Assen (the Netherlands), Sunday 27 April 2014 – The third round of the 2014 eni FIM Superbike World Championship, which saw an overall attendance of 52,252 spectators, reached its climax today with the two races held in completely different weather conditions at the Assen TT circuit. After the victory in the first encounter for Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea came out on top in the rain-hampered, 10 lap Race 2 to secure his fifth WSBK win on his team’s home track. In the same race, Rea’s compatriot Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) scored his maiden podium finish in the series, a brilliant second place.
Rea lies now fourth in the standings, only19 points shy of current leader and reigning Champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), with Guintoli and the other KRT rider Loris Baz second and third, respectively.
Michael van der Mark was Pata Honda’s other hero of the day, as the Dutchman won his career maiden World Supersport race in front of a vocal and enthusiast home crowd.
The next round of the season will take place at Imola in a fortnight’s time (May 9-11).
Jonathan Rea: “It’s been a really good weekend. To be honest, our dry pace was OK in race one but Sylvain (Guintoli) made such a fast start that I struggled to go with him. When Tom (Sykes) went past I made a big mistake but, after that, my pace until the end was quite similar to theirs. The win in race two was really special. For the last laps I just tried to be as smart as I could. This win’s for all those guys who have worked tirelessly to make the CBR as strong as possible. It’s great to be able to give them back some good vibes to roll with into the next part of the season.”
Alex Lowes: “It’s fantastic, it was a great race for me and it’s really good for the team for me to finally get on the podium! It was a wet race, so it’s never as nice as getting on the podium in the dry but I’m very happy and hopefully this can kick start our season after the injuries. It’s been a really difficult start to the year for me, and now I’ve got some good points on the board and a podium, I’m looking forward to hopefully improving both myself and the bike, and seeing if we can be a bit closer to the front in the dry!”
Race 1
Sylvain Guintoli has taken victory in the first race of the day at a drying Assen circuit in the Netherlands. The 2013 WSBK runner up has climbed on the top step of the podium for the fifth time in his career, the second one this year after the win he scored at Phillip Island in Race 2. The race was classified dry and as the lights went out it was Guintoli who took the hole-shot with Jonathan… (read more)
Race 2
After a lengthy delay because of heavy rain and with conditions visibly better, compared to the situation that forced the Race Direction to red flag the initial race, the riders started a new Race 2 over a race distance of 10 laps. Eventually it was race one podium finisher Jonathan Rea that emerged victorious ahead of Alex Lowes… (read more)
Superstock 1000
Dutchman Kevin Valk (MTM Kawasaki) sailed to his first podium and first career FIM Stock 1000cc Cup victory at the same time after dominating today’s wet race at Assen. Coming home almost ten seconds ahead of Ondrej Jezek (Barni Racing Team Ducati) and Matthieu Lussiana (Team Garnier by ASPI Kawasaki), who also relished the wet conditions, Valk has elevated himself to 3rd… (read more)
Results: 1. Valk (Kawasaki) 10 Laps/45.420 km in 20’06.810 average 135.491 kph; 2. Jezek (Ducati) 6.219; 3. Lussiana (Kawasaki) 7.074; 4. Savadori (Kawasaki) 7.782; 5. Mercado (Ducati) 10.894; 6. McFadden (Kawasaki) 10.967; 7. Lanusse (Kawasaki) 11.248; 8. Massei (Ducati) 39.049; 9. Nemeth (Kawasaki) 39.445; 10. Walraven (Suzuki) 45.521; 11. Day (Honda) 53.303; 12. Schacht (Ducati) 1’00.509; 13. Pagaud (Kawasaki) 1’08.401; 14. D’Annunzio (BMW) 1’12.689; 15. Ayer (Kawasaki) 1’13.076; etc.
Standings (Round 2 of 7): 1. Mercado 36; 2. Savadori 33; 3. Valk 32; 4. Lussiana 26; 5. Jezek 20; 6. McFadden 18; 7. Smith 16; 8. Lanusse 15; 9. Bergman 13; 10. D’Annunzio 13; 11. Day 10; 12. Grotzkyj G. 9; 13. Massei 8; 14. Nemeth 7; 15. Walraven 6; 16. Pagaud 6; 17. Schacht 5; 18. Castellarin 4; 19. Suchet 2; 20. Ayer 1. Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki 45; 2. Ducati 45; 3. Honda 21; 4. BMW 13; 5. Suzuki
European Junior Cup
The six lap race of the Pata European Junior Cup, powered by Honda was held today under rainy conditions. Spaniard Augusto Fernandez (WIL Sport) managed to win his first race of the season, the second one in the series so far, edging out Sweden’s Jesper Hubner (Honda Sweden) and pole sitter Marc Miralles (Honda Spain), who is still the points leader after the second race of the season.
Results: 1. Fernandez 6 Laps/27.252 km in 13’41.659 average 119.401 kph; 2. Hubner 2.421; 3. Miralles 3.011; 4. Brink 3.115; 5. Soomer 3.340; 6. Grassia 27.777; 7. London 37.192; 8. Orellana 37.261; 9. Wisdom 37.620; 10. Van Sikkelerus 37.740; etc.
Standings (Round 2 of 8): 1. Miralles 41; 2. Fernandez 38; 3. Orellana 28; 4. Hubner 27; 5. Soomer 20; 6. Grassia 18; 7. Perez 16; 8. Licciardi 14; 9. London 14; 10. Brink 13; 11. Fernandez 11; 12. Harland 11; 13. Wisdom 10; 14. Van Sikkelerus 6; 15. Geissler 4; 16. Zhu 4; 17. Moreno 2; 18. Patterson 2; 19. Levy 1.
