The FIM World Superbike Championship reaches round three in Assen, Holland for a race that at least used to be called the Dutch TT (the Dutch Tourist Trophy), and was a prestigious race. Marco Melandri is ahead as the race has started. Michele Fabrizio and others are it, too. Leon Haslam, Chaz Davies and more after right on top of each other as three bikes go down. There's rain on the back end of the track. No yellow flags. Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri all went down.
This race has nine laps still left to run after the broadcast was joined late. Jakub Smrz and Marco Melandri were at least two of the bikes to go down in this incident. Tom Sykes, Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri all went three wide during the green period before the red flag came out. Jakub Smrz has to have his bike repaired before the next race.
Now, it's raining at Assen. The restart is coming. Jakub Smrz will start from pit lane. This is actually the second race and will be nine laps in length. Leon Camier went down on the formation lap! Wow. Here's the restart. Third spot is blank. Who takes the hole shot? Nine laps for race one. Johnny Rea leads.
Carlos Checa, Max Biagi and Leon Haslam are up at the sharp end. Johnny Rea is up there. Can't tell who else is in this pack. Leon Haslam has taken the lead. Johnny Rey goes down and is out of the race! He slid off behind Haslam. He held the handlebars, so hopefully, his hand isn't injured. Haslam has a four second lead. If he wins, he'll be the first Superbike rider in history to win a race on a BMW bike.
Max Biagi passed Eugene Laverty and wants to pass Davide Giugliano. Leon Haslam is out! He high sided the bike throwing his race away! Carlos Checa leads by 3/10 of a second. Max Biagi is now third. Ayrton Badovini is in hot pursuit of Checa. Six laps left. Giugliano hangs in there. Checa is trying to gap the rest of the field.
The battle rages between Badovini and Biagi. Biagi runs in the 2:05 bracket. Three bikes are out. John Hopkins is one. Chaz Davis is down. Sylvain Quintoli snatches fast lap. He's booking it past Biagi and has emerged in a podium place (3rd). He still is looking for a win. Checa still leads. He's won three consecutive races. Can he win four?
Jeepers! Another rider down! It's Lorenzo Zanetti. Checa's fastest lap time is in the 2:05 bracket. Quintoli continues hounding Badovini. Biagi also wants by Quintoli, and then, Quintoli passes back. Lorenzo Zanetti may have fallen again unless it was a replay. Can't tell.
Giugliano is flying at a 2:01 flat. Checa nearly crashed! Badovini takes over the lead. Marco Melandri is languishing in tenth spot. The top two have not won in World Superbike yet. Badovini dumps his bike now! Ugh! Now it's Ducati vs. Aprilia for the finish. One lap left in race one. Sylvain Guintoli is ahead now.
Guintoli got a podium finish at Phillip Island back in February. Ducati will sweep the podium with an Aprilia in fourth. Sylvain Guintoli wins this race. He's run a best lap of 59.2 seconds. Will Giugliano hold off Checa? Nope. Giugliano is second. Guintoli wins the race! It's his first ever win!
Race 1: #50 Sylvain Guintoli FRA Ducati
Race two is on deck.
For the second race, it is declared a wet race. The riders can still change tires. The front straight is drying, but slightly, not completely. Incidentally, World Superbike has been racing at Assen for two decades, since 1992. Checa will be on full wets while Jakub Smrz is on slicks and so is Biagi.
Some bikes are on intermediate tires. This is the same kind of strategy for wet races in F1 car racing. The sun is starting to break through the clouds. The bikes head out on their formation lap. The sun is coming out. Who has the right tires?
At the start, Johnny Rey leads into turn one. Haslam, Quintoli and others get away well. 22 laps scheduled. Jakub Smrz wants a win in this race. The track is drying but not too quick. Eugene Laverty is now up to seventh. Tom Sykes is second. Laverty is moving up fast. Carlos Checa on wet tires is losing spots, fast. Smrz leads.
Leon Haslam tries passing Tom Sykes, but no. Carlos Checa is the only rider on full wets. Smrz extends his lead. Quintoli and Ray battle for fourth. He's running a 1:42.8 while Leon Haslam is in the 1:44 range. Leon Haslam runs a 1:41.9, 2/10 up on Smrz in the lead.
Tom Sykes cannot get the handle on his Kawasaki as he's got the wrong tire. Checa pits. He's 20 seconds behind the leaders. Laverty tries passing two bikes. There's a five bike pack on damp spots on the track. Be careful. Eugene Laverty battles with Sylvain Guintoli, Maxime Berger and Johnny Ray. Laverty tries passing Sykes but can't. Max Biagi is ahead of John Hopkins.
Haslam runs fast lap at 1:40.9. He and Jakub Smrz continue to pull away. Laverty passes Sykes. Quintoli and Ray are not far away. Max Biagi is stuck in 12th behind Brett McCormick. Laverty runs into the first corner and holds his line during braking. Haslam and Smrz are both on intermediate front tires and a differet rear tire compound.
Guintoli runs fast lap at 1:39.5. Lavery, Haslam and Smrz are in the podium spots. Guintoli actually passes Laverty. Haslam resets fast lap and Guintoli is fastest of all. Carlos Checa is back on pace but is last in the race, (23rd). Marco Melandri is also on full slick tires and is looking to pass Tom Sykes.
Marco Melandri runs wide trying to pass Sykes. He does make the pass. Four seconds is the interval of Smrz's lead. Johnny Ray and Eugene Laverty battle. Smrz still leads. Tom Sykes has plummeted to ninth spot. Chaz Davis is moving up. He's seven seconds behind. Biagi and Hopkins are both languishing in 13th and 14th. Niccolo Canepa is out.
Leon Haslam defends from Guintoli. A BMW is slow. McCormick is out of the race. Haslam re-passes Guintoli. Chaz Davies and Maxime Berger both crash. They lock the brakes and slide off the bike. Guintoli is quicker than Smrz. 1:38.4 to 1:39.9. Guintoli has fresher tires. Max Biagi is up to ninth. Checa languishes. Johnny Ray also needs to get into contention.
Smrz is gapping Guintoli. Marco Melandri and Max Biagi are both fast. Max Biagi seems to be coming back to form. Sylvain Guintoli can still catch Jakub Smrz. Johnny Rea is also close by. Haslam and Laverty run together with Marco Melandri chasing. Guintoli passes Smrz. He wants to get the double. Eugene Laverty holds off Leon Haslam.
Haslam passes Laverty. Their battle continues. Guintoli has a 7/10 of a second lead. Johnny Rea may finish on the podium. Four laps to go. Smrz is out! He high sided the bike trying to pass a lapped bike. Johnny Rea takes over the lead! Honda leads. Ray is now ahead after Smrz's wreck.
Marco Melandri flies past Leon Haslam. Johnny Rea had to deal with lapped traffic. Sylvain Guintoli might have a chance to get by. Eugene Laverty is being hounded by Haslam and Melandri. One lap to go. Laverty passes both BMW's. Johnny Rea wins! Laverty beats the BMW's of Melandri and Haslam!
Race 2: #65 Johnny Rea GBR Honda
Max Biagi is the points leader. The next race is Monza, Italy at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in two weeks.
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