Alvaro Bautista reigns supreme at the Cathedral of Speed
The Bautista show rolls on as the Arua.it Racing Ducati rider takes three from three at Round 3 of the WorldSBK Championship in the Netherlands.
RACE ONE
Bautista Overcome Grid Penalty for Race One Win
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) won the Superpole qualifying competition, but both he and Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) were punished for riding slowly on the racing line, putting Bautista fourth on the grid and Bassani 11th.
Bautista and eventual seventh placed finisher Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) swapped positions in the hunt for the podium early on but Bautista would eventually prove too fast for everyone, picking off eventual third place Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) realtively early and then Rea on lap nine. Bautista had a winning margin of over three seconds at the end of the race.
The 2022 big three proved too much for the rest, with fourth placed Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) over ten seconds from the win after 21 laps. ‘Loka’ made a hard last lap pass on Bassani for fourth place, leaving his compatriot in a final fifth place.
Sixth place went to the fast-finishing Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha), who pipped Lowes right at the end.
Aussie rider Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) secured eighth place, finishing one up on Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati). Early top five runner Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) dropped places dramatically to finish tenth.
Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) crashed out, leaving Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) as top Honda rider in 11th place. Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was only 13th.
In his first WorldSBK race of the season, BSB champion Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) finished 18th.
SUNDAY SUPERPOLE RACE
Eight Laps And Seven Wins For Bautista
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took a narrow but assured win in the Tissot Superpole race on Sunday morning at Assen, heading up Jonathan Rea (KRT) by just under a second. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) was third.
The top three finished in a loose group after eight, not ten, laps, after a red flag to check on a potential oil spill.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was a convincing fourth, almost three seconds up on fifth palce finisher Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team).
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati), Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha) and Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished in a group behind Bassani.
Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) was ninth, and top Honda rider, while Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) placed tenth, leading an eight rider group home across the line. Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) was 12th and Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 17th.
SUNDAY RACE TWO
Bautista Avoids Race Two Incidents To Win Again
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) scored a hat-trick of race wins at Assen with an eventual clear margin of victory of 3.915 seconds in the 21-lap Race Two.
He had a battle on his hands in the early laps, with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) taking turn to lead (if not across the finish line) and try to slow Bautista’s inevitable escape.
Rea was to crash while in third place, leaving Bautista the winner from Razgatlioglu.
Third place went to a rider who likes Assen more than most tracks, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) who overhauled original fourth placed rider Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) once again.
Bassani would be relegated to fifth place for a track limits infringement on the last lap, giving the closing Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha) his best result in WorldSBK so far.
The top six was rounded out by Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha).
Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was seventh, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) eighth.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) crashed on the sighting lap but raced back to get a spare bike and rode from last position to ninth at the flag, less than 16 seconds from Bautista’s winning pace.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) concluded a disappointing Assen weekend with tenth place in Race Two.
There were a slew of fallers in Race Two, from Rea’s high-speed slide to the highest of highsides from Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) crashed at Turn Nine as Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) scored a point for 15th place.
Next Round, Barcelona-Catalunya, May 5-7.
Report Gordon Ritchie + Photography GnG