Assen, The Netherlands – Kawasaki Star Jonathan Rea took an incredibly difficult World Superbike double at the TT Circuit van Drenthe as an initially wet circuit dried out during Race 2.
Cape Town’s David ‘McFlash’ McFadden, meanwhile, put in another sterling ride in the Superstock 1000 race, qualifying 24th, and finishing 18th, three seconds ahead of team-mate Bryan Staring.
RACE 1
Superpole winner Tom Sykes got the best of the start, followed off the line by team-mate Rea as the works Kawasakis set the early pace.
Rea took advantage of a momentary error on lap two to grab the lead as Ducati lead rider Chaz Davies began to close on the leading pair, blitzing them both on lap four to take the lead.
The two Kawasaki riders battled over second until it all went pear-shaped for Sykes on lap nine as he lost the front going into Turn 16. That left Davies, Rea and works Honda Honda duo Michael van der Mark (keen to put up a good showing in front of his home fans) and former world MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden well clear of the rest of the field.
And for the next 10 laps Davies Rea and Van der Mark gave the fans at the TT Circuit van Drenthe a feast of Superbike racing at its best, changing positions on almost every lap until Van der Mark slid out of second two laps from the flag, leaving Rea to lead home Davies by 1.6 seconds with Hayden, who’d played a patient game in fourth place for most of the race, earning his first World Superbike podium finish with a ride that showed he’d got the measure of both the big Honda and its Pirelli tyres.
MV Agusta lead rider Leon Camier recovered from disappointment in Aragon, fighting his way back from midfield (he didn’t even make Superpole 2) to a well-earned fifth, which suddenly became fourth on Van der Mark’s exit.
BMW riders Markus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres ran together in the top 10 for most of the race until Reiterberger ran off track. Torres went on to finish fifth while Reiterberger recovered to an impressive seventh, just behind the Aprilia of Lorenzo Savadori, who recorded his best career result to date in sixth as the Noale factory continue to improve and the reigning Superstock 1000 champion continued to impress.
Pata Yamaha duo Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes suffered mixed fortunes with Guintoli starting from the front row only to crash out of his first World Superbike race at the Cathedral on lap five while Lowes fought back from a crash in Superpole 2 to run in the top six before finishing eighth. The Kawasakis of Roman Ramos and Lucas Mahias, standing in for Sylvain Barrier, completed a top 10 in which every manufacturer was represented.
RACE 2
The race was declared wet after a deluge brought out the red flags during the Supersport race, but there wee already signs of a dry line as the race got underway with the Kawasakis of Sykes and Rea heading the pack, and Davies’ Ducati and the Honda’s of Van der Mark and Hayden in hot pursuit.
As the conditions caused quick position changes, BMW rider Josh Brookes emerged in the lead, with the damp conditions suiting the reigning British Superbike champion.
Rea and Sykes were the first of the frontrunners to dive into the pits for dry tyres as track conditions improved, followed by Van der Mark on the next lap. As As the pack started to shuffle after the tyre changes, Kawasaki privateer Lucas Mahias found himself at the front of the pack, with Rea, Sykes and Van der Mark on his tail.
As dry tyres became necessary, reigning champion Rea took control of the race once again to increase his lead in the points standing, with team-mate Sykes making a well-timed tyre change to come home in second, and local hero bearing in mind his home fans’ standing ovation after his Race 1 bringing the Honda home for his third podium finish in four World Superbike starts at the Cathedral.
Savadori was another superstar decision maker as he took his Aprilia to fourth, his best result yet, followed home by Ducati’s Davies, and Hayden, who’d waited a little too long to change to slicks.
Lowes made up ground once again to finish seventh on his Pata Yamaha, ahead of Davide Giugliano on the second Ducati Team machine, Camier and Ducati privateer Xavi Fores.
WORLD SUPERSPORTS
Multiple world champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) got the ho le shot, with Honda rider PJ Jacobsen slotting into second off the second row of the grid and Luke Stapleford (Triumph) third , leaving pole man Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki) fourth.
On lap nine the heavens opened and the red flags came out, but it was too late for Jacobsen, who lost the front before he could slow down, and had to push the damaged Honda back to the pits before his crew could begin repairing it – all in the very limited time allowed by the new ‘quick restart’ rules.
He made it with seconds to spare, as Kawasaki team-mates Sofuoglu and Krummenacher set a cautious pace on the treacherous surface, with Gino Rea on the MV Agusta triple struggling to stay with them and Jacobsen trying to get past the Honda of Kyle Smith and get back into the podium fight.
Two laps from home Krummenacher ran off the circuit at the final chicane, just before Jacobson crashed again treacherous conditions. The last lap saw Smith and Rea holding off reigning champion Sofuoglu, with Smith just 0.8s ahead when in mattered to take the win. Sofuoglu’s third marginally increased his points lead over team-mate Krummeneacher, who got back on track to finish fourth.
SUPERSTOCK 1000
After an initial start was red flagged, the race was delayed as an oil spill on track was cleaned. When the race, now shortened to just nine laps, finally got underway BMW rider Raffaele de Rosa who took victory by more than 10 seconds from Pedercini Kawasaki rider Jeremy Guarnoni, with Ducati Team’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi third, outracing experienced team-mate Leandro Mercado, who finished ninth.
Ducati privateer Marco Faccani came home fourth, ahead of Andrea Mantovani (Yamaha) and Luca Salvadori (Aprilia). Wayne Tessels was the top local rider in seventh with compatriot Rob Hartog, the nephew of 1970s Grand Prix rider Wil Hartog also reaching the top 10 to please the home crowd.