Alvaro Bautista wins the Superpole race at the World Superbike Championship in Assen – BMW rider Toprak Razgatlioglu struggles with prolemen and gets passed
Ducati works rider Alvaro Bautista has won the Superpole race at the Superbike World Championship in Assen. After a difficult start, the world champion showed an impressive race to catch up and clearly beat team-mate Nicolo Bulega. The podium was completed by Kawasaki rider Alex Lowes
Jonathan Rea (Yamaha) started the sprint race from pole. The front row of the grid was completed by Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW). Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) had to start the Superpole race from P7 on the third row.
The temperature at the start was a wintry 7°C. The asphalt had warmed up to 13°C on Sunday morning. In contrast to Saturday’s race, the track was completely dry. All drivers used the SCQ rear tire
Nicolo Bulega pulls away after the start
Nicolo Bulega stormed to the front at the start. Toprak Razgatlioglu moved into second position. Pole setter Jonathan Rea slipped back to third position, but overtook Razgatlioglu after a few corners. The big loser of the first lap was world champion Alvaro Bautista, who dropped back to P8 after a mistake.
Nicolo Bulega pulled away slightly at the front at the start of the race. Jonathan Rea was unable to keep up the pace. Toprak Razgatlioglu passed him on lap two, but then made a mistake and lost two positions. In addition to Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes also passed him. Nicolo Bulega took advantage of the chaos in the chasing group to pull away further
Toprak Razgatlioglu is passed after a few laps
After three laps, Bulega was 1.6 seconds in front. Razgatlioglu had pushed past Lowes and tried to overtake Rea as well. But this plan did not work out. Razgatlioglu was again attacked by Lowes, who moved up to P3. A short time later, Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) also passed him and Razgatlioglu was only fifth.
Razgatlioglu’s lap times collapsed. There was obviously a problem with the Turkish rider’s BMW M1000RR. Bautista closed in from behind and overtook at the halfway point. Things got even worse for Razgatlioglu. Sam Lowes (Marc-VDS-Ducati) exerted pressure. Razgatlioglu was the slowest rider in the top 10 and lost further positions
OVERTAKES and OVERTAKES!!!
What a BATLLE between @toprak_tr54 and Alex Lowes⚔️⚔️⚔️DutchWorldSBK pic. twitter.com/8Wg5GPgfix
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) April 21, 2024
Alvaro Bautista storms through the field and takes the win
Bulega controlled the pace at the front. Behind him, things went wild on the seventh lap, as Bautista passed Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea within a few corners. This put the two factory Ducatis in front. However, Bulega already had a lead of over three seconds.
Bautista picked up the pace and closed in on Bulega in big steps. Two laps before the end of the race, Bulega’s lead was only 1.2 seconds. Bulega was setting mid 1’34s, while the rest of the top 10 were only posting 1’36s.
From 7th on the grid to FIRST @19Bautista DutchWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/JxCyFz311l
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) April 21, 2024
On the penultimate lap, the world champion took the lead and rode to his second win of the season. This pushed Bautista to the top of the championship standings. Bulega fought with blunt weapons and quickly lost touch with his team-mate. With P2, the rookie secured important points for the championship
Alex Lowes clinches a podium for Kawasaki
Behind the two factory Ducatis, the battle for the final place on the podium was fierce. Remy Gardner battled it out with Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea. Lowes secured third place with a maneuver in the final chicane. Gardner still has to wait for his first top three result in the Superbike World Championship.
Jonathan Rea finished in the top 5 for the first time this season, but in fifth place he was only the second-best Yamaha rider. Team-mate Andrea Locatelli was classified in P6. Sam Lowes finished the sprint in seventh position
⚔️ Alex Lowes attacks Remy Gardner for the THIRD POSITION ⚔️DutchWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/bnXwzMuwQn
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) April 21, 2024
Disappointing result for Toprak Razgatlioglu
Local hero Michael van der Mark (BMW) prevailed over teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu in the closing stages. With P9, Razgatlioglu only scored a meagre point and has to start the second main race from the third row.
A major setback for the former world champion, who was aiming for his first Assen victory on Sunday. After the race, the tank fairing was removed. The BMW mechanics searched for the cause of the problems
Scott Redding (Bonovo-BMW) came away empty-handed in the sprint. The former world championship runner-up finished the sprint in tenth position ahead of teammate Garrett Gerloff. Dominique Aegerter (GRT-Yamaha), who finished 14th, and Philipp Öttl (GMT94-Yamaha), who was classified P19, were also left without points. Nicholas Spinelli (Barni-Ducati), the sensational winner of the first race, finished in 18th position
