WSBK Superbike Championship: Rea regains the lead, Kawasaki escapes

Nice turnaround this weekend at Assen, where Jonathan Rea dominated unchallenged, taking back the reins of the general classification. Among the manufacturers, Kawasaki is making a gap while Yamaha sees Ducati making a comeback with great strides.

This is what we call having a guarantor! Dethroned from its leading position during the last round at Donington three weeks ago, Jonathan Rhea gave a scathing response to his opponent Toprak Razgatlioglu this week-end. The Kawasaki rider did not go into detail when achieving the hat-trick at Assen, leaving only crumbs to his opponents. Arriving two small points behind in the “Cathedral” of Assen, the Northern Irishman leaves with a 37 lead, and a whole host of new records with him.

The Briton indeed set a new record during the Superpole, remaining undefeated in qualifying since the start of the season, before becoming the first driver to win 13 times on a single circuit. A record acquired from the first race, and which Rea continued to increase during the Superpole Race and Race 2 contested today. At the same time, the championship leader has reached the milestone of 90 victories with Kawasaki since the start of his collaboration with the Japanese manufacturer in 2015.

 

At Yamaha, a costly collision

In these conditions, his main rival in the championship Razgatlioglu tried to limit the damage as best he could. The Turk achieved this during the first two races, at the end of which he finished on the podium, but was the victim of a collision with Garrett gerloff at the start of Race 2. An incident which did not fail to create controversy while the two men compete under the colors of Yamaha.

In third position overall, Scott Redding had a clean weekend, punctuated by two second places where it mattered most: During Race 1 and Race 2. The Englishman therefore sees his presence reinforced in the top 3 of the championship, ahead alex lowes, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Gerloff.

Seventh position is the subject of a change of ownership, with one BMW driver succeeding another, Michael van der Mark overtaking his teammate Tom Sykes. The Dutchman did not have an easy weekend on home soil, marked in particular by a mechanical problem during FP3 which deprived him of any running as qualifying approached, as well as by a retirement following a fall during the Superpole Race. . But the Batavian was resourceful and also knew how to capitalize at the right times, securing a fourth place in Race 1 and finishing sixth in Race 2.

 

Locatelli enters the top 10

Chaz Davies remains in ninth place in the standings, ahead of Andrea Locatelli, who had a very good round culminating in his first top 3 in Superbike acquired during the final race. The Italian thus dislodges Álvaro Bautista from the top 10. Finally, we note that Lucas Mahias, despite his withdrawal this Sunday following a fracture of the left scaphoid, preserves his 14th place in the championship.

 

 

Among the manufacturers, Kawasaki is regaining some air against Yamaha, its lead having increased from four small points upon arriving at Assen to 27 units now. It is also the brand with three tuning forks which now has the pressure with the return of Ducati on its heels, the Italian manufacturer which has made the junction with the Japanese brand, falling to only four points. Behind it is the status quo between BMW and Honda, the German manufacturer still ahead of the brand with the golden wing.

Finally, in Supersport, Dominique Aegerter carried out the good operation of the weekend with his two victories, while at the same time his rival Steven Odendaal was stalling. The gap between the two men thus increases from 17 to 44 points. The South African must therefore react quickly, as Rea did in Superbike, during the next round in the Czech Republic in two weeks, if he wishes to still have a say in the quest for the title.

 

Ranking – Drivers’ Championship:

Ranking – Constructors’ Championship:

Ranking – Team Championship:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com