Assen WSBK: Rea beats home hero van der Mark to win
Jonathan Rea triumphed in the first World Superbike race at Assen, after withstanding race-long pressure from Michael van der Mark and Chaz Davies.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Kawasaki rider Rea was up to the lead on the opening lap from second on the grid with van der Mark, starting seventh, making quick moves on Alex Lowes and Xavi Fores to run second.
The local rider put pressure on Rea in the first half of the race, and managed to take the lead at Turn 15 for two laps before the reigning champion retook first with an identical move.
Van der Mark's Yamaha teammate Lowes held third up until that point but then he started to dramatically lose pace with Chaz Davies taking his position.
Ducati man Davies then also passed van der Mark for second but, with five laps remaining, the duo switched places again.
However Rea was then able to pull away and he eventually took the chequered flag by 0.981s.
Van der Mark collected his 12th WSBK podium in second, with Davies holding off the second Kawasakk of Tom Sykes for third.
Sykes passed Ducati duo Xavi Fores and Marco Melandri, who struggled for pace during the late stages, to finish fourth.
Althea BMW's Loris Baz was seventh, followed by Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing), who beat Jordi Torres (MV Agusta) by four tenths.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Puccetti Kawasaki) completed the top 10 with Lowes dropping as low as 12th behind Roman Ramos.
The two crashers of the race were Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ducati) and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia), who fell at Turns 7 and 5 respectively.
Race 1 results:
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | 33'40.360 |
2 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | 0.981 |
3 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | 1.282 |
4 | Tom Sykes | Kawasaki | 1.413 |
5 | Xavi Fores | Ducati | 8.625 |
6 | Marco Melandri | Ducati | 14.903 |
7 | Loris Baz | BMW | 17.301 |
8 | Leandro Mercado | Kawasaki | 21.482 |
9 | Jordi Torres | MV Agusta | 21.938 |
10 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki | 24.939 |
11 | Roman Ramos | Kawasaki | 27.049 |
12 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha | 33.226 |
13 | Davide Giugliano | Aprilia | 35.630 |
14 | PJ Jacobsen | Honda | 38.480 |
15 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia | 38.604 |
16 | Yonny Hernandez | Kawasaki | 44.690 |
17 | Ondrej Jezek | Yamaha | 51.135 |
Ret | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | Ducati | 16 laps |
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