Alvaro Bautista took his eighth victory in nine starts as the 2022 WorldSBK Champion stamps his authority with Assen hat-trick, which was also Ducati’s 400th win.
Toprak Razgatlioglu secured second place in Race 2 for his sixth consecutive podium finish. The 2021 WorldSBK Champion stands in second place in the Championship standings with 118 points.
Race 2 saw Jonathan swap places and trade paint once again with Bautista and Razgatlioglu. In the heat of the battle, Rea crashed out at Turn 9 from a podium position as he pushed for a first win of the year.
Andrea Locatelli was third, claiming his fourth podium of the season so far. After nine races, he has already equaled his best podium tally from 2021. Locatelli maintains his third place in the standings and sits only 14 points behind Razgatlioglu.
Rookie Dominique Aegerter crossed the finish line in fifth place but finished fourth following Axel Bassani’s penalty for a track limits infraction on the final lap; Bassani was demoted one place. Today’s fourth place is the Swiss rider’s best result in WorldSBK. Teammate Remy Gardner completed Race 2’s top six.
Dutch rider Michael van der Mark crashed at Turn 16 and was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. He was subsequently transported to hospital for further assessments on a suspect left femur fracture, and this injury was confirmed following his checks at hospital.
WorldSBK Race 2 Report
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship had more history written at the TT Circuit Assen during the Pirelli Dutch Round as Italian manufacturer Ducati claimed their 400th victory in WorldSBK history after Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed a hat-trick in the Netherlands. Ducati become the first manufacturer to reach this milestone.
The battle for the lead involved Bautista, Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the early stages of the race with all three taking their chance to lead throughout the race. Razgatlioglu made his move for the lead on Lap 3 but Bautista responded quickly, before Rea made his move on Lap 5 at the same Turn 8. Bautista was able to respond almost immediately to re-claim the lead and Rea’s race would come to an end on the following lap. He lost the front of his Kawasaki machine at Turn 9 on Lap 6 which put him out of the race.
It meant the fight for victory became between Bautista and Razgatlioglu, but the reigning Champion was able to pull out a gap over Razgatlioglu as he claimed his 40th WorldSBK win and Ducati’s 400th win in WorldSBK. Razgatlioglu was unchallenged as he took second place in Race 2 to continue his run of podium finishes, now at six races. He was directly ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli in third, matching his podium tally from 2021 and doubling his count from 2022. Locatelli had to fend off a challenge from Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) who took fifth place.
WorldSBK will return with the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round taking place from the 5th to the 7th of May at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
WorldSBK Race 2 Results
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +3.915s
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +7.416s
4. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +9.445s
5. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +9.500s
6. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +12.279s
WorldSBK Championship standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 174 points
2. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 118 points
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 104 points
WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race Results
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.916s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +1.757s
P1 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing - Ducati
« It’s a fantastic feeling I’m having now. It’s an incredible milestone for Ducati with 400 victories. Congrats to Ducati for all the history they are making! On my side, I’m happy. More than the result, I’m happy because the feeling with the bike is amazing. Yesterday, I felt good, but we had some problems in the race that maybe because you cannot notice from the outisde, but I felt it on the bike, and I know when I am able to go faster, or when I can have a better feeling and when I cannot. So, today we made a change on the bike in the set up, and already in the morning I felt much better. In in the Superpole race, I started to push harder and harder and I see the limit of the bike was more far than yesterday.
“I was able to go really fast in the Superpole Race. Also, in Race 2, I was able to be more precise in my riding, and it was more enjoyable. I could also manage better the wind because today it was a bit stronger, and its direction was different, especially in the first part of the race. I must understand in which area the wind helped me to close corner and in which area I had to be careful too because push me out. And at the end I could get a good pace, I was able to be on the limit and I could pull the limit of the bike and I'm happy because I did that. This is, I think, the maximum. So, I'm happy because I gave my best, despite the circumstance. It has really been a perfect weekend for us.”
Double wins for Bulega and Ducati at Assen
Nicolo Bulega claimed his second consecutive victory at the Pirelli Dutch Round, his second double of the season. The Italian rider leaves the Netherlands with 127points and a 37-point advantage in the standings.
WorldSSP Race 2 Report
The FIM Supersport World Championship’s visit to the TT Circuit Assen for the Pirelli Dutch Round concluded with a thrilling Race 2 which was won by Nicolo Bulega (Aaruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) as he continued his strong start to the 2023 campaign, while there was an incredible fight for the podium behind Bulega as he took his fourth win in six races this season. Home team Ten Kate Racing Yamaha were able to celebrate a home podium with Stefano Manzi taking second place in the Netherlands.
Bulega has been the only repeat winner in 2023 so far and he continued that record as he claimed victory in Race 2 at Assen. He initially fell behind Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) on the opening lap but he responded at the final chicane to re-claim the lead of the race and, from there, he was able to take advantage of the squabbling behind him to build a gap of more than three seconds.
It meant the podium fight ended up being between Caricasulo, Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Schroetter, with Manzi and Caricasulo fighting hard for second place. On Lap 16, the pair went side by side into the final chicane before Manzi opened up a gap to Caricasulo with rookie Schroetter fighting back to close the gap on the podium places. Despite Caricasulo and Schroetter fighting hard, Manzi was able to hold on by just 0.086s for second place, with Caricasulo in third.
Schroetter backed up his maiden podium from Race 1 with fourth place in Race 2, finishing just half-a-second away from Caricasulo on the podium. The German rookie had a more than five second margin to the riders fighting hard behind him as Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) and Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) battled it out for fifth place throughout the second half of the race. Finnish rider Tuuli was able to hold on to fifth on his Triumph machine with Debise ending a strong weekend in sixth place.
WorldSSP Race 2 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +4.437s
3. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) +4.523s
4. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +5.088s
5. Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) +10.864s
6. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) +11.068s
WorldSSP Championship standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 127 points
2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 90 points
3. Marcel Schroetter MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 79 points
Second consecutive win for Svoboda, Maier demoted to second place due to a track limit infringement
Petr Svoboda crossed the finish line in third place but was declared Race 2 winner following Maier and Vannucci’s penalties. The Czech rider claimed his second consecutive win leaving the Netherlands as the Championship leader with a maximum 50 points out of 50.
Humberto Maier and Matteo Vannucci were penalised to drop one position each, finishing second and third in Race 2.
WorldSSP300 Race 2 Report
There was drama everywhere you looked in Race 2 for the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship as Petr Svoboda (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) claimed his second victory of the Pirelli Dutch Round at the TT Circuit Assen after a track limits penalty for one of his rivals. Across the line, before penalties were applied, just 0.045s covered the top three but penalties for Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) and Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) meant Svoboda started his 2023 campaign with two wins from two in 2023.
Maier had initially crossed the line in first place but was deemed to have exceeded track limits on the final lap and was therefore demoted to second place. However, with Vannucci deemed to have committed the same offence, he was also demoted one place and dropped to third with Maier in second and Svoboda being promoted to first place to claim his first double in WorldSSP300 and starting his campaign with a maximum 50 points out of 50 to lead the World Championship standings leaving the Netherlands.
Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) had crossed the line in fourth place but was demoted to fifth place for a last-lap track limits infringement with Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) the main beneficiary as he went from seventh to fourth ahead of Gennai. With Gennai in fifth place, French rider Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) claimed sixth spot with Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing), who crossed the line in fifth, demoted to seventh place.
WorldSSP300 Race 2 Results
1. Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki)
2. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD Latin America Team) +0.055s
3. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) +0.205s
4. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) +0.392s
5. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) +0.755s
6. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) +0.955s
WorldSSP300 Championship standings
1. Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) 50 points
2. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) 30 points
3. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) 30 points
DORNA Wold SBK