Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) when overtaking Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati), after which he chased the surprising leader Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha).

Hat trick for outstanding Johnny Rea – Toprak with a crash

It was the 200th race for Ducati for Chaz Davies, but he wasn’t going to make it to the podium on that anniversary. After the race, however, the Welshman was fourth in the parc fermé among the top three, as he has been racing for GoEleven Ducati as a privateer since this year. The second run on Sunday brought absolute catastrophe for Razgatlioglu, who came as World Championship leader, in turn one. The excellently started, Garrett Gerloff stabbed into the first corner in his usual rodeo manner, where it drove him slightly outwards and the Toprak coming from there pulled straight inwards. The Turk collided with the Texan, lost control of his Yamaha, and crashed into the gravel. The American turned around afterwards and apologized with a gesture, whereby he lost a few places, but of course this was of no use to the Yamaha brand colleague. Gerloff was not punished for the first time this season by the race management for his irresponsible driving style. After a penalty through the pit by the FIM stewards, he later even said goodbye to the race with a fall.

Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) after his crash in Turn 9 – it was a weekend to tick off for the hopeful Texan, and after he was at least complicit in the fall of Toprak, it was an absolute disaster for Yamaha, which even Locatelli’s podium did not change much.

The demonstration of the world champion
Johnny Rea was not impressed by his bad start. In turn 1 he saw Gerloff and Toprak collide, which meant that he knew immediately that he absolutely had to see the target. The reigning world champion thus had the perfect chance to clearly distance his lead over his closest rival in the fight for the title. But as was to be expected, he didn’t want to be satisfied with a top five result when he passed his Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes shortly after Scott Redding. In the same lap, he also grabbed the Ducati driver. A little later, it was his works team colleague Rinaldi and from now on he went on the hunt for the leader. On the eleventh lap, he then overtook Locatelli, who initially defended himself bravely, but later lost contact and was also intercepted by Redding. Rinaldi, who was initially on P2, did not make it competitively over the distance with the SCX tire and was passed through to 8th place until the end. Alex Lowes achieved another top ten result after 6th place in the morning with position 7, which he compensated himself and his team for the fall on Saturday and scored important points for Kawasaki.

Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) before the start of the second race on Sunday, which brought the fast Spaniard to a conciliatory end.

Honda strikes back with Bautista – BMW again missed a top position
In addition to Davies in P4, Alvaro Bautista was also able to impress this time after his two crashes in the first and Superpole races. Fifth place was a conciliatory result for the little Spaniard, and his teammate Leon Haslam contributed an additional top ten result with 10th place. While Honda was able to prevent a disastrous weekend, this time it looked less positive for BMW. After the podium in Donington Park, sixth place for van der Mark and 15th place after a crash by Tom Sykes is obviously far too little. Above all, the lag behind the best shows that a good deal of work is still necessary to be at the forefront. Since Michael van der Mark finished both races on a podium two years ago with a Yamaha and Tom Sykes is also an avowed ace lover, it cannot be because of the drivers. A seventh and a sixth place as the only top ten results on Sunday are simply not enough.

The first interviews
A beaming Jonathan Rea spoke of a crazy race in which he was only on P6 at first. But even though Locatelli showed a great performance, he was able to rely on a well-functioning bike and gain position by position. The reigning world champion also emphasized that it was a pleasure for him to have driven in front of an audience in Assen. In two weeks, it will continue on a route in Most that is new for almost everyone, and it is important to stay focused and continue to work concentrated. Scott Redding complained about a lack of feeling for the front at the beginning. Over time, however, things got better, and he was happy to be back on the podium after clearly missing out in the sprint race that morning. Andrea Locatelli said he never expected to get a podium initially. But now it worked, and he was overjoyed to have made it for the first time in WorldSBK. Like Rea and Redding, he also emphasized that it was something very special for him, this time in front of an audience.

The podium after the second race with from left Scott Redding (Ducati, P2), winner Johnny Rea (Kawasaki) and third-placed Andrea Locatelli. For the third time this year, Toprak was not there, which meant that the Turkish player clearly lost touch with World Cup leader Rea.

Stand in the WorldSBK WM after the 5th round in Assen

P, Rider, Points
1 REA 243
2 RAZGATLIOGLU 206
3 REDDING 162
4 LOWES 127
5 RINALDI 111
6 GERLOFF 105
7 VAN DER MARK 104
8 SYKES 102
9 DAVIES 85
10 LOCATELLI 84
11 BAUTISTA 68
12 BASSANI 60
13 HASLAM 55
14 MAHIAS 36
15. RABAT 23

Unless otherwise mentioned, applies to all images (© WorldSBK).