As the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returned to the TT Circuit Assen, a titanic three-way battle for the podium welcomed fans back to the circuit as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) continued to make history with his 13th victory in Race 1 at the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round.

It means Rea becomes the first rider in WorldSBK history to win 13 times at a single circuit.   Challenged by his nearest rivals, the six-time world champion converted pole position into a win to set more WorldSBK history. The race was red flagged with just a few of the scheduled 21 laps to go, following a crash for Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) between turns 6 and 7.   The German rider was on course for a career best WorldSBK result. Taken to the medical centre for a check-up, Folger was transported to Assen Hospital for further assessments and has been declared unfit for the remainder of the round.

Polesitter Rea lost the start to Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK), with the championship leader able to jump Rea on the run down to turn 1. The Turkish star then ran wide through turn 4, allowing Rea back through but the star unable to break away. Rea’s start and Razgatlioglu running wide allowed Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) to challenge the leaders but his race soon came to an end after he crashed on lap 3, forcing the Italian to retire from the race. 

It allowed Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who had shown glimpses of strong pace throughout the weekend, to close in on Razgatlioglu and Rea, before Rea made his move on Razgatlioglu on lap 5. Three laps later, Redding made the move on Razgatlioglu at the same corner, the fast right-hander of turn 6, demoting Razgatlioglu to third.

There was nothing to separate the lead trio as the race entered the second half of the 21-lap encounter.  A mistake from Redding allowed Razgatlioglu through for second place, but it also allowed Rea to make a decent break on the battling duo, with Razgatlioglu and Redding in a fight until the end.  Redding finished the race in second place ahead of Razgatlioglu after passing the Turkish star on lap 16.

Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed a stunning fourth after battling his way up from ninth on the grid, taking advantage of the crashes to Rinaldi and Bautista – as well as Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who crashed at turn 5 on lap 3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) equalled his best WorldSBK result to date with fifth. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished in sixth place after starting from 21st. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished in seventh. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) claimed eighth place. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claiming ninth and tenth.

Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) was a late-race retirement after he brought his Ducati machine back to the pitlane. Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) crashed out of the final chicane while Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) also crashed out, at Turn 15; both Nozane and Mahias crashed on Lap 13.

Assen Race One Results (full results here)
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.093s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +3.214s

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Sprint race
The Tissot Superpole Race for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the TT Circuit Assen was won by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) victorious in the 10-lap race by almost three seconds.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) got the jump at the start and found himself in the lead of the Superpole Race in the early stages, but Rea was able to pass the Italian to head the field. From there, Rea was able to pull a gap to the five riders behind him as they battled for the podium. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed second place after both Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) and teammate Andrea Locatelli exceeded track limits at turn 18 on the final lap, with both demoting one place. Razgatlioglu finished in third place, behind Rinaldi.

Locatelli claimed his best ever WorldSBK result with fourth place in the confirmed standings, taking a second row start for Race 2, although he had crossed the line in third place. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) will start Race 2 from fifth with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in sixth.

Like in Race 1, both Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) battled from the back of the grid to claim a points finish with Sykes in seventh and Gerloff in eighth, starting from the third row in Race 2. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) claimed ninth and the final point in the Superpole Race to secure a third row start for Race 2.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) just missed out on a top-nine start by two tenths of a second while Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) had been running in the top seven during the 10-lap race, but lost out to Sykes, Gerloff, Davies and Bassani as the race went on.

Michael van der Mark’s (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) Superpole Race came to an early end after he crashed at Turn 12 on the opening lap after highsiding from his BMW machine, while Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) crashed at the final chicane on the opening lap, with the Spanish rider re-joining the race and finishing 18th.

Assen Tissot Superpole Race (full results here)

1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.542s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +3.600s

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Race Two
A dramatic race two at the Assen in the fifth round of the 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship saw Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) clinch his third win of the Dutch round – and the fourth hat-trick of his career – despite finding himself in eighth place after turn one, after starting from pole. Behind him, Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) came home in second with rookie Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) claiming his maiden podium.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) got a good start but found himself out of the race after American Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) made contact with the Turkish rider at turn one, with the American placed under investigation for the incident by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards and given a ride-through penalty for the incident. The crash forced Razgatlioglu out of the race.

The incident forced Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)  into eighth place while Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK), running the SCX tyre, found himself leading a WorldSBK race for the first time in his short career.  It took until the fourth lap for Rea to be back in second place, as he looked to secure a hat-trick at Assen.

Locatelli led the first half of the race as Rea closed the gap to Locatelli with the six-time champion able to take the lead on lap 12 of 21 on the run to turn one, with Rea on the SC0 tyre. Rea’s victory means he is now on 199 WorldSBK podiums, one away from a historical 200 podiums.

Locatelli was able to stick with Rea for the next few laps, but Rea soon extended his lead over the rookie. Next, Locatelli had Ducati’s Scott Redding, running third, to contend with.   On the final sector of Lap 19, Redding made his move  into second place, with Locatelli coming home in third for his maiden WorldSBK podium.

Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) missed out on his 100th WorldSBK podium on his 200th start for Ducati – finishing in fourth after charging through the field, fending off the challenge from Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) by just one second with the Spanish rider claiming his best result of the season so far.

Behind Bautista, there was a titanic battle for sixth place that culminated with Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) crashing out at the final chicane while battling with teammate Michael van der Mark, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati); Rinaldi falling down the order as he selected the SCX tyre. Dutchman van der Mark claimed sixth ahead of Lowes and Rinaldi. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claimed another top ten finish with ninth, as Leon Haslam (Team HRC) rounded out the top ten.

Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) claimed 11th place in race two at Assen with Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) securing another points-paying position with 12th. Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) was 13th on his return to the Championship after undergoing a testing programme with the team. Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) finished in 14th place, ending a run of results for the Spanish rider of finishing in odd-numbered positions, while Sykes claimed 15th after his crash.

Andrea Mantovani (Vince64) missed out on a second points finish of the weekend with 16th place, with Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) the last of the classified runners. Gerloff’s race came to an end after he had taken his ride-through penalty after he crashed at turn nine on his Yamaha machine, joining Razgatlioglu as a retirement from race two.

Assen Race Two Results (full results here)

1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.605s
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +3.431s

Championship Standings after Assen (Full Standings here)

1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki – 243 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu – Yamaha – 206 points
3. Scott Redding – Ducati – 162 points

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