WSBK Assen: Race 1 – Perfect 10 for Bautista and Ducati

Alvaro Bautista has made World Superbike history, becoming the first rider to win the opening ten races of a season.

Cold but sunny skies greeted everyone at the circuit, after snowfall had forced an abandonment to Saturday’s race schedule.

It was another textbook launch off the line from Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati). Let the clutch out, kill the wheel spin, cover the inside line into turn 1 and try to clear off. The latter proved difficult, as the Spaniard was hounded in the early stages of the race by Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) and the ever present Jonathan Rea (KRT).

The relentless consistency of Bautista’s lap times are something to marvel at. Despite the extremely cold temperatures, the championship leader was able to lap the circuit within the mid 1’34s. Nobody else could match that during the closing stages. Rea was once again consigned to consolidating a distant second place with 5 laps of the race remaining.

Job done for Bautista. 10 wins out of 10 – and many already believe he has a few fingers (if not quite one hand) on the championship crown already.     

With Rea and Bautista once again running away at the front, attention turned to the battle for the final podium place. Despite his best efforts, Reiterberger was powerless to resist the hard charging Michael Van der Mark (Pata Yamaha). Eager to please the home crowd, and desperate to get one over his teammate this season, Van der Mark rode like a man possessed, wringing every ounce of performance from his R1 machine to finish in a solid third place. The Dutchman was fortunate early on though, after out braking himself into the chicane at the end of the opening lap and saving a certain highside crash.

Whilst the top three secured comfortable finishing positions, a fierce battle raged over P4 and P5. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) and Leon Haslam (KRT). Both riders had to fight their way through the field after becoming bogged down off the starting line. Haslam hounded and harried his fellow compatriot throughout the latter stages of the race, and both were prepared to push each other to the track limits.

Both riders were visibly struggling with tyre wear during the final laps, leaving the duo forced to almost slide and drift their machines through the corners. Eventually it was Lowes who emerged victorious and will be relieved to have minimised the points lost to his teammate. Both men looked more than a little worn out upon their return to their respective pit boxes. A brilliant fight. Just a pity it was only for fourth place.

There was disappointment for Reiterberger after his strong start with the Swiss rider falling back through the field, eventually finishing in P6. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati) could only manage P7 as he still tries to understand the new Panigale V4R.

The final places in the top 10 was only decided after a hard fought scrap between Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), Jordi Torres (Orelac Racing Kawasaki) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Puccetti Kawasaki). The battle was only decided at the final chicane on the last lap. Sykes emerged leader of the group, but honours went to Torres, finishing P9 and first independent rider home