WorldSBK Superpole Race: Jonathan Rea wins 14th race at Assen
Jonathan Rea takes victory number 14 at Assen, setting more and more records.
Well, we drafted a massive congratulations to Andrea Locatelli for his first podium but unfortunately, it’s been ripped from his hands for the smallest of infringements, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli have both been demoted one place each for touching the green by absolute millimetres despite no advantage being gained placing Michael Ruben Rinaldi in second place ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu. It was a phenomenal ride by Locatelli to dismiss multiple riders including Michael Rinaldi in the final corners to take home third place, despite being demoted to fourth place, the third place shows exactly how far he has come and he has another chance to show it later on today starting from P4.
For Jonathan Rea it was a perfect victory, sitting back in the opening laps watching ex-Superstock 1000 rivals Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael Ruben Rinaldi go head to head duelling it out in the opening corners with Rea the perfect spectator, eventually once the dust had settled Rea was able to push past the pair and lead the race putting more than 3.5 seconds between himself and second-placed man Rinaldi in another masterclass from the Northern Irishman.
Rea’s victory means there are now 12 points separating him and title rival Razgatlioglu in the championship standings, but we cannot get carried away as anything can happen as we saw at Donington Park.
Scott Redding was the fifth-placed rider, the British rider unable to stay with the leading group and was instead left to battle with Alex Lowes, it’s another solid ride for the pair but Rea’s unbelievable consistency now means that his lead over Redding is 76 points, it’s going to be tough to claw this one back.
Tom Sykes and Garrett Gerloff both once again put in some very solid performances to come from P18 and P19 on the grid respectively, the duo forced their way through the field to finish in P7 and P8 gaining themselves a strong grid position ahead of Race two this afternoon.
Rounding off the top 10 were Chaz Davies and the continually impressive Axel Bassani ahead of Rabat then Haslam.
Full results –
Featured image – WorldSBK