Dutch WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu Wins Out in Savage Race 2 Scrap

This weekend sees the resumption of the 2024 World Superbike Championship with the third round of the season at Assen in the Netherlands. Nicolo Bulega arries at the Dutch WorldSBK with a 12-point lead over his factory Ducati teammate, Alvaro Bautista.

Overview

• Race 2 - Razgatlioglu triumphs in more mixed conditions; Bautista, Gardner complete the podium

• Superpole Race - Bautista blitzes the field to go from seventh to first in Assen 10-lapper

• Race 1 - Spinelli triumphs with tyre gamble in mixed conditions

• Superpole - Rea takes first Yamaha pole as rookie Bulega impresses in the wet

• Friday Practice - Bautista fastest as wind, rain disrupt day one in Assen

• 2023 - Another treble for Bautista as Kawasaki, Yamaha riders share podium places

Race 2

Wet weather once again impacted the Dutch WorldSBK in Race 2, this time creating one of the most tense races of the season, eventually won by Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Alvaro Bautista made the holeshot, but just as he and Razgatlioglu appeared to be breaking away in the early stages of the race, rain began to fall, and eventually the first nine riders were all fighting for the lead.

There were countless mistakes and passes between Razgatlioglu and Bautista, but also with Andrea Locatelli, Remy Gardner, Michael van der Mark, Sam Lowes, Nicolo Bulega, and Andrea Iannone.

Towards the end, the rain eased and thanks to a mistake from Locatelli at turn one Razgatlioglu found himself directly behind Bautista, who was leading, once more. They broke away again, but this time with Remy Gardner in-tow. In the end, the Australian couldn’t contend with the pace in the final laps of the two World Champions ahead of him, and neither could Bautista mount a real challenge to Razgatlioglu who took his third win of the season after another intense fight.

Bautista’s second place keeps him first in the championship, while Remy Gardner’s third place marked his first podium in WorldSBK.

Andrea Iannone was fourth on the Go Eleven Ducati - it had been a complicated weekend for Iannone until Race 2, with a crash in Race 1 and a non-scoring 15th-place in the Superpole Race, but Race 2 saw him back at his best and contending for the podium once more.

Andrea Locatelli would have felt a podium was possible, but the aforementioned turn one mistake cost him too much time and track position. He finished fifth and ahead of Michael van der Mark on the second BMW, while Sam Lowes was seventh. Dominique Aegerter was eighth, and Nicolo Bulega ended up at the back of the top nine group, while Xavi Vierge rounded out the top 10 for Honda.

Full WorldSBK results from Race 2 in Assen are below.

2024 Dutch WorldSBK | Race 2 Results

Superpole Race

Superpole Races don’t normally come down to tyre management, but it did at the 2024 Dutch WorldSBK. Alvaro Bautista won in typically gentle fashion.

As everyone dropped from 1:33s into 1:37s by the end, Bautista remained resolutely under the 1:35 barrier (apart from the last lap), displaying superior rear grip as he cut through the pack following a couple of early mistakes. Bautista took the lead at the end of the penultimate lap, but still won by over two seconds.

Nicolo Bulega looked certain to win before Bautista’s late charge materialised, but in the end he had to settle for second, both in the race and - for now - in the championship.

Remy Gardner appeared to have secured the final podium position onto the last lap, but Alex Lowes was able to deny him at the final chicane on the last lap for his first top three finish since his Race 2 win at the Australian Round.

Gardner, then, had to settle for fourth, but that made him the top Yamaha ahead of Jonathan Rea in fifth, while Andrea Locatelli was sixth. Sam Lowes took seventh place, ahead of the leading BMW of Michael van der Mark in eighth, and Toprak Razgatlioglu could only manage ninth having run out of rear grip from as early as lap two. Scott Redding completed the top 10.

Honda's Iker Lecuona didn't start after being declared unfit following his FP3 crash on Saturday morning.

Full WorldSBK results from the Superpole Race in Assen are below.

2024 Dutch WorldSBK | Superpole Race Results

Race 1

Nicholas Spinelli secured a fairytale victory on his WorldSBK debut at Assen, getting fortunate with the timing of a red flag after taking a tyre choice gamble.

Spinelli was the only rider to start the race with intermediate tyres front and rear. Rain had begun to fall at the end of the preceding WorldSSP300 race, and by the time the riders were lining up for the WorldSBK race the final sector was almost completely dry, so most riders chose slick tyres. Some more rain right at the start of the race made track conditions more treacherous still, but most slick runners stayed out, apart from Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Sam Lowes who pitted for wets.

In the early part of the race, Spinelli was able to secure himself a lead of almost 30 seconds, but it was as soon as lap five that those on slicks began to lap faster than him.

The second half of the race saw Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu break clear as the best of those who started on slicks, and they had the gap to Spinelli down to three seconds with seven laps to go.

A red flag then, for fluids  halted their charge and saved Spinelli, who is racing for the Barni Spark Ducati team this weekend in place of Danilo Petrucci who was injured in a motocross crash last week.

Lap 15 marked the two-thirds cut off for the race to not be restarted under a red flag, meaning Spinelli was declared the winner in somewhat fairytale circumstances. Toprak Razgatlioglu had been able to get passed Alvaro Bautista, meaning he secured second place ahead of the Spaniard, who nonetheless reduced his championship deficit to one point after a particularly poor race for Nicolo Bulega who finished 11th.

Remy Gardner was fourth on the leading Yamaha, ahead of the top Kawasaki of Alex Lowes in fifth and Jonathan Rea in sixth. Michael van der Mark was seventh, ahead of Scott Redding in eighth, ninth-placed Axel Bassani, and Xavi Vierge who rounded out the top 10 for Honda.

Full WorldSBK results from Race 1 in Assen are below.

2024 Dutch WorldSBK | Race 1 Results

Superpole

As on Friday, Saturday was dominated by rain at the Dutch WorldSBK, at least for the morning. The pre-qualifying FP3 session saw limited running, but of course everyone was on-track for the 15-minute Superpole, which was topped by Jonathan Rea who took his first pole since switching to Yamaha.

The track dried throughout the session, but the same riders who were fast at the start more or less remained the fastest riders throughout. Rea went faster with almost every lap he completed, as did the rookie Nicolo Bulega who topped FP2. Each traded fastest laps throughout Superpole, with veteran Rea just beating the Italian rookie by 0.094 seconds. Toprak Razgatlioglu completed the top three.

In fourth place was Sam Lowes in his first competitive wet session in WorldSBK and on Pirellli tyres, just ahead of Alex Lowes on the leading Kawasaki. Remy Gardner joins the Lowes twins on row two for Race 1 and the Superpole Race in sixth place.

Alvaro Bautista spent much of the session languishing down in the lower end of the top 20, but salvaged a third-row start in the end with seventh. Michael Ruben Rinaldi in eighth and Andrea Iannone in ninth make row three an all-Italian affair.

Andrea Locatelli rounds out the Superpole top 10, ahead of Danilo Petrucci’s replacement at Barni Ducati, Nicholas Spinelli, and Xavi Vierge on the Honda.

Tito Rabat was 22nd-fastest in Superpole, but his 1:48.996 was outside the 105 per cent qualifying time. Iker Lecuona did not take part in Superpole after a crash in FP3.

Full WorldSBK results from Superpole, and the pre-Superpole FP3 session, in Assen are below.

2024 Dutch WorldSBK | Superpole Results

2024 Dutch WorldSBK | FP3 Results

Friday Practice

Alvaro Bautista was fastest on Friday in Assen, as rain disrupted both the morning and afternoon sessions.

Toprak Razgatlioglu was fastest in Friday morning’s FP1, but Bautista went a couple of tenths faster in FP2.

After Bautista got his time in, the red flag came out for barrier fixes at turn eight after the strong winds in Assen caused some of them to move. During the red flag period, the rain returned, and no one was able to improve after the session went green again for the final 16 minutes.

Razgatlioglu was second-fastest in FP2, but not faster than his FP1 time, while Remy Gardner was third on the leading Yamaha. Michael Ruben Rinaldi was an encouraging fourth on the Motocorsa Ducati, ahead of Jonathan Rea in fifth and championship leader Nicolo Bulega in sixth. Sam Lowes set the seventh-fastest time, ahead of Michael van der Mark for BMW in eighth, Dominique Aegerter in ninth, and Andrea Iannone who completed the top 10.

Full WorldSBK results from FP1 and FP2 in  Assen are below.

2024 Dutch WorldSBK | FP2 Results

2024 Dutch WorldSBK | FP1 Results

2023 Dutch WorldSBK

The 2023 Dutch WorldSBK saw Alvaro Bautista take all three wins, with the remaining podium places going to Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea in Race 1 and the Superpole Race, while Andrea Locatelli finished behind Razgatlioglu and Bautista in Race 2.

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Assen, Netherlands | Race 2 Results

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Assen, Netherlands | Superpole Race Results

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Assen, Netherlands | Race 1 Result

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Assen, Netherlands | Superpole Results

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