Rea victorious in opening Assen WorldSBK bout

2021 WorldSBK Round Five
TT Circuit Assen – Prosecco DOC Dutch Round – Saturday

Assen WorldSBK Race One

Jonathan Rea became the first rider in WorldSBK history to win 13 times at a single circuit, having converted pole position into a win after he held off the challenge from his nearest rivals. The race was Red Flagged with just a few of the scheduled 21 laps following a crash for Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) at Turns 6 and 7; after the German rider was on course for a career best WorldSBK result. Folger was conscious and taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. The German rider will be transported to Assen Hospital for further assessments and has been declared unfit for the remainder of the round.

Polesitter Rea lost out from 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 with the six-time Champion tried to break away but to no avail.

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 at Turn 8 on Lap 3, forcing the Italian to retire from the race. It was the same corner that Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) had a crash at a lap earlier which put the Spanish rider out of the race.

It allowed Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who has shown glimpses of strong pace throughout the weekend so far, was able 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 although a mistake from Redding allowed Razgatlioglu through for second place, but it also allowed Rea to jump ahead by a couple of seconds ahead of the battling duo, with Razgatlioglu and Redding continue to fight until the end; Redding finishing the race in second place ahead of Razgatlioglu after passing the Turkish star on Lap 16 to secure second place.

Jonathan Rea – P1

“I think we won that with perseverance; I just kept going. I could see on my pit board that the gap was fluctuating to Toprak and Scott. I knew that if I let those guys get in it would be very hard to get away. When I had a clear track I had to maximise it, make no mistakes and put in a little gap. But I had to keep doing that, never settling, because they were in their own battle and pushing hard. If I relaxed they were going to catch me. I had a good rhythm and the bike was on rails. I just ran into some vibration on the rear tyre at the end so instead of keeping pushing the tyre in the critical areas, like the  fast right handers, I conserved the tyre a little bit more. Even then the gap was still increasing. It’s a really nice feeling as a rider to have that. I am looking forward to tomorrow now. In Superpole, I had a feeling that my first fast lap might have been deleted because I did see a yellow flag. When I got back to the pit box I saw my time was still there, but, to save any confusion, I put in another Q tyre and went out straight away. I tried to avoid any traffic in the latter stages of the session and I had clear track but you are also nervous sitting in the box, watching everybody else go fast!”

Scott Redding – P2

“It’s nice to be back on the podium and get this result in Assen with so many fans in the stands. In the first half of the race the feeling was very positive and I was aware that I could fight for victory. Then I started to have some issues with the front tyre and I had to fight hard with Toprak. All things considered, I’m very satisfied with this result”.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P3

“My plan was to follow Jonathan, but in the race I was feeling some problems because the front tyre was destroyed – and after I see that Scott is also not really fast, so I say, okay I wait until the last lap and try to pass him for second position. But then we saw the red flag… so I am not really happy today because I don’t want to settle for third position, but we are taking good points in a difficult race. Tomorrow we will try again for the best position and I will try a different front tyre for the next race. Thank you to everyone in my team today for the incredible work in Superpole, without this the podium would not have been possible and now we can fight again tomorrow.”

Home hero 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), with Lowes crashing at Turn 5 on Lap 3.

Michael van der Mark – P4

“It was a tough Saturday, to be honest. This morning, I did not do any laps as we had a mechanical problem and so we went straight into Superpole. We thought we can do two laps with the qualifying tyre but I could just do one so it was quite tough. P9 on the grid wasn’t great, and also my start was not the best. I had some wheelieing and lost some positions there, then I got a bit of wrangling with another rider going into turn one and the first lap wasn’t really clean, but then straight away I had a good pace and I managed to pass some riders one by one. At the end I had a similar pace as the guys in front of me who were fighting for the podium but I just could not get any closer. We need to find a little bit extra grip to have the pace so I can battle with them.”

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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; the American did not set a lap time in the Tissot Superpole Session.

Andrea Locatelli – P5

“I’m really, really happy – we had a really good race today because the gap to the front was close and the feeling with the bike from Friday is excellent. We worked well and I was able to make no mistakes, so maybe we can try to push a little bit more! Tonight, for sure, we will work a bit more to understand what we can do for tomorrow. I think this is my best race because the gap is really close, I was able to ride really fast although we lost a little bit of time at the start of the race with another rider. I tried to pass him to go with the front group but in the end we lost the time. It’s a really good place for me in Assen, I love the track and this is one of the key points! This was also the first “normal” qualifying that we start on the third row without penalties, which I am also really happy about. We look forward to tomorrow, and also the guys did a fantastic job today and we will continue to improve a little bit more.”

Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) started one position ahead of Gerloff, after a technical issue in Superpole, but finished one place behind the American in seventh.

Tom Sykes – P7

“It has been a little bit of a character building day. We have been unlucky in Superpole and that set the scene for the opening race today. We had a slight technical issue; fair play to the marshals who brought the bike back. The boys did an unbelievable job to get me back out there and we managed to get a lap in which was good enough for second position on the grid but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Then at the start of the race, we made an acceptable first lap and away we went. Unfortunately we had some limitations, I feel we had an issue which made it difficult for me to consistently make the apex. We will check that and again, we understand the bike a little bit more. For tomorrow we will make some changes. Overall, it was again a strong showing from BMW from a not so good start position. Michael rode a very strong race and it is just proof that we have been working hard.”

Leon Haslam (Team HRC) claimed eighth place with Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claiming ninth and tenth respectively.

Leon Haslam – P8

“It was a bit of a frustrating race to be honest. During the practices I felt that I had good pace, making .34s on a used tyre, but come the race I was around 0.8 of a second slower. The feeling was not good with the front and I felt like I almost crashed on several occasions. So, in managing that, I couldn’t do more than eighth. But I’m disappointed as my expectations were much higher. We crossed the line anyway and will of course do our best to do more tomorrow”.

Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) claimed his best WorldSBK result to date with Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) returning to the points after him and MIE Racing opted to miss some rounds to focus on improving the bike.

Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) claimed his first WorldSBK points with 13th place, taking advantage of wildcard Andrea Mantovani (Vince64)’s double Long Lap Penalty being converted into a ride through penalty after he did not take his Long Lap Penalties.

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 WorldSBK Race One Results

Alvaro Bautista – DNF

“Today in the Superpole I didn’t feel good with the qualifying tyre and lapped slower than with the race tyre yesterday. In the race I started quite well and was with the group in front. I wanted to try and stay there, especially in the first laps where we usually suffer more, but perhaps I had a little too much faith and lost the front, unable to save the crash. It’s a shame because every time I find the confidence to push a little more, I take a risk. We have to improve the feeling to understand where the limit is. I am very sorry for the team because they are working very hard, and I’m sorry for HRC because they are making a real effort with this project. But when I feel I can go faster, I want to at least try, if not I would feel frustrated. It is what it is, it’s a pity but fortunately we have two opportunities to improve tomorrow, so we remain positive and look forward to scoring a better result tomorrow”.

Michael Rinaldi – DNF

“I am very sorry for the crash. Despite a rather difficult Friday, we were able to take some steps forward and this morning the sensations were quite positive. After a good start, I had the feeling that I could easily stay with the leading group. Unfortunately, I made a mistake because I approached turn 8 in the wrong way, without taking into account the fact that the tank was still full. A lesson I’ve learnt for the future”.

Alex Lowes – DNF

“I felt good on the bike and we had made a positive step in FP3 this morning. Superpole was quite close but I got a bit boxed in with Rinaldi and Redding at the start of the race. I got passed by Jonas Folger but I re-passed him. Then I just lost the front in T5, the really slow corner. I was trying to release the brake to make the turn and maybe – with the fuel load on the bike or something – I was on the limit of the front. It was a shame because it was such a small crash but the handlebar was damaged and I could not get back on the bike. A little mistake and the race was over. But I felt quite good on the bike which is the main thing and we have two more races tomorrow.”

WorldSBK Championship Standings

Assen WorldSSP Race One

The special Ten Kate Racing Yamaha livery enjoyed a successful first race outing at the TT Circuit Assen as Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed his fourth consecutive FIM Supersport World Championship victory after a thrilling three-way battle at the front of the field in Race 1 for the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round.

Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) got the holeshot into Turn 1 to take the lead but soon found himself down in third place on the opening lap as both Aegerter and Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). As seen before in 2021, the lead group contained plenty of riders all looking to break Aegerter’s winning streak.

After five laps, the lead trio of Aegerter, Oettl and Odendaal were the leading trio and all set fastest laps of the race to start pulling away from the chasing pack, with Aegerter continuing to lead the race despite Odendaal, in third, being the fastest rider of the three. Oettl had been in the lead of the race before falling back behind Aegerter and Odendaal, with the pair running the SCX tyre while Oettl used the SC0.

As the race entered the second half of the race, the lead trio kept extending their lead over Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) in fourth, who was at the front of the chasing pack, although the gaps at the front tended to be a couple of tenths, although on Lap 10 Odendaal had a look at passing Aegerter before the final chicane, with Aegerter able to hold on.

Oettl was dropped by Aegerter and Odendaal as the race went on with Aegerter, riding a special livery for the Ten Kate Racing team, able to withstand the challenge from Odendaal as the Swiss rider extended his Championship lead over the South African, with Aegerter consistently on lap record pace including setting a new record of 1’37.688s. After 18 laps, Aegerter finished three seconds clear of Odendaal with Oettl claiming third.

Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) engaged in a battle for fourth place in the closing stages of the race, with Cluzel able to pass the 2019 WorldSSP Champion on the last lap; Krummenacher’s fifth the best result of his 2021 campaign.

Gonzalez ended the race in sixth place after losing out to both Cluzel and Krummenacher in the closing stages. Gonzalez has now secured 22 consecutive points finishes in WorldSSP, equalling the third-longest all-time streak and just three away from the longest streak of 25 races, held by Roberto Rolfo.

Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed seventh place after a strong race for the Turkish star, with Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha) and Sheridan Morais (Wojcik Racing Team) completing the top ten; Morais returning to the Championship in place of Christoffer Bergman.

Peter Sebestyen’s (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) return to the Championship culminated with 11th place and a points finish, holding off the challenge from Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) who came home in 12th place; today’s race the first time Bernardi has not finished second when Aegerter has claimed victory.

Michel Fabrizio (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti) claimed 13th place as the Italian continues his comeback with Indonesian rider Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in 14th and Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) completing the points with 15th place and the highest-placed WorldSSP Challenge competitor.

Leonardo Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) narrowly missed out on WorldSSP Challenge honours, finishing 16th and just over a tenth behind Manfredi. Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) was 17th with Stephane Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse), Eemeli Lahti (HRP Suzuki), Luigi Montella (Chiodo Moto Racing) and Eduardo Montero Huerta (DK Motorsport) completing the classified runners.

Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) was declared unfit with a left distal tibia fracture following a crash in the Tissot Superpole session, while Shogo Kawasaki (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti) crashed in Free Practice 2 and was declared unfit after he was diagnosed with concussion. Pawel Szkopek (Yamaha MS Racing) was the first retirement of the race after the Polish rider crashed his Yamaha machine at Turn 4.

Daniel Webb’s (WRP Wepol Racing) return from injury came to a premature end when he came off his bike at Turn 9 on Lap 8, while Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) had a high side crash as he looked to pass Krummenacher at the final chicane; forcing the Finnish rider to retire.

Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing) retired from the race on Lap 14 at Turn 11, an incident for which Bernardi was given a Long Lap Penalty, while Mattia Casadei (VFT Racing) was out a lap later. WorldSSP Challenge competitor Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) brought her Yamaha machine into the pitlane on Lap 16 of 18 to retire from the race.

Assen WorldSSP Race One Results

WorldSSP Championship Standings

Assen WorldSSP 300 Race One

Racing action got underway at the TT Circuit Assen in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship and it was a typically unpredictable affair, with Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) leading an MTM Kawasaki podium lockout at the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round, extending his Championship lead after his nearest rival crash out.

At the start of the race, polesitter Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) was able to keep the lead of the race from his rivals but soon found himself falling down the order, although he was able to keep in the lead group throughout the first half of the race. The lead group throughout the 14-lap race was consistently around 10 riders although in the latter stages the top three tried to break away.

The race was full of drama throughout with the lead battle between Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) and teammate Jeffrey Buis on the last lap of the race with Huertas making his move late on the final lap of the race. Buis claimed his first podium of the 2021 campaign as he looks to kickstart his title defence on home soil but was demoted to third after the flag for a track limits infringement on the final lap, with teammate Koen Meuffels claiming second place ahead of Buis.

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) secured fourth place, after a drag race with Meuffels that was originally a battle for third.

Samuel di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) claimed fourth place after both Bahattin Sofuoglo (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) and Kevin Sabatucci (Viñales Racing Team) were penalised for last-lap track infringements, with Sabatucci completing a stunning race to fight back and claim sixth place after starting from 22nd, with South African rider Dorren Louriero (Fusoort – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) claiming seventh place, ahead of polesitter Steeman. Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) was in ninth place, after a late-race crash with Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki), but the Brazilian was able to stay on his bike; Okaya forced to retire from the race.

Despite a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start, and a crash with Ruben Bijman, Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) (Machado CAME SBK) claimed a top ten finish, with Bijman retiring from the race later on. Alejandro Carrion (Kawasaki GP Project) claimed 11th place ahead of Harry Khouri (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki), Oliver König (Movisio by MIE), Alfonso Coppola (Team Trasimeno) and Johan Gimbert (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) who completed the points; König awarded a one-place penalty for a last-lap track limits infringement at Turn 18, whole Gimbert was forced to drop two positions after being deemed to have overtaken under yellow flags at Turn 16.

Alessandro Zanca (Kawasaki GP Project) came home in 16th place with Twan Smits (Viñales Racing Team), replacing Dean Berta Viñales, in 17th on his WorldSSP300 debut. Wildcard Sven Doornebal (Molendaar Racing Team) was in 18th place after the 14-lap race with Marco Gaggi (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) and Thom Molenaar (Molenaar Racing Team) rounding out the top 20.

James McManus (Team# 109 Kawasaki) claimed 21st place with Antonio Frappola (Chiodo Moto Racing) in 22nd place; just over a tenth behind McManus. Indy Offer (SMW Racing) claimed his best ever WorldSSP300 result to date with 23rd, ahead of Joel Romero (SMW Racing), Miguel Santiago Duarte (Yamaha MS Racing) and Victor Rodriguez Nuñez (Accolade Smrz Racing); Nuñez having a crash on the second lap of the race at Turn 1 and coming home last of the classified runners.

For the second race in a row, Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) crashed out of the race at the final corner when fighting for a strong result, with the British rider forced to retire from the race despite fighting for the podium. The first half of the opening lap had been without incident but as the riders got to Turn 10, there was an incident between Thomas Brianti (Prodina Team WorldSSP300), the returning Christian Stange (2R Racing) and Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse); Gennai retiring from the race but Brianti and Stange able to bring their bikes back to the pits with Brianti re-joining the race.

Czech rider Petr Svoboda (WRP Wepol Racing) went down at Turn 10 and retired from the race. Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) and Ruben Bijman (Machado CAME SBK) had a coming together at the final chicane on the second lap although both were able to continue. Orradre’s race was compromised with a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start as well as the collision. Bijman retired from the race after

On the fourth lap, Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) had a massive highside at Turn 4 which forced the Spanish rider to retire from the race. At the same time, Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) and Sylvain Markarian (Leader Team Flembbo) also retired from the race, while Bruno Ieraci (Machado CAME SBK) was another retirement from the race alongside Vicente Perez Selfa (Machado CAME SBK). As the race started Lap 10, Inigo Iglesias (SWM Racing) and Meikon Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) came together at the final chicane; Iglesias retiring from the race and Kawakami able to continue.

Assen WorldSSP 300 Race One Results

WorldSSP 300 Championship Standings