Championship Leaders Crash Out

Rea won 100 races for Kawasaki but his jubilation was cut short by a dramatic crash in Race Two

Toprak razgatlioglu claimed pole position by setting a new lap record (1’32.934) that also made him the first-ever WsBk rider to clock a 1’32 lap-time at assen. rea would have liked to start second at the least, but, unfortunately, he was sent back to third by his teammate, alex lowes.

razgatlioglu capitalized on pole position by taking the lead but the young turk had to respond to the pressure from rea and alvaro Bautista; the latter, having started from fifth place, was closing in fast. on the third lap, rea moved into the lead for a few laps before razgatlioglu got the better of him. the following move had rea running wide and he had to recover from that mistake before trying once again on the 16th lap and this time he made it stick, leaving razgatlioglu prey to Bautista. the factory Ducati rider moved into second place, leaving razgatlioglu to settle for the final spot on the podium where he posed no further challenge to the lead pair. Bautista closed the gap to rea in the final stages of the race and set him up for a move on the chicane. However, the six-time world champion was probably expecting such a tactic and managed to hold on to the lead, ultimately winning the race; his 99th victory for kawasaki.

gabriele ruiu had a problem on the grid and the delay it caused forced the officials to reduce the distance of the superpole race to nine laps. this time, it seemed like it was Bautista’s race to win until rea pulled a move on the final lap that catapulted the kawasaki rider to victory; his 100th win with kawasaki, the first time WsBk rider-manufacturer pair. second place also slipped from Bautista’s grasp after he was slapped with a one-place penalty for a tracklimit infringement on the final lap. this promoted razgatlioglu to second place.

race two had more drama than the rest of the weekend combined. razgatlioglu got the best start off the line and moved into the lead while rea and Bautista followed suit. What unfolded was an intense battle for the lead among the trio and things got out of hand on the sixth lap. the young turk out-braked himself and ran wide but managed to stay on the track by slowing down a little. rea, who was hot on his heels, arrived at the exit of turn one at full race pace and the duo collided. Bautista was right behind the pair and was witness to the incident but managed to evade the crash and carried on. lecuona took advantage of the confusion and moved into the lead but that did not last for long because Bautista reclaimed the place. then he opened up an admirable lead and won the race comfortably, ahead of andrea locatelli and lecuona in second and third places respectively.

Bautista now leads the championship with 109 points, followed by rea (91 points) and razgatlioglu (64 points).