This race was most notable for Marco Simoncelli taking out Jorge Lorenzo on the opening lap, as well as Ben Spies' first and only victory in the premier class.

Casey Stoner has a small lead over second place contender Jorge Lorenzo, the Australian having 116 and the Spaniard 98 points in the world championship title after six rounds.

The second row of the grid consists out of Jorge Lorenzo in fourth, Andrea Dovizioso in fifth and Cal Crutchlow in sixth.

Multiple other riders have decided to do the same, some being Crutchlow, Stoner, Lorenzo and Dovizioso, with Simoncelli eventually also opting to change.

As the lights go out, Simoncelli has a good start but Spies has a better one, going side-by-side heading to the Haarbocht (Turn 1) on the opening lap.

However, it is Lorenzo who pips both as they go into the right-handed, losing acceleration as he puts his wheel on the still web kerb, allowing Spies to pass him and take over the lead from both at Madijk (Turn 2).

Stoner behind them has dropped back to seventh after a poor start, with both Crutchlow, Colin Edwards and Dovizioso passing him for fourth, fifth and sixth place.

At Madijk and Ossebroeken (Turn 3), Dovizioso passes both Edwards and Crutchlow, promoting him up to fourth position.

At the narrow Strubben hairpin (Turn 5), Simoncelli has a huge moment trying to take Lorenzo's second place and highsides out of the race, taking down Lorenzo with him, promoting Dovizioso up into second and Stoner - who had passed Edwards by going down his inside at Strubben for sixth and fifth at the Veenslang, into third.

This has allowed Spies to build up a small gap over the Repsol Honda duo of Dovizioso and Stoner.

Further back, Valentino Rossi - who is now sixth thanks to the collision between Simoncelli and Lorenzo - is fighting for track position with Factory Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden at the Ruskenhoek (Turn 7).

Stoner passes Dovizioso for second by diving down his inside at the Ossebroeken as Karel Abraham has gone down, sliding out at the entrance of the Geert Timmer Bocht (Turn 17), the Czech rider holding his arm in pain as a result.

Lap five and the front is still very much stable, although the Factory Ducati duo of Rossi and Hayden are being shadowed by the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha pair of Crutchlow and Edwards now.

Further back, Lorenzo has caught and passed Álvaro Bautista at the straight before the entrance of De Bult (Turn 9) for tenth.

Crutchlow enters the pits after riding a strong fourth position to retire from the race due to mechanical issues.

Lorenzo at the back has now caught Aoyama and stalks him for a couple of corners, passing him by diving down his inside at De Bult to take seventh.

Simoncelli further back has passed Barberá at the lap before by going up his inside at the entrance of the Geert Timmer Bocht and is now up into eleventh place.

Lap twenty-two and Lorenzo has caught and passed Edwards, promoting him to sixth place as he easily goes down his inside at the Stekkenwal.

Stoner pops a wheelie as he crosses the line second, with a bit further back Dovizioso coming home third.

As Lorenzo crosses the lone, he shakes his head in anger during the parade lap back to parc fermé.

Spies waves at the crowd as fellow American Hayden comes and congratulates him also, shaking his hand in the process.

Simoncelli goes to his pit box as his crewmembers check his damaged bike as Spies hugs one of his own crewmen as he happily talks to them, then takes off his helmet and walks to his mother and the Yamaha Factory Racing boss to get a kiss and a handshake, being stopped to shake hands with Stoner beforehand also.

A happy Spies briefly poses for the camera's as the rest is still talking to the press at parc fermé, then walks off.

Spies' win does not cause any big shakeups in the world championship title, Simoncelli knocking out Lorenzo early on and Stoner finishing second does.