Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes made the best possible start to his Showdown challenge at Assen, scoring victory in the first race of the day. A popular recent addition to the British Superbike calendar, Assen provides teams and riders with a relatively unfamiliar challenge and stages the first of three deciding rounds that make up the controversial ‘Showdown’ element of the championship battle.
In the opening stages it looked like Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison would make the most of his international experience to take victory, but the former MotoGP rider was forced into retirement from the lead with a technical fault on lap 12. This left it up to Lowes and the ever-present Shane Byrne to battle it out for the win, culminating in a thrilling last-lap clash that would see both riders at their best. In classic Assen fashion, it wasn’t until the final complex that the winner was decided, with Lowes just edging ahead of the triple-champion out of the final chicane.
The second race soon became a frenetic affair after an impressive opening few laps from all the front-runners. Byrne led initially from Lowes, Ellison, Haga and Bridewell, but it was an over-ambitious move from Milwaukee Yamaha’s new signing that saw the #46 rider lose the front, taking Haga with him out of the race.
The red mist soon appeared to descend, with what will likely be the most controversial move of the season from Alex Lowes resulting in a collision with race leader Byrne, firing the Kawasaki rider out of the race. Lowes would go on to win his sixth consecutive BSB race, however the incident remains under investigation from the stewards*. In his attempts to close down the top two, Showdown contender Josh Brookes came off his Tyco Suzuki on lap nine. The Australian’s team-mate found himself with contrasting fortunes, collecting his first BSB podium in third across the line. Kiyonari, Kirkham and Westmorland capitalised on the fallers ahead to round out the top six.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Assen, race one:
- Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda)
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.102s
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +7.934s
- Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +11.648s
- Noriyuki Haga (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +18.893s
- Jakub Smrz (Padgetts Honda) +19.125s
- PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +19.216s
- James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +22.968s
- Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +23.087s
- Barry Burrell (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +29.579s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Assen, race two result (provisional):
- Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda)*
- James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) +1.542s
- PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +10.825s
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) +14.231s
- Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +15.613s
- James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +20.707s
- Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +25.898s
- Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +25.985s
- Danny de Boer (Bathams Honda) +27.544s
- Dan Linfoot (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +27.565s
•Alex Lowes has since been excluded from the race two result for the incident involving Shane Byrne.
