WSBK – WSBK Netherlands (1): Guintoli wins the first round –

Posted on by admin

WSBK Netherlands (1): Guintoli wins the first round

WSBK - WSBK Netherlands (1): Guintoli wins the first round -

Starting like a cannonball, Sylvain Guintoli took advantage of the intervention of the red flag five laps before the end to win the first race in Assen. Tom Sykes has to settle for second place, ahead of Jonathan Rea and Loris Baz… While the warm-up – very – morning took place on a wet track, the first …

Starting off like a cannonball, Sylvain Guintoli took advantage of the intervention of the red flag five laps before the end to win the first race at Assen. Tom Sykes has to settle for second place, ahead of Jonathan Rea and Loris Baz…

While the early morning warm-up took place on a wet track, the first race was launched in the dry. The pilots must however be careful: from the formation lap, Fabien Foret is trapped by the curved profile of the track, the central part of which dries quickly but the edges remain wet, even flooded..

The Kawasaki n ° 9 cannot therefore take the start of this first race declared dry and which will therefore not be interrupted for meteorological reasons. In case of rain, the pilots will choose to return to the pits to change wheels, or to continue on slicks until the end….

First WSBK Assen race

Loris Baz sprang very well from the grid when the lights went out but his Ninja reared up on his rear wheel, letting Sylvain Guintoli, Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes pass. Follow Marco Melandri, Davide Giugliano, Chaz Davies, Niccolo Canepa, Toni Elias, Alex Lowes, Leon Haslam, Leon Camier, Eugene Laverty, Christian Iddon, Claudio Corti, etc..

From the first lap, Giugliano was very offensive and passed Melandri. But the Italian did too much and made a mistake in the same bend as Foret! Official # 34 Ducati slips off the track and Davide already has to retire.

In front, Guintoli leads his factory RSV4 to perfection and irresistibly takes off! Sykes does not want to let n ° 50 slip away … He overtakes the n ° 65 Honda at the end of the straight line and sets off in pursuit of Sylvain. Baz is still in fourth place a few lengths behind Rea.

The peloton was quickly dropped, being 4 seconds behind Baz and 6.5 over Guinters after only three laps. Melandri leads this hunting party but must beware of Davies who follows him … and Elias who passes the Ducati n ° 7 at the start of the 4th lap !

Behind his three furious are Alex Lowes on his GSX-R 1000, Niccolo Canepa on his 1199 Panigale (Evo configuration), Leon Haslam on the second Fireblade SP and Eugene Laverty on the second Gex … Slower than the four men of heads, they are certainly no less impressive !

Ahead, Sykes widens and momentarily steps off the track. The "Number One" loses its second place while Guintoli maintains a hellish pace! At the end of the 5th lap, the Frenchie is three seconds ahead of the British Rea and the French Baz. The champion and championship leader – Sykes, who else? – point at 4.5 seconds from Guinto ‘.

In the background, Lowes and Laverty hoist their GSX-R in front of the Panigale Evo in Canepa, and are therefore respectively in 8th and 9th places. Iddon on the Bimota and Camier on the BMW (from Barrier) complete the Evo podium.

Loris Baz goes on the attack in the 8th lap: the "Savoyard Cheetah" protects himself from the return of his teammate Sykes by overtaking Rea. In the same lap, Eugene Laverty loses the front end of his Suzuki: his mechanics will have a little work this afternoon !

Tom Sykes makes short work of Johnny then Loris … Bazooka tries to follow his leader but his Kawasaki calls him to order by rushing wildly. Sykes is five seconds from Sylvain, and let his two companions fight between them.

Rea puts the brakes on Baz at the very start of the 10th lap: the two men rub against each other when setting the angle in the first corner of the layout! The fight is also superb 15 seconds away: Melandri holds back as best he can Elias, Davies and Haslam who keep swapping their positions to the delight of the spectators !

Chris Iddon loses the front end of his BB3 at high speed and has to retire. Camier inherits second place from Evo but does not take advantage for long … Badovini, on the second Bimota recovers 11th place in the scratch (2nd Evo) ahead of Salom, Scassa and Camier.

While Melandri is passed successively by Davies then Elias, his teammate Guintoli still occupies the lead of the race but was dispossessed of half of his lead by Sykes: in the 14th lap, the English Ninja turns almost a second faster than his target…

Rea and Baz are two short seconds from Sykes. The n ° 65 and 76 no longer argue and manage to ride at the same pace as the n ° 1. They too get back to Guinters at the end of the race! Behind, Melandri takes 7th place from Davies. Elias and his private Aprilia stand a second ahead of Marco and his factory machine.

Five laps from the end, Sebestyen (last of the race) was overtaken by Guintoli. Sykes passes the latecomer less than two seconds later, then it is Rea and Baz’s turn. Two superb duels for the first place and the third are shaping up nicely…

Unfortunately the red flag kills the suspense! The engine of the 1190 RX EBR died in the final chicane and put an end to this first race, won by Sylvain Guintoli! Tom Sykes, who counted on the last laps to fight for victory at Froggie, has to settle for second place but remains at the top of the championship.

The poleman Loris Baz and his Kawasaki bow to Johnny Rea and his Honda. "JR" offers his Batavian team a new podium at home: it has been the tradition since 2010! Canepa and its Ducati Evo join the Top10 and join the parc ferme as the first Evo rider.

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *