Gordon Ritchie | July 25, 2021
WorldSBK Race Two
After taking the Superpole race win earlier in the day, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) won his third race in three attempts at Assen this weekend after some battles in the early laps, in what was another dramatic race from start to finish.
A crash into T1 on lap one between Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) put the Turkish rider out of the race and got Gerloff punished by a ride-through penalty. Gerloff too would eventually fall and no score.
Rea cleared off into the championship lead following his race two win.
With Rea’s main championship contender out of contention, the race leader was a surprise package in the first laps – Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
Rea slowly clawed back time to him, having made a rear tyre choice change from softer to harder from Saturday to Sunday, and eventually Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) overhauled the slowing Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who had opted for an X rear tire.
Redding would, like Rea, catch and pass Locatelli at the end with the 1-2-3 after all 21 dry laps reading Rea, Redding and Locatelli.
Fast starting Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) got overhauled by Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven Ducati) who then hunted down Rinaldi for fourth place at De Strubben on lap 10 of 12.
There was massive drama at the start as Garrett Gerloff came into contact with Razgatlioglu, sending the Turk tumbling into the gravel trap.
A plucky fight from Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) saw him finish fifth to save his no-scoring weekend, in some regards.
Lowes would fade to finish seventh as Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) transformed his early fortunes to enter the top six, heading of Lowes and Rinaldi, who had pushed his X rear tire too hard in the early laps.
Ninth was Ducati privateer Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) and tenth Leon Haslam (HRC Honda).
In the championship standings, Rea has 243 points, Razgatlioglu an unchanged 206, Redding 162 and Lowes 127.
2021 Assen WorldSBK Results—Race Two
| 1 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
|
| 2 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 1.605s |
| 3 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 3.431s |
| 4 |
Chaz Davies |
(Duc) |
+ 8.695s |
| 5 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Hon) |
+ 9.584s |
WorldSSP Race Two
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) once again scored a race win after his wait and attack strategy paid off with another full points score.
As his big championship rival Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) crashed out and then got restarted to finish 13th, Aegerter left the Netherlands – the home round for his Ten Kate team – with a 44 point championship lead.
Early race leader Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished second and was the only rider able to follow Aegerter up to half race distance. He settled for second place but was very nearly caught by the chasing Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) who scored his first podium of the year in third place. Öttl had once again chosen the X rear tyre and it dropped off in pure performance at the end, as well as spinning on the rim and going out of balance. He was just 0.422 seconds ahead of Krummenacher over the finish line.
Dominique Aegerter was untouchable in race two.
Luca Bernardi (CM Racing Yamaha) initially scored fourth place but ran Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) off the track in passing him on the last lap, with the Turkish rider finally ranked seventh.
Having already been warned about exceeding track limits during the race, however, Bernardi was dropped one position and officially finished fifth.
Fourth, finally, was Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha), fifth Bernardi and sixth Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team).
Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) was eighth and first MV home, with Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) ninth and Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing Yamaha) tenth.
In the championship Aegerter has 169 points, Odendaal 125 and Öttl 108. Next round Most, a new track for WorldSBK and WorldSSP, in the Czech Republic in two week’s time.
2021 Assen WorldSSP Results—Race Two
| 1 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Philipp Oettl |
(Kaw) |
+ 7.697s |
| 3 |
R. Krummenacher |
(Yam) |
+ 8.119s |
| 4 |
Jules Cluzel |
(Yam) |
+ 9.852s |
| 5 |
Luca Bernardi |
(Yam) |
+ 9.870s |
WorldSBK Race One
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) won the first race at Assen from pole position but he had to fight hard with his main championship rival Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) for a time, as Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) also looked a potential race winner until Rea eased away out front with a three-second advantage.
His 13th career race at this Dutch track was not in doubt even though the red flag appeared because Jonas Folger (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing BMW) fell fast and hard, stopping the race after 19 of the planned 21 laps.
Redding was second and Razgatlioglu third, with a sliding front tire.
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) pushed hard from a third row start but could not quite get into leading contention, finishing fourth.
Rea (1) managed to ride clear of the attack from Redding and Razgatlioglu for his 90th win for Kawasaki.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) scored a strong fifth place, six seconds from Rea, with back row starter Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) rushing through to finish sixth.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) came back from his last row start for seventh.
Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) was eighth, Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven Ducati) ninth and Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) tenth.
The battles for the race win did not go all the way but earlier in the race the top three treated the enthusiastic but limited number of fans to a front running show after Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and the fifth placed Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) fell. Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) was also an early and fast faller, as was Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha).
The ten-lap Superpole race and WorldSSP Race Two will follow on Sunday at Assen.
2021 Assen WorldSBK Results—Race One
| 1 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
|
| 2 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 3.093s |
| 3 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 3.214s |
| 4 |
M. van der Mark |
(BMW) |
+ 4.478s |
| 5 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 6.139s |
WorldSSP Race One
An eventual margin of victory of almost three seconds for Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) saw him edge ever further away from his big championship rival Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) in both the race and the points table.
Aegerter gave the Dutch Ten Kate Team a popular home win, especially while running traditional old Ten Kate Yellow colors at this round.
The first race was a three-rider fight for a while, but the pace of the leading two and the SCX tire chosen by third-place rider Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) ensured that he would drop back to finish almost nine seconds from Aegerter.
Aegerter used that beautiful yellow livery to take Ten Kate’s first home win since 2010.
Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) was fourth and Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) fifth in the opening race, with Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) sixth in what was a close final scrap for the first few off podium positions.
After a great start from a disappointing 12th on the grid Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was on the tail of the leaders for a time but dropped back to finish seventh, holding off Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha) over the line.
Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) placed ninth at the end of 18 laps and old WorldSSP and Superstock favorite Sheridan Morais (Wojcik Racing Team) put in a more than solid tenth in race one.
Aegerter leads Odendaal by 22 points with one more Assen race to come on Sunday.
2021 Assen WorldSSP Results—Race One
| 1 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Steven Odendaal |
(Yam) |
+ 2.846s |
| 3 |
Philipp Oettl |
(Kaw) |
+ 8.871s |
| 4 |
Jules Cluzel |
(Yam) |
+ 11.159s |
| 5 |
R. Krummenacher |
(Yam) |
+ 11.276s |
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) secured the fastest opening day time at Assen, but only after upping his pace after a late attack by second fastest rider Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) almost claimed the overnight advantage with a just minutes to go in the second 45-minute practice session.
Jonathan Rea secured that quickest opening day time at the Assen WorldSBK. Photo: Gold & Goose
On the resurfaced asphalt the riders found a much smoother surface to work with than their last visit in 2019.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) held on to third place overall with his best FP1 time faster than his performance in the afternoon session.
At the largely flowing and very historic Assen, Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) scored a strong fourth place in what was his first race weekend on the Honda at this 2.82-mile track. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was fifth in the dry but overcast conditions that characterized day one.
Donington race weekend sensation and now championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) placed sixth after one day of riding at Assen, 0.364 seconds behind Rea despite being able to use his favored X rear tire.
Runner-up Garrett Gerloff (31) was knocked off the top of the leaderboard at the last second.
A strong ride from Independent Rider Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) saw him seventh fastest, one place up on the second official Ducati of Michael Ruben Rinaldi.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was ninth and the top 10 rounded out by the only other top rider to set his fastest lap in the first session, Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven Ducati).
FP3 and Superpole will take place on Saturday before race one at 14.00 local time in the Netherlands. CN
Points leader Toprak Razgatlioglu is sixth quickest.
WorldSSP
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) took his retro-painted Ten Kate Yamaha to a narrow lead on the Free Qualifying timesheets at his team’s home round at Assen, holding off Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) by just 0.041 seconds. Both were well under the old lap record pace.
Rising star Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) placed third on Friday as he continued his rise in the middleweight class. He was over half a second behind the top two, who were in a world of their own over a single lap.
Top Kawasaki rider was Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), in fourth place and relying on his FP1 morning time for his best lap of the day.
Recent World Champion Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) was fifth; perennial championship challenger Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) sixth.
Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was happy to be seventh so early in the weekend with Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing Yamaha) and top MV rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) ninth. Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team Yamaha) rounded out the top ten on an overcast but dry first day in the Netherlands. CN
2021 Motul FIM WorldSBK Championship
Round 8
TT Circuit Assen
Dutch WorldSBK
Assen, The Netherlands
RESULTS (July 23, 2021)
2021 Dutch WorldSBK Results—Friday
| 1. |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
1:34.391 |
| 2. |
Garrett Gerloff |
(Yam) |
0.121 |
| 3. |
Scott Reading |
(Duc) |
0.200 |
| 4. |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Hon) |
0.350 |
| 5. |
Tom Sykes |
(BMW) |
0.362 |
