th - "I knew I'd be physically OK for four or five laps and I now know that with another two weeks of physio and mountain biking I'll be fit. So I'll be well up for Imola. I was just really struggling with the quick changes of direction. My brain was saying I could do it but physically my body wouldn't let me. My ankles, knees and wrists are all equally painful!"

Jörg Teuchert - Yamaha Motor Germany - 8th - "I was caught on the wrong side of the accident and had to move across to avoid it. Up to that point I had been very pleased with the performance of the bike and the package as a whole, but the only problems was starting as far back as I did on the grid. I had a good start all the same but there was just too much to do to get close to the leading riders."

Christian Kellner - Yamaha Motor Germany - 10th - Kellner spent quite a while in the medical centre, but was released bruised and battered with no major injuries. "I didn't even know it was my bike that laid down the oil. I thought Jörg Teuchert had hit me from behind. I hit the barrier really hard, but I have only a small neck injury, so I think I must be a rubber man. I also know I was very lucky that two other bikes did not hit me, or it could have been much worse."