Superbike Assen Race 1: Rea emerges victorious in a three-way battle for victory!

Thanks to his victory in the first Superbike race of the weekend, the Kawasaki rider takes back the reins of the championship against Toprak Razgatlioglu, who saw Scott Redding pass him after a tough battle against the Englishman.

Doubt should not be allowed to intrude, and in this Jonathan Rea perfectly met expectations during Race 1 of the Superbike in Assen. It must be said that the defending champion, six-time world champion in the category, has not really cultivated the habit of letting himself be outplayed by his opponents.

In this regard, Toprak Razgatlioglu's two victories and the Turk's takeover at Donington three weeks ago prompted a reaction from the Kawasaki rider. The latter had already provided the beginnings of a response in the morning, when he showed himself to be uncompromising during the Superpole, taking pole position to the detriment of his opponent from Pata Yamaha. But a qualifying session does not earn points, and everything remained to be done this afternoon during the first of the three races which are to be held within the “Cathedral” this weekend.

Summary of the results of the 2019 edition:

WSBK Superbike Assen	April 2019	July 2021
FP1	1'35.598 Jonathan Rea	1'34.591 Scott Redding
FP2	1'35.414 Tom Sykes	1'34.391 Jonathan Rea
FP3	1'35.202 Jonathan Rea	1'34.596 Scott Redding
Super poles	1'34.740 Álvaro Bautista	1'33.842 Jonathan Rea
Race 1	Bautista, Rea, Van der Mark	Rea, Redding, Razgatlioglu
Warm Up	1'35.416 Álvaro Bautista
Superpole race	Race canceled
Race 2	Bautista, Van der Mark, Rea
All time lap record	1'34.740 Álvaro Bautista

Short-lived first place for Razgatlioglu

When the lights went out, it was Razgatlioglu who made the holeshot, taking control of the event but for a very short time: Number 54 was in fact unable to contain Rea's return in the first turn, leaving number 1 free to move into the lead.

Behind the two men, Scott Redding, third on the grid, was initially surprised by his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who showed very good pace in the first few steps. Too big probably, the Italian being the victim of a lowside in turn 8, a curve which would claim other victims later in the race, but we will come back to that.

 

 

Still, Redding regained third place to pursue Razgatlioglu who, after a second brief stint in the lead, had to resolve to stay behind Rea for the rest of the race. A big duel then began between the two men for second place, to the delight of Rea who took no time to escape in front.

Big accident for Folger and red flag

Ultimately the hierarchy was frozen in this configuration, the race being cut from its last two laps due to an accident by Jonas Folger which forced the track marshals to interrupt the event to be able to medically take care of the German driver in the best conditions.

 

 

At the foot of the podium, Michael van der Mark delivered a solid performance on home soil, after a rather discreet first part of the weekend. Qualified ninth on the grid (which was already a small feat when we know that the Dutchman was unable to complete a single lap during FP3 due to a technical problem), the Batavian completed a race full of attack and opportunism and can congratulate itself on having carried the colors of the Netherlands high.

The number 60 finished under the checkered flag in front of Andrea Locatelli, the Italian also author of a good performance after starting from seventh place on the grid. Behind, we find Garrett Gerloff, solid seventh after, however, not having completed a single lap during the Superpole. Suffice it to say that the American has again scored points, and not just in the championship, in the minds of Yamaha, with whom he will continue the Superbike adventure at least until the end of 2022.

The latter was not the only one to return from the devil Vauvert, Tom Sykes finishing the race in seventh position after also failing to register a single lap in qualifying. The top 10 is completed by Leon Haslam, Chaz Davies and Axel Bassani, while numerous accidents were reported, some of which directly affected the leading men. There was of course Rinaldi as mentioned above, but also Álvaro Bautista, who went out on the first lap at high speed in turn 7, fortunately without damage.

 

Fall for Mahias

Alex Lowes also went to the mat two loops later, as did Lucas Mahias. A heartbreak for the Frenchman who had started from a distant 14th place on the grid, but had managed to make his way through the peloton to appear for a time in eighth position.

This first Superbike race of the weekend now finished, the riders now have an appointment tomorrow for the Superpole Race which will take place in the morning, before Race 2 takes place in the afternoon.

 

Superbike – Assen – Race 1 results:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com