WSBK Dutch Recap: Rea reclaims title lead with Assen hat-trick

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) dominated in the Netherlands and secured an Assen hat-trick. The defending champion won all three races by significant margins, although his opponents made him work hard for it.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) bagged podiums in the first two outings, but had his Race 2 ended early by the hand of Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK). The Aruba.it Racing – Ducatis of Scott Redding and Michael Ruben Rinaldi also stood on the rostrum while Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) tasted champagne for the first time in his WorldSBK career.

Rea is back on top of the championship leader board on 243 points. The Race 2 DNF cost Razgatlioglu dearly with his disadvantage now up to 37 points. Redding sits third a further 44 points adrift.

RACE 1

Razgatlioglu stole the holeshot from polesitter Rea, but the Kawasaki rider responded and claimed P1 on the opening lap. A wheelie at the start cost Redding positions from the front row while Rinaldi was running third.

A breakaway quintet of Rea, Razgatlioglu, Rinaldi, Redding and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was reduced to three on Lap 4 as Lowes went down at T5 before Rinaldi lost the front at T8.

Rea created an early gap, but he paced down and allowed his pursuers back in to protect his X tyres.  Razgatlioglu briefly took the lead, but as Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was up to fourth and quicker than the top trio, Rea reclaimed P1 on Lap 5.

Redding overtook Razgatlioglu and started to challenge for the lead on Lap 9 in a tight battle with Rea. The Kawasaki rider prevailed and now alerted, Rea got his head down and pulled out a gap from Lap 11.

Razgatlioglu and Redding rubbed fairings and although the former came out top, he could not shake off the Ducati. Van der Mark was running great pace behind them, but the gap was already up to two seconds.

Redding initiated another attempt with six laps remaining and this time made a manoeuvre stick after the pair swept around each other through a number of corners. Redding gained some bike lengths, but van der Mark was now fastest and made up substantial ground.

The race was terminated two laps early by the red flag and Rea bagged victory by three seconds. Razgatlioglu was all over Redding’s rear, but, like van der Mark, he had to settle for the position. Locatelli had a quiet but confident ride to fifth while Gerloff stormed to sixth from last on the grid.

SUPERPOLE RACE

Razgatlioglu stole the holeshot while the slightest of contacts between Rea and Rinaldi sent the Kawasaki into third. Rinaldi dived down the inside at T2 to challenge for the lead and although Razgatlioglu fought back, the Italian prevailed.

Razgatlioglu successively lost positions to Rea and Redding, leaving him in fourth. The race meanwhile ended prematurely for home hero van der Mark through a nasty highside at T12 on Lap 2.

Rinaldi came under pressure from Rea who had a couple of looks before finally slotting into P1 on Lap 3. The defending champion immediately stretched out an advantage and kept pulling away from his chasers.

Redding challenged for second, but Rinaldi stood firm and gapped his teammate at halfway distance. In turn, Redding now received fire from Razgatlioglu who swept past on Lap 6. The Ducati looked to struggle with the SC0 rear tyre and also had to surrender to Locatelli.

Rea cruised to another win while Razgatlioglu had closed the gap to Rinaldi going into the final lap. He swept past effortlessly and Locatelli made it an astonishing Yamaha 2-3 across the line with an inch-perfect manoeuvre.

However, a post-race reshuffle due to exceeding track limits elevated Rinaldi back into second ahead of Razgatlioglu and Locatelli. Redding just kept Lowes behind him for fifth.

RACE 2

Drama struck early as the Yamahas of Razgatlioglu and Gerloff went side by side for the holeshot. Gerloff misjudged a move down the inside and made contact with Razgatlioglu. While the American managed to stay on his bike, he wiped out his marque colleague.

Locatelli inherited P1 ahead of Rinaldi, Lowes and Redding. Rea meanwhile dropped positions trying to avoid the carnage ahead of him.

Rea swiftly recollected his rhythm and effortlessly picked his way up the order. The Kawasaki rider claimed Rinaldi at T8 two laps later, his sight set on Locatelli a second ahead. Redding too was moving and after some looks finally made an overtake on Rinaldi stick at T1.

Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) hit his best form of the weekend and quietly made his way through the field. With 13 laps to go, he was swarming all over his Ducati colleague Rinaldi for fourth and dived past with a clinical manoeuvre.

Rea had chipped away at Locatelli’s advantage and was with the Yamaha at halfway distance. The inevitable move came at T16 on Lap 11, but Locatelli initially hung on. Further behind, Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) had finally found his form after crashes in the first two race outings and challenged Rinaldi for fifth.

Rea eventually pulled an advantage with relative ease and claimed a triumphant Assen hat-trick. Redding was faster than Locatelli in the dying stages and claimed the Yamaha on Lap 19 through the final chicane. The Italian, nevertheless, bagged his first WorldSBK podium.

Davies returned to form in fourth ahead of Bautista who secured P5. Paint was swapped for sixth with van der Mark coming out best from Lowes and Rinaldi, who looked to be struggling physically.