The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s first race at Assen is in the books, and the ‘Cathedral of Speed’ hosted another thriller as Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) topped the podium, followed by Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in his return to the podium after featuring at Portimao and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in P3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) saw his hopes to continue his podium streak dashed after missing the rostrum spots in P4.
BULEGA DOMINANT, LOCATELLI PROGRESSING: Second podium for ‘Loka’
Bulega (claimed the holeshot into the first corner ahead of Locatelli, with ‘Loka’ bundling his way through at Turn 5 before Bulega responded immediately. That allowed Bulega to cruise his way to victory while the chasing pack scrapped it out over the remaining podium places. Meanwhile, behind Locatelli, sharks in the form of Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Razgatlioglu began to circle; until out of nowhere, in Lap 7 when Bautista and Lowes collided at Turn 9, wiping them both out of the race from the podium fight. ‘El Turco’ briefly overtook Locatelli, however the much-improved Yamaha rider battled back to lock in P2 after following the reigning Champion for a few laps. Petrucci surged late to pass Toprak to bump ‘El Turco’ off the podium for his first podium since Australia’s Tissot Superpole Race.
RAZGATLIOGLU MISSES PODIUM: Second time this season after Race 2 in Australia
Razgatlioglu had a sluggish start to the race, falling to P8 in Lap 1, however by Lap 3 he was already back up into the podium fight. Strong performances from Locatelli and Petrucci saw them overtake Toprak’s BMW M 1000 RR to shut the rostrum’s doors to the Turkish star. Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) and Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) both had strong results earning the best combined result of the season for the Honda factory riders, with Vierge only two tenths of a second behind his teammate.
AEGERTER BEST RESULT OF THE SEASON: P7 at Assen Race 1
Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) earned the best result of his season so far in P7. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) charged up the grid from P13 to the top six, however late surges from Lecuona, Vierge, and Aegerter bumped him back to P9 for the Dutchman at his home round. Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing) sealed off the top 10 after starting the race back in P16.
ALEX LOWES RECOVERS FROM CRASH TO SCORE: P11 for the British Bimota rider
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) crashed on Turn 5 of Lap 7; however he was able to rejoin the race and finished in a P11, salvaged what could have been a pity of a result for Bimota. Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) similarly recovered well after having to serve two Long Lap Penalties for a jump start to the race, finishing in P12. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) finished in P13 in Race 1. Just over 2 tenths of a second behind him, Tito Rabat (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) finished in P14, his second time scoring points this season. Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) was the only rookie to finish in the points on the day, finishing in P15. Jason O’Halloran (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Zaqhwan Zaidi (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team finished P16 and P17 to close out the timesheet.
BASSANI CRASHES OUT IN LAST LAP: Turn 8 spoils Bassani’s otherwise positive day
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) only scored 9 points in his last time out at Assen in WorldSSP, this time unfortunately continued his run of poor luck in Holland, crashing out of the race in Lap 2’s Turn 1. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) had an unfortunate crash at Turn 1 of Lap 6, followed shortly after by Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) who crashed in Lap 7’s Turn 4. On the race’s last lap, Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) saw his otherwise strong race spoiled by a crash while rounding Turn 8.
The top six from the WorldSBK Race 1 in Assen:
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +7.801s
3. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +14.827s
4. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +17.137s
5. Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) +22.653s
6. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) +22.865s
Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) – 1’33.581s – new lap record
