Assen WorldSBK Race 1 Results | Rea beats Bautista in last lap duel

Jonathan Rea came out victorious in WorldSBK's first Assen race after fighting with Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Jonathan Rea leads Alvaro Bautista, 2022 Assen WorldSBK.
Jonathan Rea leads Alvaro Bautista, 2022 Assen WorldSBK.

Toprak Razgatlioglu made the holeshot from pole position, ahead of his teammate, Andrea Locatelli, at the start of Race 1 for the WorldSBK field in Assen.



Locatelli was overcome by Jonathan Rea at turn seven on the first lap, which was critical for Rea to allow Razgatlioglu as little time as possible to break away. 

Xavi Vierge, Iker Lecuona, 2022 Assen WorldSBK.
Xavi Vierge, Iker Lecuona, 2022 Assen WorldSBK.



By the end of lap two, Razgatlioglu and Rea were breaking away from Locatelli in third, who, in turn, was creating some distance between himself and Alex Lowes.



Rea took the lead on lap four, as Razgatlioglu suffered a bad run out of the final chicane, but the Kawasaki rider was not able to break away from his rivals, and those behind began to close back in. 



By lap 10, Locatelli was beginning to suffer, and, sensing an opportunity, Bautista passed for third place. There was some distance for the Spaniard to make up to Razgatlioglu and Rea ahead - who were pretty much glued together - and almost immediately he began to eat into that gap, and in just over a lap he had made it a three-way battle for the lead.



Razgatlioglu hit the front again at the end of lap 13, having been pressured by Bautista. He passed Rea into the final chicane with a typically tough-but-fair out-braking move, but the six-times champion dug in to keep pace with the #1. 



Rea was back to the front with six laps to go, and Razgatlioglu was back to third place by turn seven, and the front three stayed together for the remainder of the race. But Rea and Bautista - as in Aragon - were able to pull away slightly from Razgatlioglu in the end of the race, which meant it was down to them to decide the winner. 



Bautista’s best chance was in the Timmer Chicane, because he was able to carry better speed through the fast corners that led to it than his rivals, but Rea was better on the brakes, and able to drop it across Bautista’s nose into the final corner. 



That brought Rea his 16th Assen win in WorldSBK, and took him back to the top of the World Championship. Bautista held onto second place, ahead of Razgatlioglu who completed the podium. 



Andrea Locatelli took fourth place - reassuming his most common position of 2021 - after both Lowes and Rinaldi retired from the race. Rinaldi had crashed at De Strubben before riding back to the pits, while Lowes’ retirement was due to a mechanical issue. 



Iker Lecuona completed the top five, ahead of Loris Baz and Philipp Oettl - all three taking their best results of the season in Assen Race 1 - while Scott Redding finished ninth for his best finish since joining BMW. 



Redding was battling with Garrett Gerloff, who ended up beating the #45 in their battle for eighth, despite Gerloff being the only rider to choose the SC0 rear tyre, while everyone else took the softer SCX-compound. 



Full Assen WorldSBK Race 1 results below.

2022 WorldSBK Championship | Assen, Netherlands | Race 1 RESULTS

2022 WorldSBK Championship | Assen, Netherlands | Race 1 RESULTS | Round 2 / 12
PosRiderNat.WorldSBK TeamSuperbikeTiming
1Jonathan ReaGBRKawasaki Racing TeamKawasaki ZX-10RR21 laps
2Alvaro BautistaESPAruba Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R0.103s
3Toprak RazgatliogluTURPata YamahaYamaha R11.014s
4Andrea LocatelliITAPata YamahaYamaha R19.712s
5Iker LecuonaESPTeam HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R17.451s
6Loris BazFRABonovo Action BMWBMW M 1000 RR17.983s
7Philipp OettlGERTeam GoElevenDucati Panigale V4 R22.002s
8Garrett GerloffUSAGRT Yamaha TeamYamaha R124.545s
9Scott ReddingGBRBMW MotorradBMW M 1000 RR25.188s
10Axel BassaniITAMotocorsa RacingDucati Panigale V4 R26.938s
11Xavi ViergeESPTeam HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R35.566s
12Christophe PonssonFRAGil Motor SportYamaha R141.901s
13Michael van der MarkNEDBMW MotorradBMW M 1000 RR41.967s
14Roberto TamburiniITAMotoxracing TeamYamaha R142.014s
15Lucas MahiasFRAPuccetti RacingKawasaki ZX-10RR45.699s
16Leon HaslamGBRTPR Pedercini RacingKawasaki ZX-10RR45.882s
17Kohta NozaneJPNGRT Yamaha TeamYamaha R145.972s
18Luca BernardiSMRBarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R45.975s
19Leandro MercadoARGMIE Racing TeamHonda CBR1000RR-R48.144s
20Hafizh SyahrinMALMIE Racing TeamHonda CBR1000RR-R58.169s
21Oliver KonigCZEOrelac VerdNaturaKawasaki ZX-10RR1 lap
DNFAlex LowesGBRKawasaki Racing TeamKawasaki ZX-10RRDNF
DNFMichael Ruben RinaldiITAAruba Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 RDNF
DNFGabriele RuiuITABMax RacingBMW M 1000 RRDNF
DNSEugene LavertyIRLBonovo Action BMWBMW M 1000 RRDNS

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