Ducati, Honda share Assen SBK wins

Unpredictable weather played a major part in proceedings during Round 3 of the World Superbike at Assen in the Netherlands. Race 1 was stopped and then re-run over only nine laps, and the second race brought out a variety of tyre choices on an initially damp track surface that saw the podium places change frequently.

In Race 1 Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) took his first race win in World Superbike and the first for his team, while in Race 2 a bad tyre choice for 2011 champion Carlos Checa (Ducati) saw him out of the points.

Honda World Superbike team rider Jonathan Rea took his first win of the year in the second full 22-lap race.

Max Biaggi (Aprilia now leads the championship with 92 points even though he was fourth and eighth at Aseen. Checa is second but only one point behind, while third-ranked rider Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Team) had to retire from Race 1 and dropped from a potential podium to sixth in Race 2, leaving him 13 points off the lead.

A day of firsts and landmarks for the podium finishers saw Davide Giugliano (Ducati) take second in Race 1, ahead of Checa, and Eugene Laverty take his first Aprilia podium.

RACE 1

An incredible first race, eventually run over nine wet laps, was won by Guintoli, a rider who has threatened to win a race on many previous occasions, by 2.6 seconds from a very determined rookie Giugliano and his team mate Checa.

Their fight for the podium places was just one of many highlights in the wet race, after the first attempted contest had started out dry, but was halted when several leading riders fell as the rains came down.

A whole new race was declared and the only influence the first leg finishing order had was to determine grid places for the second race. Max Biaggi beat Eugene Laverty in an all-Aprilia battle for fourth, while early leader Leon Haslam (BMW) crashed out.

Sylvain Guintoli:“We've been trying to catch that first victory for a while now. Since the start of the season we have showed that we have pace, but the results haven't come. Finally I did it today. For me it's a fantastic feeling, this race was crazy with a lot of crashes and I nearly crashed as well.”

Davide Giugliano:“It's a very emotional moment because you don't expect to get this result in your third race. We knew that Assen was a good circuit for us and we could get a good result. For sure the conditions were not great, but I was up front, a bit 'lost' even because I found myself up against guys I had only seen from a distance before now.”

Carlos Checa:“It was very exciting at the end, we needed to conserve the position and it was not easy. For us, considering all the conditions, it was crazy weather and a crazy weekend so ending with this position is quite good. Second and third is great for the team, I'm happy for Davide as well, he deserved second.”

RESULTS - RACE 1

1 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Ducati 1098R - 18min38.395

2 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Ducati 1098R +2.633sec

3 Carlos Checa (Spain) Ducati 1098R +3.031

4 Max Biaggi (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory + 3.927

5 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +4.374

6 Michel Fabrizio (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +11.359

7 Jakub Smrz (Czech Republic) Ducati 1098R +26.412

8 Nicolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati 1098R +37.562

9 Marco Melandri (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +49.896

10 Leandro Mercado (Argentina) Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min08.847

RACE 2

A great ride from Rea saw him overcome the pain of a hand injury suffered earlier in the day to win his first race of the year, at his team's home track, as well as Honda's first win of the season.

Race 1 winner Guintoli was second as his team mate Jakub Smrz dropped back from his long-time lead after choosing a wet front tyre. Smrz eventually crashed while trying to pass a lapped rider.

The battle for third went to Eugene Laverty (Aprilia), his first podium of 2012 while, right behind, Melandri beat BMW team mate Haslam (who regretted choosing a wet front tyre) over the line by only 0.002 seconds. Checa gambled on rain tyres but as the track dried and the rain stayed away, he had to come into change his wheels and he ended up 17th - just out of the points.

Jonathan Rea:“I have to get my finger stitched up right now after my Race 1 crash, I've been using local anaesthetic for this race.”

Sylvain Guintoli:“I thought I had the double, it was going well and I could control the gap. Then Johnny had a little extra and I was struggling and couldn't follow. It feels really good and I think I could get used to these results!”

Eugene Laverty:“That was good to get on the podium, and a bit of a bonus because I thought I was fourth and somebody dropped out of the top three. It's something to build on for the future, it's been a tough start to the year.

RESULTS - RACE 2

1 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR +36min45.936

2 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Ducati 1098R +2.819sec

3 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +13.638

4 Marco Melandri (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +12.762

5 Leon Haslam (Britain) BMW S1000 RR +12.764

6 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R +20.393

7 Ayrton Badovini (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +36.317

8 Max Biaggi (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory + 37.747

9 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Ducati 1098R +41.350

10 Michel Fabrizio (Italy) BMW S1000 RR +43.930

POINTS (after three of 14 rounds)

1 Max Biaggi (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 92

2 Carlos Checa (Spain) Ducati 1098R - 91

3 Tom Sykes (Britain) Kawasaki ZX-10R - 79

4 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Ducati 1098R - 66

5 Marco Melandri (Italy) BMW S1000 RR - 66

6 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda CBR1000RR - 65

7 Leon Haslam (Britain) BMW S1000 RR - 58

8 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 56

9 Jakub Smrz (Czech Republic) Ducati 1098R - 39

10 Davide Giugliano (Italy) Ducati 1098R - 37

WORLD SUPERSPORT

Lorenzo Lanzi took his and Honda's first race win of the 2012 season in his first Honda Supersport ride. In streaming wet conditions, Lanzi moved up to the lead and pulled away, lapping everyone up to 12th place.

Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) was second, some 12 seconds behind Lanzi, with the first Russian rider to take a Supersport podium, Vladimir Leonov (Racing Yamaha) third.

Broc Parkes (Honda) was fourth, and Triumph rider Alex Baldolini fifth - putting four different manufacturers in the top five places.

South African Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki) struggled round in midfield and rand off on the last lap, rejoining to come home a lap down in 15th, while Honda riders Ronan Quarmby and Mathew Scholtz failed to finish.

With many of his rivals crashing out, Sofuoglu now shares the championship lead with non-finisher Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) on 45 points. Third on an unchanged 31 points is Sam Lowes (Honda) who fell while leading.

RESULTS

1 Lorenzo Lanzi (Italy) Honda CBR600RR 42min56.376

2 Kenan Sofouglu (Turkey) Kawasaki ZX-6R +12.054sec

3 Vladimir Leonov (Russia) Yamaha R6 +14.460

4 Broc Parkes (Australia) Honda CBR600RR +23.884

5 Alex Baldolini (Italian) Triumph Daytona 675 +47.063

6 Jules Cluzel (France) Honda CBR600RR +49.755

7 Andrea Antonelli (Italy) Honda CBR600RR +53.850

8 Twan van Poppel (Netherlands) Yamaha +1min42.505

9 Roberto Tamburini (Italy) Honda CBR600RR +1min53.053

10 Stuart Voskamp (Netherlands) Suzuki GSX-R600 + 1min57.442

15 Sheridan Morais (South Africa) Kawasaki ZX-6R +1 lap