Late heartbreak for Bulega, tyre woes for Razgatlioglu, and a strong ride from Aussie star Gardner secures second WorldSBK podium
A disaster for Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and a near disaster for Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) contributed to the order of the final race result at Assen, but nothing can take away from a brilliant first ever WorldSBK race win for Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha).
Bulega, starting from tenth place, made astonishing early progress, getting into the lead with half the race gone. He would be forced to drop out with two laps to go, while leading, leaving Locatelli a free run to win from Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) by very nearly three seconds.
A strong Sunday for Yamaha saw Aussie rider Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) make a great start and an even more potent finish, taking his second career WorldSBK podium after he was third in Race Two here last year.
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati) was just 0.4 seconds from a Race Two podium, in fourth place after 21 dry weather laps after the morning rains had disappeared.
Two strong results for the bimota team saw Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) overhaul a slowing Razgatlioglu and then round out his final Assen race in a season-best fifth place.
An eventually close fight for sixth went to Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) who was 0.8 seconds up on the advancing Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC).
Lecuona was the final rider to get the better of a profoundly slowing Razgatlioglu, who was setting laps two seconds slower than the fastest riders at the end, saying he had a blistered rear tyre on the right hand side.
The last two riders in the top ten group were Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven Ducati) and Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
In the championship Bulega has 136 points after two Assen no-scores, while Razgatlioglu is now only 21 points behind, with 115. Locatelli’s first win sees him third, with 107.
ASSEN WORLDSBK RACE 2
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A. Locatelli | Yamaha | — |
| 2 | A. Bautista | Ducati | 2.968 |
| 3 | R. Gardner | Yamaha | 4.396 |
| 4 | S. Lowes | Ducati | 4.803 |
| 5 | A. Bassani | Bimota | 7.38 |
| 6 | A. Lowes | Bimota | 12.109 |
| 7 | I. Lecuona | Honda | 12.928 |
| 8 | T. Razgatlioglu | BMW | 13.11 |
| 9 | A. Iannone | Ducati | 13.273 |
| 10 | D. Aegerter | Yamaha | 13.534 |
| 11 | D. Petrucci | Ducati | 14.558 |
| 12 | X. Vierge | Honda | 15.258 |
| 13 | Y. Montella | Ducati | 17.158 |
| 14 | T. Mackenzie | Honda | 21.036 |
| 15 | B. Sofuoglu | Yamaha | 26.37 |
| 16 | G. Gerloff | Kawasaki | 26.568 |
| 17 | M. Van Der Mark | BMW | 27.226 |
| 18 | R. Vickers | Ducati | 29.876 |
| 19 | S. Redding | Ducati | 38.539 |
| 20 | T. Rabat | Yamaha | 39.37 |
| 21 | J. O'Halloran | Yamaha | 01:01.8 |
| 22 | Z. Zaidi | Honda | 01:26.9 |
| RET | N. Bulega | Ducati | RET |
WORLDSBK CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
| Pos | Rider | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N. Bulega | Italy | 136 |
| 2 | T. Razgatlioglu | Turkey | 115 |
| 3 | A. Locatelli | Italy | 107 |
| 4 | A. Bautista | Spain | 86 |
| 5 | D. Petrucci | Italy | 81 |
| 6 | S. Lowes | UK | 52 |
| 7 | A. Iannone | Italy | 51 |
| 8 | S. Redding | UK | 41 |
| 9 | A. Bassani | Italy | 41 |
