WSBK Netherlands (1): Davies’ Ducati gives Rea victory…

Stuck in Davies’ rear wheel for the majority of that first WorldSBK round in Assen, Rea was unable to defeat his great rival. Alas for Chaz – for Jonathan, the audience and us! -, the Ducati n ° 7 did not hold until the end…

As indicated by Site ten minutes before the start of this first Dutch SBK race, but of the fourth: the "Number One" is penalized for having interfered with Chaz Davies at the end of Superpole 2…

Departure : Tom Sykes started off very well from his unexpected pole position but his Kawasaki n ° 66 reared up a little too much in the first few meters, like Jonathan Rea’s n ° 1 by the way … The two official Ducatis of Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri therefore saw the lead, while in the peloton, Michael van den Mark passed very close to the fall and left the track…

At the end of the first particularly twisty section of the Assen circuit, Davies took the lead in front of the two official Ninjas. Lorenzo Savadori closes the Top 5 just behind his compatriot Melandri. Xavi Fores, Eugene Laverty, Alex Lowes, Stefan Bradl and Jordi Torres complete the Top 10.

Jonathan goes through a mouse hole – green! – at the passage of the big break n ° 16 at the end of the route! But Tom recovers second place on the first braking of the 2nd lap! The fight benefits the Ducati n ° 7 which widens a gap of a small second. Melandri on the other hand can not join the two ZX-10RR posted in front of him.

Savadori does not manage to match the pace of the leading men any more, but he dominates his own teammate Laverty, still fifth but threatened by Fores and watched by Lowes, Bradl and Torres … Van den Mark falls in the 2nd round by asking too much the rear tire of his Yamaha in the middle of a right / left sequence. He is forced to give up.

In the next round, Rea clears the round of the round record posted by Davies and quickly finds himself in the back wheel of his best foe. Sykes is just half a second away, followed by Melandri on the second factory Ducati.

Jonathan cleverly fits into Chaz’s aspiration. The two men start to drop Tom, slowly but surely … The English Ninja moves away himself from Marco who is now riding in a solitary fourth place: the private Panigale n ° 12 of Fores is already five seconds behind the n ° 33 official !

If the public is disappointed to no longer see their "Magic Michael" driving their R1 # 60, they are delighted with the battle for fifth place between Laverty’s RSV4 # 50 and Lowes’ R1 # 22, the RSV4 n ° 32 from Savadori, the Fireblade n ° 6 from Bradl and the S1000RR n ° 81 from Torres! Camier on his F4 # 2 and Hayden on his CBR # 69 are more than a second from the merry-go-round…

 

More than ten seconds ahead (one second per lap so, hell of a price!), Davies continues to set the pace for this first Dutch race. Rea carefully maintains the pressure on his runner-up in the championship (145 points against 95) while Sykes (91 pts) seems to find a new lease of life at the halfway point and returns to contact with the two leaders.

Melandri turns alone in fourth position, in the same lap times as his pursuers Fores, Laverty, Torres and Bradl. Savadori struggles to follow his little comrades … And Lowes does not stay on the track: the n ° 22 falls in the turn n ° 10 on the 13th lap! Russo also out of the race, no Yamaha left on the track…

Leading the way from the first lap, Davies is constantly kept under pressure by Rea, but he’s holding on! The two rivals move away from Sykes again in the 16th round: there are five laps to go and the victory will clearly be played between "Chazie" and "Johnny".

The ruthless "JR" melts under Davies at the end of the 17th lap, in the last very fast section where his Kawasaki seems much faster than the Ducati. Chaz nevertheless manages to put the brakes on Jonathan when he arrives in the chicane … The hatchet is unearthed, the grenade unplugged, the final finally launched !

Rea still goes through the fast section but again cannot compete under braking. The "Number One" changes tactics and attacks from the start of the penultimate lap: since the start of the race, Jonathan has always turned shorter than Chaz in the double right before the hairpin n ° 5. It passes quite easily.

The Northern Irish Ninja completes the 20th lap in the lead without being worried by the "Welsh dragon". Rea is embarking on the final loop … without Davies whose Ducati crashes in the middle of the final chicane! "Chazie" tries in vain to restart his Panigale but is quickly forced to put his machine on the edge of the track…

The official Ducati team is dumbfounded, their fans are devastated. But nothing equals the disillusionment of Chaz Davies who helplessly watches Jonathan Rea’s sixth victory (in seven races!). No.7 Ducati’s title hopes evaporate with it.

Tom Sykes crossed the finish line four seconds behind his unbeatable – or almost – teammate. You have to wait 13 extra seconds (!) To see Marco Melandri hoist his Ducati n ° 33 on the third step of the Dutch podium.

Fores, Savadori and Bradl did not fight for their respective 4th, 5th and 6th places, unlike Ramos, Laverty and Mercado who fought even under the checkered flag in an attempt to grab seventh position! Camier completes the Top 10 alone.

Result of the 1st WSBK 2017 race in Assen

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