[WSBK] Assen, D3 Race 2: Álvaro Bautista triumphs despite a temperature of 6°

World Championship leader Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.IT Racing – Ducati) took pole position in 1'34.740 ahead of Dutch hero Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in 1'34.822 and Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team ) who appeared for the first time on the front row in world WSBK in 1'34.828. The second row was made up of Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in 1'34.935, Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 1'35.086 and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in 1'35.155.

On the third line, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was in seventh place ahead of the four-time World Champion, Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki Racing Team), eighth, less than eight tenths behind Bautista. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) crashed heavily and were declared unfit to race.

According to Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) “ Even though we don't have much data, I know Assen well because I have raced here in the past in other categories. The goal is the same as always: work hard to get the best settings for the races. Weather conditions are the only unknown factor, but we are extremely motivated for Assen ».

To Jonathan Rhea, who are " Unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to participate in the first race after it was canceled by the Race Direction due to weather conditions. Of course, it was extreme conditions with sleet and snow, but I feel for all the fans who came here and didn't really get a chance to see a race. The track temperature was ideal to try at least in the wet ».

According to Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), seventh: “ It was obviously disappointing for those present yesterday, but safety must always come first. Here at Assen, even in normal conditions, the left side of the tire is still critical and it would not have been safe to drive in these conditions. So they made the right decision to cancel. For me, starting from the third row is not the worst position I have been in, we are not making many changes this weekend, we have established our tuning base ».

Marc Bongers, the Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, was satisfied: “ Our recent visit to Berlin was excellent and our collaboration with Berlin is very important. We receive a lot of support from production in many areas – at home in Munich in development and in Berlin when it comes to parts supply. Last but not least, our engine production takes place in Berlin. It was also nice to see how the positive energy we had sparked with the WorldSBK project could also be felt in Berlin. You could see how interested the workforce was and how employees took the opportunity to meet the pilots up close and personal ».

What the German Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) could only appreciate: “ It was great to be welcomed in Berlin like this. It's always something special. I've been to Berlin a few times and really enjoyed the factory tour this time: you learn something new every time. It was a special moment when the motorcycle marked “3 million” arrived and all the employees saw it up close. They were really excited to meet us. Everyone told us they were following our races, and meeting these people personally was a unique opportunity. I am delighted that we have found so much support in the factory, and I would like to express my thanks for this ».

The warmup results were interesting with Baptist in the lead with 1'35.416, ahead of Rea in 1'35.547 and Sykes in 1'35.574.

This race 2 was in fact based on Race 1, that is to say it was contested over the full distance (like Race 3) and not over 10 laps like the usual “Race 2 Superpole” from the start of this year.

Great victory for Bautista despite polar cold

With 6° for the air temperature and 9° for that of the track, the fastest to set off as the lights went out was Alvaro Bautista ahead of Markus Reiterberger, Michael van der Mark, Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam , Alex Lowes, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Tom Sykes.

Bautista opened a small gap of 0.7 on Reiterberger who resisted well. Rea took third position ahead of van der Mark and Haslam. Six drivers were slightly behind their pursuers, with Bautista 0.4 ahead of Reiterberger, Rea, van der Mark, Haslam and Lowes. Razgatlioglu did what he could to resist in seventh position but he was suffering from his injury from the day before.

Bautista, Reiterberger and Rea formed a tight group at the front, while van der Mark in fourth held off teammate Lowes and Leon Haslam, while further back Chaz Davies edged Sykes and Torres for seventh.

Bautista was pushing while Rea (at 1.3) overtook Reiterberger, then followed by the two Yamahas of van der Mark and Lowes. Just behind, Haslam closed to 0.2 behind Lowes. Bautista set the fastest time in the race in 1'34.949.

To the delight of the Dutch public, van der Mark passed Reiterberger for third position.

Bautista and Rea were firmly in the top two positions, while van der Mark and Lowes were now ahead of Haslam and Reiterberger.

With 8 laps remaining, Bautista had a 2.5 lead over Rea. Van der Mark, Lowes and Haslam rode in formation. Reiterberger in sixth position was gradually joining Davies, Sykes, Torres and Razgatlioglu. While van der Mark secured his third place, Lowes was attacked by Haslam for fourth position.

Bautista took his tenth consecutive victory of the year, joined on the podium by Rea and van der Mark. After a superb fight in the final laps, Lowes overtook Haslam for fourth place. Reiterberger finished sixth ahead of Davies, Torres, Razgatlioglu and Sykes.

Race 2 Results:

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

Photos: worldsbk.com, teams and manufacturers