Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea left it to the final lap before solidifying his dominance at the Assen TT Circuit with his 17th WorldSBK victory at the Dutch track.
The celebrations continued for Team Green as Rea’s success completed his 100th win tally with the KRT squad. Aruba.it’s Alvaro Bautista and Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu completed the parc ferme top three, with the order reversed after the flag due to a track limits infringement by the Ducati man.
Razgatlioglu lined up on pole for the second time of the Assen weekend as the Superpole sprint prepared. Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes alongside and hoping for a more promising outcome after bad luck struck the 31-year-old during Saturday’s race and he was forced to retire from the top five. KRT teammate Rea rounded out the front row with another record-breaking victory in this sights.
After a brief delay due to a technical issue at the back of the grid for Gabriel Ruiu on the Bmax BMW, and an extra warm-up lap, the lights released for the now nine-lap dash. The reigning champion took the holeshot as the action fired up. Bautista through to second from the second row with Lowes maintaining his position ahead of Rea.
Andrea Locatelli held fifth on the second Pata Yamaha as Rea made his move through to third. Michael Rinaldi pushing the Ducati ahead of his countrymen for the fifth place battle with Iker Lecuona, Garrett Gerloff and Xavi Vierge behind.
Axel Bassani was the next to strike as he captured the last of the all-important top nine positions. Bonovo Action’s Loris Baz heading the factory BMW of Scott Redding in 11th and 12th.
Razgatlioglu maintained control as the race unfolded. Two-tenths the gap to the Aruba Ducati behind with the Spaniard making gains in the first half of the lap next time around. Rea held on to the duo ahead as Lowes began to fade in fourth, the Brit running two seconds adrift with six laps to go.
Baz dispatched the second Honda as he made his way into the top ten, Bassani just over a second ahead at the halfway stage. While back at the front Lowes had Locatelli for company after the Yamaha had bettered Rinaldi, the R1 rider doing likewise on the Ninja shortly after.
Rea was in second with four to go as Bautista took the lead, Razgatlioglu once again demoted to third as his hopes of a maiden 2022 victory looked to disappear for a fifth time.
Locatelli set a personal best lap as he looked to bridge the gap to the leading battle. Baz claiming ninth from Bassani with Lecuona attempting similar moves ahead in a three-way battle for sixth against Rinaldi and Gerloff.
Disaster struck Lowes on the final lap as the Kawasaki suffered a second technical of the weekend. Opposing fortunes finding his teammate in charge as the chequered flag came out, to take the victory for the 100th time on Kawasaki machinery. Cake awaiting the Northern Irishman at parc ferme as requested earlier in the weekend.
Bautista and Razgatlioglu completed the podium in the same order as Saturday’s action. A post-race stewards decision, however, saw it flipped after the Spaniard was found to have exceeded track limits in the final lap with Locatelli leading Lecuona and a hard-fighting Baz in the top six. Gerloff, Rinaldi and Bassani completing the fastest nine to determine the afternoon’s grid slot. Lowes’ retirement leaving him tenth on the grid for the final contest.
