Aussie hero Remy Gardner scored his first WorldSBK podium as Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu shared the spoils on Sunday in Assen, meanwhile debutant Nicholas Spinelli claimed a memorable victory in Race One in what was a thrilling round three of WorldSBK. Report: Ed Stratmann/WorldSBK
Friday practice
WorldSBK
On a tricky opening day at a windswept TT Circuit Assen, it was Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who set the pace. The weather changed multiple times throughout the day, with rain giving way to sunshine before reverting back to rain once again.
Read our WorldSBK 2024 Round Two Report here…
Bautista, winner of the last four Superbike races at the Dutch Round, completed 26 laps of the 4.555km circuit to end the day two tenths of a second faster than Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) ended the day third fastest. 17 times winner at the Dutch Round, Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) was fifth fastest in both sessions but completed just 18 laps over the course of the day.
Championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was riding for the first time since undergoing surgery for compartment syndrome and was sixth fastest.
WorldSSP
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) timed his Superpole session to perfection, as the Italian was able to claim the second pole position of his World Supersport career.
With the session having started in wet conditions, Manzi was one of the first riders to switch to slick tyres, and almost immediately after he set his fastest time, the rain came down once again. Manzi claimed the pole position as a result, with his Ten Kate teammate, Glenn van Straalen, alongside him on the front row of the grid. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) rounded out the front row of the grid for Race 1.
Full Friday Superbike and Supersport results available here…
Saturday
WorldSK
Rain started falling just seconds before the pit lane opened to add even more drama to the 15-minute session. At the halfway stage of the session, Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) was the pacesetter with a 1’43.444s before going even faster to post a 1’42.650s. He did, however, face competition from Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who was just a tenth away from the #65.
Despite the track drying, times didn’t improve too much with Rea able to hold on to claim a first Yamaha pole position, thus making it poles with three different manufacturers, joining Noriyuki Haga and Stephane Mertens and only behind Troy Corser with six. It was his 44th pole position and his first in 203 days, with his last coming at Portimao last year. It was also Great Britain’s 160th pole position.
He was 0.094s clear of Bulega, who had been so impressive in the fully wet FP3 session. He made it three front row starts in three rounds in his rookie season. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed third place with a 1’43.003s, around 0.353s down on Rea.
Full Superbike Superpole results here…
WorldSBK Race 1
After bursting into the lead and pulling out a 25-second lead on intermediate tyres before his rivals started closing him down, the Italian was able to take a memorable debut win during the Pirelli Dutch Round following the red flag.
Spinelli gambled with tyres by starting with a front and rear intermediate tyre on his Panigale V4 R, becoming a race leader in his first WorldSBK outing and moving four seconds clear at the end of Lap 1. His advantage then increased to 14 seconds at the end of Lap 2. In doing so, he became the 10th youngest race leader in WorldSBK history.
With conditions improving, riders on slick tyres were able to find grip and time, although Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) pushed a bit too hard and crashed at Turn 3.
By the end of Lap 8, Spinelli’s lead had been cut to 19 seconds as the track continued to dry. At the start of Lap 13, the gap was down to 11 seconds as he ran about three seconds slower on his intermediates, with Bautista leading the hunt of the Italian.
However, on Lap 14, Razgatlioglu overtook Bautista at the final chicane to move into second place and was soon on Spinelli’s tail with his pace advantage.
However, with the #54 closing in, the red flags were shown due to oil on track after Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) had a technical issue at Turn 15 on Lap 15. It’s the first time WorldSBK’s had two debutant winners in a single season – after Nicolo Bulega in Australia and Spinelli – since 1996 and only the third time in history.
The red flag meant Razgatlioglu finished second, with Bautista third. It was Razgatlioglu’s 120th podium as he closes in on Troy Corser in second place in the all-time list, it was also Bautista’s 94th rostrum to put him level with Bayliss.
“It’s incredible because this is my first race and I am in front of Toprak and Bautista! It’s really incredible. The first time I rode a Superbike was in Friday Practice,” reflected a delighted Spinelli.
WorldSBK Race 1 Results
- Nicholas Spinelli (Barni Spark Racing Team)
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +1.979s
- Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.089s
- Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +4.851s
- Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +5.147s
WorldSSP Race 1
Adrian Huertas won his second race of the season after charging from outside the points with 12 laps remaining to win Race 1 in the Netherlands.
It was a race of two halves, with Huertas’ gamble paying off, winning the race on slick tyres on a drying track. Behind the Spaniard was Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), who stole second place on the final corner – claiming a 16th second-place finish. Rounding off the podium and finishing as the top rain tyre runner was Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team), who claimed a third WorldSSP podium and his first outside of France.
Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) ended his home round in fourth position, ahead of Aussie Tom Edwards in fifth, who spent the entire race on the slick tyres.
WorldSSP Race 1 Results
- Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
- Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +8.149s
- Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +9.180s
- Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +9.291s
- Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) +14.695s
Sunday
Superpole Race
Once the lights went out, Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) dropped to third on the exit to turn one, with rookie Bulega storming into the lead for the opening stage of the race and building a gap of almost three seconds.
Bautista made a mistake early on, dropping to eighth. However, the #1 was not the only rider to make a mistake, with Razgatlioglu running wide and dropping from second to fourth – leaving the #54 with work to do.
Bautista’s pace picked up, gaining positions and carving his way through the field into second position, and eventually catching his teammate. Bulega, who like the rest of the field, opted for the SCQ tyre for the Superpole Race, set the fastest lap in lap three with a 1’33.882. Once Bautista passed on the penultimate lap, though, the #11 had no response.
Bautista crossed the line to win and complete an incredible comeback ahead of Bulega in second. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) stole third place at the final corner to claim his 37th career podium finish while Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) bagged fourth.
Superpole Race Results
- Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
- Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.686s
- Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +7.403s
- Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +7.551s
- Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +8.177s
WorldSBK Race 2
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed his first win at the TT Circuit Assen in sensational style after some mid-race rain provided plenty of excitement for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field.
When the lights went out, Bautista got a great start from first on the grid, as did teammate Nicolo Bulega next to him, with the #1 holding on to P1 through the first lap. The rider on the move was Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) as he powered from sixth to second on the first lap and challenged Bautista.
However, ‘Loka’ soon found himself behind Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who was determined to claim a first podium and then Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), as the Turkish star battled from ninth to third in the first few laps.
On Lap 6, Razgatlioglu moved into second as he overtook Gardner to move into second place. It wasn’t long until he made his move for P1 by passing the #1 into the final chicane under braking; a trademark move of ‘El Turco’.
Rain started to fall on Lap 8, with the white flags shown, signalling that riders could change tyres if they wanted – although no one dived into the pits immediately. Elsewhere, Locatelli passed Gardner on Lap 8 for the podium through the chicane, although Gardner responded a lap later, and Bautista re-claimed P1 with a pass over Razgatlioglu.
With the rain falling harder, it was Gardner’s Yamaha machine who had the pace advantage, passing Bautista at the final chicane to take the lead and demote Bautista into second, before Locatelli moved ahead of the reigning Champion.
The #55 soon moved into the lead with an aggressive move on Gardner at Turn 8 before Bautista followed him through, with the #1 putting the pressure on ‘Loka’, passing him at the start at Lap 16 when the Italian ran wide.
Soon, Razgatlioglu was back in front when he passed Bautista at the Geert Timmer Chicane for the lead, with Gardner all over the pair of them.
With four laps to go, the gaps stretched out a little but everything remained close despite Razgatlioglu edging out a gap. It enabled the 2021 Champion to hold on for victory, his third of the season as well as his and BMW’s first win at the Dutch venue.
Bautista took second, moving onto 96 rostrums and three behind Chaz Davies in the all-time list, while Gardner held on to finally take his first WorldSBK rostrum after so many fourth-place finishes and his first in any class since the 2021 Algarve Grand Prix. He became the first Australian on the podium since Misano Race 1 in 2010, when Troy Corser was on the rostrum.
Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) was on the move throughout the race as he moved into podium contention but had to settle for fourth place ahead of Locatelli in fifth despite leading the race at times, finishing just a tenth behind Iannone.
“Grid position isn’t important because it’s the race that matters. I enjoyed this race. I’ve never won here before and also for BMW they hadn’t won here. I’m very happy today,” insisted Razgatlioglu.
WorldSBK Race 2 Results
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
- Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.625s
- Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +1.022
- Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) +3.120s
- Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +3.217s
Championship Points
- Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 123 points
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 117 points
- Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 109 points
- Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 93 points
- Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) 64 points
WorldSSP Race 2
After finishing fourth in Race 1, van Straalen put on an incredible display to win after pitting for wet tyres on lap two.
Although rain fell during the warm-up lap with the entire grid on slick tyres, as the race began it really started to pour down. This saw eight riders pit at the end of the first lap. Race leader Huertas then decided to pit on lap two and was followed by another eight riders, with each rider needing to spend at least a 76-second intervention time in the pitlane.
Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) led the race in the early stages after deciding to stay out on slick tyres. John McPhee (WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph) was another rider who stayed on slicks, eventually crashing out of the race.
Edwards was passed by Kaito Toba (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda), who claimed the lead before Lorenzo Baldassarri (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) then took over, with there being over 20 seconds difference per lap between the slick and rain tyre runners.
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) pitted on lap five, dropping the #62 to 25th position – outside the points. Things soon went from bad to worse for Manzi, receiving an 11.82s penalty for not completing the 76-second intervention time.
With 10 laps remaining, the battle for second place was tense, with Tuuli soon finding his way through Huertas and Toba. Van Straalen, however, was on a charge as he made his way into second before stealing the lead.
On the last lap of the race, all eyes were on Dutch rider van Straalen and the riders in second and third, with Huertas finding his way through on Tuuli. The #66 could not respond to Huertas’ pace, with the Spaniard stretching the gap to over half a second. With a strong pace on the last lap, van Straalen was able to take his maiden victory and become a home hero. The #28 became the first Dutch winner at Assen in 10 years and the fourth Dutch winner in WorldSSP.
Nicolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) finished in fourth. Rounding out the top five was Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), who showed consistent pace throughout.
WorldSSP Race 2 Results
- Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)
- Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +1.352s
- Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team) 2.944s
- Niccolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) 4.167s
- Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +10.872s
Championship Points
- Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 86 points
- Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 85 points
- Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 84 points
- Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 84 points
- Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 55 points
WorldSSP 300 and R3 World Cup Results can be viewed here…
