Sunday WorldSBK/SSP/300/R3 round ups from Assen

WorldSBK 2024 – Round Three
Assen – Sunday

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) shared the spoils on Sunday in Assen. In the ten lap Tissot Superpole Race Bautista led the field home after a stunning comeback ride saw him come through the field to take the lead from Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) on the penultimate lap.

Starting from pole position, Bautista led the majority of the first half of Race 2 but with spots of rain in the air the field closed up. Razgatlioglu choose this as his moment to pounce but with Bautista retaking the lead before Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) mixed it in.

The Turk moved into the lead for the final six laps but was under pressure throughout the closing stages. Bautista would finish less than a second behind the race winner with Gardner able to claim his first career podium. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) finished in fourth position ahead of Locatelli.

When WorldSBK returns to action at Misano on June 16, there will be just six-points separating Bautista and Razgatlioglu, with Bulega a further eight points adrift after a difficult weekend at Assen for the previous championship leader.

WorldSBK riders reflect on Assen adventure

Alvaro Bautista – 1st in championship – 123 points

“This morning’s Superpole Race was the only dry session of the whole round and that says a lot about the difficulties we had to overcome. However, I am delighted with what we did. In Race-2 the feeling was very good but after the rain, I had the feeling that the rear wheel, losing temperature, had changed a lot not allowing me to push as I would have liked. Still, it remains a very positive weekend.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – 2nd in championship – 117 points

“I am very happy. We did a very good job this weekend, especially in race two. It was not easy to take the win but in every lap I pushed hard. Everyone was working so hard this weekend and we finally won in race two. It was my first victory at Assen in the Superbike class, and also the first win here for BMW so I am very happy. It was not really important that I started from P9 because if you are really fast this is not a problem. The only problem was that after the first corner, Alex Lowes almost crashed and I closed the gas. After that, I tried to pass all the riders step by step. I felt confident and especially after ten laps I had very good pace. When the rain came, I just closed the gas because I did not want to take a risk. I just followed Alvaro Bautista who is more experienced than me. Then I started to push again. I wanted to win this weekend and I did.”

Nicolò Bulega – 3rd in championship – 109 points

“It was a weekend characterised by ups and downs but at the same time, it was not easy to race for the first time with the Panigale V4R on a circuit in such unpredictable weather conditions. Now we go to Misano, my home race, and we will try to be very competitive and consistent again.”

Alex Lowes – 4th in championship – 93 points

“I was happy with how I managed the Superpole Race and took a podium finish. When I came out of the final chicane I was wondering how defensive Remy Gardner was going to be. When he cut back to the left I thought, ‘I have to pass him!’ After three or four laps of Race Two I realised I was quite fast and was moving forward. Jonathan Rea had made a good start but was coming back to me. I had a really good run on acceleration coming out of the last corner compared to him so I tried to outbrake him into the first corner. T1 was my best chance to pass. I was trying to stop the bike a bit more for the apex, to prevent him re-passing me on the way out of the corner. I just lost the front, all by myself, but because I was passing him under the brakes, where could he go? So, he hit me as I was sliding. It is a shame because I had the chance to put in another solid performance in that race. I have been to say sorry to Jonathan and his guys. It is also a shame because we are doing well, getting a lot out of the bike, and riding it on the limit. I would have liked to have taken points in that last race but the Assen weekend in general has been quite good.”

Andrea Locatelli – 5th in championship – 64 points

“It was not an easy Assen weekend! We were happy in the Superpole Race to recover good positions and to be close to fight for the podium, but in the chicane I saved a big, big crash which cost me this chance. In Race 2, the feeling with the R1 was honestly very good – everything was under control and I was fast, but I had some inconsistency with the front brake. We don’t know why and I never had a feeling like this before, now we have some time to check the data and understand. With this, when Bautista overtook me on the straight and we arrived at the first corner I was braking hard but felt nothing, so I go wide – here we lost the lead and the opportunity to make the podium. We didn’t do a bad job, but we were just really unlucky this weekend and not many points from yesterday. We need to keep working and believe in our package, and let’s see what we can do for the next race. We have time and some days of testing to get more confidence, look at everything and see where we can be for Misano. I want to say thanks to all of my guys and the whole team because they worked really very hard all weekend, it’s never easy in these conditions.”

Andrea Iannone – 6th in championship – 64 points

“It was a difficult race for everyone due to the lack of test on the dry done previously and the weather which was truly unpredictable and constantly changing. For us, added to this difficulty was the total inexperience on the Assen circuit, everything was new, to be discovered minute by minute, including the set up of the bike and the set up of the electronics. The balance of the weekend is still positive despite yesterday’s mistake, it helped us to be more aware and prepared. We ended the Dutch Round with a good feeling. In race two we managed to confirm our competitiveness and our speed, fighting until the end for the podium, staying very close to the riders of the official teams, gaining further experience. And taking home a good fourth place. We will continue to work in the coming weeks to improve and try to get better results. Let’s see in Misano.”

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Michael van der Mark – 7th in championship – 58 points

“I think we should be quite happy with the results this weekend. This morning in the Superpole race, the goal was to be in the top nine and we managed to do it so we had a better start position for race two. I then had a good start and gained some places straight away. I had good pace and the top group was just in front of me. At some point it started raining again in the middle sector. We had some really nice battles and it was great to fight with the guys in front. I struggled a bit at the end of the race with the riding style and fell back a bit into my old habit. I tried to push too hard to follow the guys. Then at the end I got a time penalty. It was a shame to lose P6 but it is what it is. If you look back on the weekend we showed that we are strong. It was also fantastic to see Toprak taking another win today so I am pretty sure that soon we will have two BMWs on the podium.”

Remy Gardner – 8th in championship – 54 points

“It was about time! We’ve had an amazing weekend, we were fast in every session. Unfortunately, I lost a place on the rostrum in the Superpole Race, I’m honestly kicking myself for leaving the door open at the last corner, but Alex had a good race so congratulations to him. In Race 2, drops of rain made it scary and I didn’t do anything crazy, everyone closed the gas, but as soon as it started to dry again I felt I had the pace and I opened the gap. Finally, we’re back on the podium and I hope it’ll be the first of many. A huge thanks to the team.”

Dominique Aegerter – 10th in championship – 46 points

“This was not a bad way to finish the weekend, even though we were expecting more, considering the pace we showed in the final feature race of the weekend. The target for the sprint race was the top nine, but it was complicated to get it starting from so far back and we recovered just a couple of places. Then, in Race 2, I had a decent start and I could make my way through the field joining the group fighting for the podium. I had some good battles and the pace was good; to finish just five seconds off the victory starting from 19th is a good sign, now let’s head to the next round and we’ll have some good test sessions before the next races.”

Sam Lowes – 11th in championship – 31 points

“Today has been very positive because we scored strong results in challenging conditions and collected some decent points for the Championship. It felt a good way to quickly the forget the disappointment of yesterday when the conditions were really tricky. This afternoon I was the only rider to go with the new Pirelli SCX rear tyre and I think it was the correct choice. I’m happy with how I managed the race because I took my time at the beginning and paced myself so I could be fast and competitive at the end. In Barcelona, I was very fast at the beginning but lost pace towards the end and dropped back, but it was clear today that I paced myself a lot better and that shows we are all learning from experience. This weekend wasn’t easy with such limited dry track time but again it was another very important learning experience for me and the team. We can take away a lot of positives and my first top six shows we are making the progress we want. I qualified fourth, felt strong in the full wet conditions and was competitive in the dry, so I want to say a big thanks to the team for their great work all weekend. We have a break now until the next round in Misano, but we will be out testing and trying to improve my feeling on the bike.”

Garrett Gerloff – 12th in championship – 29 points

“Today was better than yesterday. It was nice to just be higher up the order but I’m still so far back it’s getting frustrating. I’m trying different solutions to the things we’re struggling with, but it hasn’t been very clear. I’m pushing but it’s not coming yet. We just have to keep working and see if we can make some improvements for the next race.”

Scott Redding – 18th in championship – 18 points

“The warm up was very cold, but the Superpole Race was pretty good. I managed to find a better feeling again from yesterday which was the goal. It was a lot to play for with the tyres. Everyone went more or less with the same tyre, but it was dropping a lot. We could see that with the lap times and the performance of everyone but I actually felt quite good. The changes we made from yesterday to today were positive so going into race two I had a bit more confidence. I felt ready for the race. My start was ok, but I was stuck a little bit with two guys, struggling to pass them but then while braking into the last corner I lost the front, which I was a bit upset about because I felt I had good pace today for another top-ten or maybe even more. I’m just upset with that. I want to apologize to the team, they’ve been great. We’ll come back for Misano and try again.”

Xavi Vierge – 14th in championship – 25 points

“What can I say? Of course, we are aiming for more than we achieved today, but we’re giving it our all so we need to focus on the positives, in that we managed to finish both long races in the top ten. Having said that, I struggled a lot today due to a lack of rear grip. This meant I was passed by many riders in the first few laps and couldn’t do much about it. Then, while other riders’ tyres started to drop, mine remained more consistent. This allowed me to make a comeback and secure a top-ten finish. I still feel disappointed though, as we need to identify how to find what’s missing. If we don’t address this issue, we can’t compete effectively. Despite the challenges, I want to express my gratitude to my team. They stand by me every day, never giving up and continuously exploring new ways for improvement. Looking ahead, we now have a break with two planned tests, which will be crucial in order to help us make a real progress.”

Jonathan Rea – 15th in championship – 23 points

“It’s been my best weekend to date with Yamaha, so we have to take the positives! Slowly but surely I’m understanding the bike and how to take profit of the Yamaha R1’s strengths. I also never rode the bike in the wet, so that Superpole session was good and the result was great! All weekend it has not been the ideal conditions to prepare a race plan. We didn’t understand tyre choices from the start because we didn’t have many laps in the dry, so with experience and instinct made our decisions. Potentially in Race 2, I should have gone with the SCX rear tyre but I was nervous about degradation with the cold conditions. It would have been a gamble for me having not tried it all weekend, but I really struggled with the harder SC0 on the edge of the tyre to get the first part of acceleration off the corner. I felt myself that I was “there” but I ended up off the end of the front group and lost the tow to Iannone. Finally, Alex tried a pass but unfortunately crashed in front of me and down I went with him. Frustrating, because you don’t need to be kicked when you’re down – but we really can take some positives now. We have a couple of tests coming up and a lot of time for both myself to move forward and also for the team and Yamaha. It’s clear that we need to take a step forward but encouraging that both Loka and Remy had such strong races. We look forward to Misano now, it’s a track that I enjoy and we know the Yamaha R1 is quite strong there so hopefully more positives to come.”

Axel Bassani – 16th in championship – 22 points

“It has been a difficult weekend, also for the weather, which was always changing between wet and dry. It was not easy to understand everything, partly because it was our first time here with the Kawasaki. In Race Two on Sunday the feeling with the bike was a little bit better and the position of the bike was much better because we tried something new. When I tried to push I made a mistake and went out from the track completely, and I restarted last. I wanted to just finish the race try to take some information and data for the next races. We will stay positive and continue to work to find a good way forward.”

Tarran Mackenzie – 19th in championship – 7 points

“We worked well together as a team, making this weekend very positive, and today’s race was really good. Achieving P11 is my best SBK result so far, and it feels great to earn solid points. My bike is the same as in Barcelona, but I’m starting to understand how to ride it better. Each race provides me with more experience, which is invaluable in race situations. I’m pleased that I could keep up with some skilled riders and feel like I’ve gained a lot of useful insights. Despite the rain at times, I managed the situation as best as I could and thoroughly enjoyed the race. Being competitive boosts my confidence and motivates me for the upcoming races. I’m extremely happy and grateful to the team.”

WorldSBK Race Two Results

WorldSBK Superpole Race Results

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP Race Two

In front of a home crowd Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) proved to be the star of the Supersport field by claiming his first career victory. In difficult conditions the Supersport field started the 18 lap race as rain started to fall around the 4.555km circuit.

While some riders opted to pit immediately at the end of the first lap some waited to change to wet tyres. The majority of the field, including the eventual winner, pitted a lap later and van Straalen gradually made his way through the field before taking the lead with just over four laps remaining. By keeping a cool head van Straalen became the first home winner at the Dutch Round in the Supersport class since Michael van der Mark in 2014.

By finishing second Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) is now the Championship leader although just three points separate the top four in the standings. Niki Tuili (EAB Racing Team) finished third to claim his first podium of the season.

It was not a great day for the Aussie contingent, with both Oli Bayliss and Luke Power failing to finish, while Tom Edwards finished out of the points.

Tom Edwards

“I’m really happy with how race one went and to get a career best result. It felt so surreal to be leading the race and battling in P2/P3 right down to the end. It was a gamble for the whole grid on which tyres to run with. The team and I chose to go with wets and unfortunately, we didn’t get enough rain to keep the track wet and a few of the top runners came through late on slicks and caught me. In today’s race the decision on whether to box and change to wets or stay out on slicks was up to me and unfortunately my decision didn’t pay off. It was good to get so much experience in the wet with the Ducati and still come away with points and leading the European challenge. Now time to get busy in the seven-week break with training and testing and come back strong for the rest of the season. Thanks to the team for their hard work over the weekend. Also to all the marshals, fans, staff and supports for their efforts in the rainy cold weather over the weekend.”

Oli Bayliss

“It was a difficult weekend overall and the weather conditions didn’t help. In race one I really struggled with the front tyre from the first lap and with the wet rear tyre in the wet parts of the track I didn’t have a good feeling with the first touch of the gas. In the second race I made made the wrong decision to stay out on the slick tyre as I thought it would have dried earlier than it did. I’m sorry for the team as we worked really hard as usual, but we’ll bounce back in Misano.”

Luke Power

“I am really happy with the weekend. It was probably my best weekend in the world championship, all things considered. Friday qualifying went well, and I achieved my best grid position in P12. I wanted to work on a better result in qualifying which I did. I took a gamble with tyres for Saturday’s first race and the race was super positive. The decision we made was the right one as we were able to show our potential by leading my first world supersport race for five laps. It feels a bit surreal having battled for the podium for ninety five percent of the race and although the last two laps didn’t go our way it’s my best result and I finished inside the top ten in only my second event riding an MV Agusta. Sunday was a bit of a lottery with rain falling as we finished the warm up lap. The team and I spoke pre-race and decided to start on slicks. To be in the battle for the lead again was incredible but unfortunately, I was pushed wide by a rider on wets which resulted in me crashing. It’s one of those things but I am really happy with what me and the team have shown. I have learned a lot, and I am confident that what we showed is only the beginning. A massive thank you to my entire team, my sponsors, family, and manager and to all the fans who came to the track despite the freezing conditions and the rain. See you all in Italy!”

WorldSSP Race Two Results

WorldSSP Championship Points

WorldSSP300 Race Two

It was a dominant weekend for Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Retro Trafic Kawasaki) dominated the Dutch Round of the WorldSSP300 championship. The Spanish rider’s reward for a double victory at the TT Circuit Assen is a Championship lead of six points.

The home crowd had plenty of reason to cheer with Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) finishing second having been narrowly beaten on the run to the chequered flag. The margin was just 0.04s at the end of the 12 lap race. A post-race penalty for Julio Garcia Gonzalez (KOVE Racing Team) promoted Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) to third position.

WorldSSP300 Race Two Results

WorldSSP 300 Championship Points

R3 bLU cRU World Cup Race Two

Spanish rookie Gonzalo Sanchez made an excellent return to the top step of the podium in the second race of the FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup at the TT Circuit Assen after a disappointing DNF in Race 1.

Race 1 winner Marc Vich made the best launch from the line and took an early lead, pulling a gap of one second over the pack before the end of the first lap, but Sanchez was quick to catch his compatriot and make his own bid for the race win. By lap four the Spanish duo had pulled a gap of 3.8 seconds over their rivals, who were in a big group ranging from third to 11th. This group swapped places many times over the course of each 4.5km lap and was more hectic than the relative calm at the front with Vich and Sanchez.

Saturday’s winner Vich held firm for the bulk of the 10-lap race, using his experience and track knowledge to put in smooth and quick laps. Although he led on laps two and three, Sanchez preferred to sit behind his rival, following his lines and waiting for the optimum moment to make a move on a circuit he has never ridden before. This moment came on the last corners of the final lap of the legendary Dutch track when he slipped past Vich. The 15-year-old rookie managed to defend his position into the Gert Timmer chicane and take his third win of the season.

After earning 25-points on Saturday Vich added to his impressive haul with second, just +0.018 behind Sanchez. Brazil’s Eduardo Burr came through for another rostrum result in third after a tremendous group battle. Takumi Takahashi was fourth and Dorian Joulin took fifth after a penalty for Dawid Nowak on the final lap.

Cam Swain recorded a top ten finish and is now 12th in the championship chase after the opening two rounds.

The Netherlands’ Indi Schunselaar had a disappointing end to his home race weekend when he suffered a crash at Turn 17 on the third lap.

Round 3 of the FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup will take place at Misano World Circuit from June 14th-16th.

R3 bLU cRU World Cup Race Two Results

FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup Points

2024 WorldSBK Calendar