Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli came close to doing the World Superbike double at Assen, but a crash in race two has left the Frenchman ‘angry’ as he had a good chance to repeat his win from race one.

In race one the French rider started well to move out in front of the rest when the red lights went off and set an impossible pace for the rest of his rivals.

Then in the second half of the race he defended his position in the lead with flying laps as Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes made a comeback. The race was called four laps from the end when the red flag came out due to a blown engine, and Guintoli was crowned the victor.

Race two started off looking promising with the England based rider starting out at front. The heavy rain forced the race marshals to suspend the race, restarting it later with distance shortened to ten laps.

On a difficult track, and despite a less than perfect start, Guintoli managed to get front runner Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea in his sights within a few turns. On the last chicane the poor grip cause him to crash. But he did re-mount and finished the race in ninth place, but is still upset about falling at the Geert Timmer chicane.

"It's a real shame about race two. Despite a less than perfect start I was making up ground without any difficulty. The slide in the second lap had nothing to do with any specific mistake,” said Guintoli.

“On a track that wet it simply doesn't take much at all. In spite of the blow to my back and damage to the footpeg and handlebar, I lapped fast and that really makes me angry because it's clear that I could have won race two as well.

“In race one, on the other hand, I took some risks in the first few laps to try and increase the gap - a dangerous strategy but one that worked in the end. Before the race was called I was keeping an eye on Tom Sykes' comeback, trying to manage my advantage.

“I have to thank the entire team and the guys here at Aprilia Racing because they did a great job today. Even with the low temperatures my RSV4 was really working well. It just goes to show that everyone's efforts paid off."