WSBK Netherlands (2): new double for Rea … Sykes and Kawasaki !
According to the new regulations, Rea and Sykes had to start from the back of the third row on the grid this Sunday in Assen. In the end, however, the WorldSBK "Number One" and his # 66 teammate fought to the end for victory, far ahead of Chaz Davies….
Fourth in the first race disputed yesterday in Assen, Xavi Fores places his Ducati n ° 12 in pole position, as provided for in the new "unsportsmanlike and prospective" regulations of the World Superbike 2017. Luca Savadori (Aprilia n ° 32) and Stefan Bradl ( Honda n ° 6) join him on the 1st row.
In the second row are the 7th, 8th and 9th of the first Dutch race, namely Roman Ramos (Kawasaki n ° 40), Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50) and Leandro Mercado (Aprilia n ° 36). The third is occupied by the podium pilots…
Coming third on Saturday, Marco Melandri (Ducati n ° 33) started from 7th place ahead of the two Kawasaki n ° 66 and n ° 1 of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea. Victim of a technical problem on his Ducati n ° 7, Chaz Davies is relegated to 10th position ahead of Michael van den Mark (Yamaha n ° 22) and Jordi Torres (BMW n ° 81).
Departure : Fores got off to a very good start on the handlebars of his private Panigale and dived in front of Laverty, who took a very interior trajectory with his factory RSV4. Sykes and Rea are already in the "Top Four", followed by Savadori, Ramos, Davies, Melandri, Bradl and Hayden.
The Spanish n ° 12 rushed alone in the lead at the start of the 1st round while the Irish n ° 50 firmly resisted the pressure applied by the English n ° 66, followed by very – very! – close by the Northern Irishman n ° 1! The gaps are reduced at the end of the first loop…
Fores widens in the double right (turn 3 and 4) and allows Laverty to seize the reins of the race! Behind, the Ducatis are also progressing: Davies and Melandri are back on the Kawasaki corked by the Ducati n ° 12. Savadori follows the official Panigale, Hayden leads a group consisting of Ramos, VDM and Bradl.
Rea passed Sykes then Fores and Laverty in the 2nd lap! Sykes took longer to pass Fores and climbed back up less quickly on Laverty. Davies stumbles in his turn on Fores: the official n ° 7 must quickly find an opening on the private n ° 12 to climb up on the "Number One" who is already isolated in the lead.
Tom Sykes passed Eugene Laverty at the end of the 3rd lap in the chicane. Chaz Davies blows the lock Xavi Fores in the 4th round: it was about time because Melandri, Savadori, Van den Mark and Hayden are one and the same group that was dangerously behind him !
Alone in the lead, Rea went on quick laps and steadily increased his lead over his teammate Sykes. Two seconds behind the English n ° 66, the Irish n ° 50 dearly sells his third place to the Welsh n ° 7! Chaz climbs to the podium in the 6th lap…
Much faster than his direct competitors, Van den Mark overtakes them one by one and climbs to fourth position on lap 7! Falling in the first round on Saturday, the 2014 Supersport champion wants to shine in front of his audience … He goes back to Davies.
In the middle of a battle against Xavi Fores, Marco Melandri suddenly loses the front end of his Ducati at the exit (yes, yes!) Of hairpin n ° 5. Luckily, the n ° 33 and its official Ducati were not hit by any motorcycle. Undoubtedly disturbed by the cabriole of the Italian, Fores "falls" in 10th position behind Lowes…
The halfway mark is crossed: Van Den Mark almost got thrown off by his R1 by accelerating too hard on the vibrators at the exit of the twelfth turn! One lap later in the same curve to the right, Rea momentarily exits the track and allows Sykes to come back on him….
Three seconds behind the two Ninjas, Davies stops the ascent of the "Magic Michael": the Yamaha n ° 60 does not manage to lodge in the suction of the Ducati n ° 7. Laverty is in a solitary fifth place, but Lowes and Camier complete a much better 14th lap…
Almost two seconds behind MV Agusta # 2, Nicky Hayden on his Honda # 69 and Jordi Torres on his BMW # 81 are fighting for eighth place. Stefan Bradl and the second official Fireblade (n ° 6) complete the Top 10, three seconds behind his American teammate.
With 5 laps to go, Rea and Sykes roll in close formation but do not engage in combat. Four seconds behind the two green leaders is Davies the red. Van den Mark the blue – and orange! – continues to manhandle his R1 n ° 60 but loses ground on the Panigale n ° 7.
At the helm of the second official Yamaha, Alex Lowes reached the Top 5 by overtaking Eugene Laverty. The Irish driver is not at the end of his sentences: a second Englishman, Leon Camier, immediately puts him under pressure !
Far ahead, Sykes remains wisely in Rea’s wheel, waiting for the first braking of the last lap, at the end of the line – not very straight – from the pits, to try to take control of the race … In vain! The "Number One" does not make any mistakes on the whole course, preventing any attack from n ° 66.
"Major Tom" tries his – last – chance in the final chicane which he negotiates a little better than his team-mate forced to stay on his guard. The English Ninja cuts to the shortest in the middle of the sequence and goes straight to the checkered flag, inside his rival…
Jonathan Rea finally won by 25 small thousandths over Tom Sykes. The ruthless "JR" celebrates his 200th World Superbike race – his 60th with Kawasaki – with yet another victory! Five seconds after the two ZX-10RRs, Chaz Davies and his 1190 Panigale R reach the third step of the podium.
The two factory YZF-R1s complete the Top 5. But if the n ° 60 of Michael van den Mark is "only" eight seconds behind the winner, the n ° 22 of Alex Lowes arrives on the line of ‘finish with eight seconds later … victory is still a long way off.
Leon Camier takes a good sixth place in his F4 RC, Jordi Torres and his S1000RR are just ahead of Eugene Laverty and his RSV4 Factory. Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl complete the Top 10 at the controls of their official CBR1000RR SP2.
In the world championship, Jonathan Rea took advantage of his third double of the season to increase his lead to 64 points over Tom Sykes, twice second today. Chaz Davies pocketed only 16 points this weekend and left Assen with 111 points on the clock.
The next event scheduled in two weeks at Imola will allow "Chazie" and Melandri (4th with 97 points) to relaunch in the fight for the title of (vice?) World Superbike champion 2017? There is only one way to find out: stay connected to MNC !
Result of the 2nd WSBK 2017 race in Assen
Related articles
-
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…
-
WSBK Spain (2): Rea’s double in Jerez, Kawasaki’s hat-trick in WorldSBK Boosted by Ducati yesterday, Jonathan Rea and his Ninja clearly dominated the…
-
WSBK Great Britain (1): Sykes triumphs for the ninth time ! Author of a new pole record this afternoon at Donington Park, Tom Sykes won his ninth race in…
-
Superpole Assen: Rea explodes Baz’s record, Davies explodes with rage Hounded by Sykes and Davies yesterday afternoon in Assen, Rea dominated the…
-
WSBK United States (2): Rea signals the start of the holidays … and his rivals ! Arrived only second in the first American round yesterday, Jonathan…
-
WSBK Italy (1): Sykes winner of an incredible elimination race (s) Dominated by Van der Mark, Davies , Rea and Melandri throughout the event, Tom Sykes…
-
WSBK Great Britain (2): Rea dethrones Sykes at Donington Park Dominated two weeks ago at Imola by Chaz Davies and betrayed yesterday by his rear tire at…
-
WSBK – WSBK Qatar (1): Davies again winner, Rea again champion! – Used DUCATI KAWASAKI
WSBK Qatar (1): Davies again winner, Rea again champion ! Unbeatable lately, Chaz Davies won his tenth race of the season tonight at Losail. Second in…
-
WSBK – WSBK Spain (1): another double for Aprilia –
WSBK Spain (1): another double for the Aprilia Leader during three quarters of this first Superbike race in Jerez, Guintoli could do nothing against his…
-
WSBK – WSBK Spain (1): Davies still winner, Kawasaki still champion! – Used DUCATI KAWASAKI
WSBK Spain (1): Davies still winner, Kawasaki still champion ! Starting from sixth place on the grid, Chaz Davies once again transcended in the race,…