Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty battled to the bitter end with Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes to claim top spot on the podium in the second World Superbike race at Assen this afternoon.
Sykes was leading until the final three laps, when the Irish rider decided to make his move. The Huddersfield lad did put up on strong fight, but he ran on to the curb in the final chicane and was out of the seat, giving Laverty the opportunity to take the lead and his second World Superbike win of the year after a cat-and-mouse encounter.
Sykes was not the only Kawasaki on the podium, as young French rider Loris Baz claimed the final step, but had to contend with challenges from Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea, and earlier during the 22 lap race a charge from Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli. The Frenchman appeared to have tyre issues as he fell off the pace, letting GoldBet BMW’s Chaz Davies to take fifth place, with less than four hundredths of a second separating the two bikes as they crossed the finishing line.
Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier ended the final World Superbike race of the day in a respectable seventh, after riding a faultless race with a huge hole in his leg. The Brit managed to keep GoldBet BMW’s Marco Melandri at bay, and his Suzuki team-mate Jules Cluzel. The Frenchman eventually retired due to a technical problem with his GSXR1000, with only seven laps remaining out on the Dutch circuit. Melandri also suffered a problem mid-race to add to his race-one retirement but remain out on track.
Cluzel was not the only racer to retire, Althea Aprilia’s Davide Giugliano was up in third position, but crashed and saw his bike go up in flames, at turn one. Ducati Alstare’s Carlos Checa was off the pace again, and ended the race in tenth. The former champion was overtaken by Melandri and Red Devils Aprilia’s Michel Fabrizio who finished just inside the top ten in ninth.
