Superbike Assen Race 2: The hat-trick for Rea, disaster for Razgatlioglu!

The Kawasaki rider remained undefeated at Assen this afternoon, finishing ahead of Scott Redding and Andrea Locatelli, while his main championship rival, Toprak Razgatligolu, suffered a collision at the start.

We did not have to wait long to witness the first twist of this Race 2. Indeed, from the start Toprak Razgatlioglu, forced to grab points from Jonathan Rea after the latter's two victories in the weekend, was the victim of a collision with another Yamaha rider: Garrett Gerloff.

However, the two men had made the best starts and approached the first turn at the head of the race. But the American once again showed presumption, as was already the case at the start of the season, by trying at all costs to get inside the Turkish driver.

Starting grid – Race 2

Gerloff dampens Yamaha's hopes

A far too optimistic skirmish, the contact could not be avoided, sending Razgatlioglu into the gravel trap and thus depriving him of an opportunity to partially catch up with Rea. Despite this fratricidal event between two Yamaha riders, it was another representative of the brand with three tuning forks who took advantage of the opportunity to take the lead in the race, in the person of Andrea Locatelli.

The Italian, who came very close to a first Superbike podium during the Superpole Race this morning (he would have actually finished in the top 3 if he had not been subject to a penalty for exceeding the limits of the track), found himself in an ideal position to aim, if not for victory, at least for a top-ranked result.

Summary of the results of the 2019 edition:

New irresistible comeback for Rea

Behind him, Rea, as is often the case, put on the show after a sluggish start. Having dropped to sixth position in the hierarchy, the Northern Irishman set about the task and began his climb to the top of the standings, defeating his teammate Alex Lowes, Chaz Davies, and the two official Ducati riders, one after the other, Scott Redding and Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

For his part, Garrett Gerloff, who can undoubtedly be proud of having extended his contract with Yamaha before this weekend, was penalized with a ride-through. The American observed his penalty mid-race, visibly disappointed, and we can understand this, passing in front of the Japanese manufacturer's stand. The Texan would subsequently drink the chalice to the dregs, losing the front of his Yamaha eight laps from the finish and finally giving up.

At the same time Rea established contact at the front with Locatelli, applying constant pressure to the Italian. The Kawasaki rider came out of the woods on the 11th lap in the last portion of the circuit, finding himself with a clear track in front of him to take the path to the hat-trick this weekend.

First Superbike podium for Locatelli

Locatelli then played in second position for a long time, still seeing Redding gradually come back to him. The former MotoGP rider finally delivered the blow two laps from the goal to take second place. Locatelli can still be pleased to obtain his first podium in Superbike there.

Chaz Davies finished just off the podium after an uneventful race, ahead of Álvaro Bautista at the checkered flag. Michael van der Mark took sixth place ahead of Lowes and Rinaldi, while the top 10 was completed by Axel Bassani and Leon Haslam. Note that Tom Sykes could also have entered the top 10 if he had not crashed in the final laps.

Superbike – Assen – Race 2 results:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com