| The gamble pays off: with Pirelli intermediates Spinelli takes Race 1 | ||
| The Team Barni Spark Ducati rider exploits the red flag to capitalize on the advantage at the race start; Huertas wins in WorldSSP. | ||
| The varying weather stole the show in qualifying and the first races of the Pirelli Dutch Round, the third WorldSBK round held in Assen. The WorldSBK category was the only one to benefit from the dry conditions yesterday, using slick solutions, work that turned out to be useful for Race 1, held today, with no lack of surprises. The wet track made tyre choice an unknown down to the last minute, with most of the riders on the starting grid with slicks, expecting the asphalt to dry out gradually. The only one to differ entirely from the rest was Nicolas Spinelli, subbing in Assen for injured Danilo Petrucci and Team Barni Spark, who gambled on intermediate tyres front and rear. It was a decision that paid off in the early laps, so much so that the Italian built up a gap of around 20 seconds. However, the gradually drying out asphalt allowed the slick solutions chosen by the other riders to shine, the first of which were Toprak Razgatlioğlu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who almost caught up with Spinelli before the race was red-flagged with seven laps left to race due to oil on the track, sealing the respective second and third position finishes.
The same uncertainty dominated the WorldSSP grid. Denied the opportunity to practice adequately on the dry yesterday, the riders approached the race with the expectation of an almost unanimous tyre choice in favour of the SC1 front and SC0 rear combination. With the rainfall just ahead of the sighting lap, those who decided to remain faithful to their choice of slicks were successful, particularly Spaniard Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team – Ducati) who gained the upper hand in the final stages of the race over Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing). Rounding out the podium was Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) who, on the other hand, had started on the SCR1 rain tyre All options valid for the difficult conditions in Assen · Although the sun had begun to peek out from behind the clouds, the WorldSBK Superpole session was held on a wet track and all the riders used SCR1 rain tyres. The fastest was Jonathan Rea (Yamaha), ahead of Nicolò Bulega (Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioğlu (BMW). · In Race 1, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) was the only other rider besides Spinelli to start with the intermediate solution at the front, but with the SCX at the rear. Choices were almost unanimous among the other riders for the SC1 front, with the sole exception of Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) who opted for the SC2. Choices for the rear varied a bit more, with five riders putting on the SCX-A (the C0900 development specification) and the others more or less equally divided between the SC0 and the SCX. · Both WorldSSP Friday sessions were held in the wet, with SCR1 as the forced solution for all the riders. The final starting grid order, established after the warm-up session on Saturday, had Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) at the front ahead of teammate Glenn Van Straalen and Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team – Ducati). Uncertainty in terms of tyre choices reigned on the starting grid for Race 1, with the riders equally divided between the SCR1 rain tyre front and rear and the combination of slick SC1 tyres at the front and SC0 at the rear. · Race 1 of WorldSSP300 started under the sign of improved weather conditions and a dry track, which allowed all the riders to start on slicks. Pole man Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project), the best in qualifying yesterday in the wet, struggled to find the same competitiveness in the new asphalt conditions and the win went to Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kawasaki), ahead of Unai Calatayud (ARCO SASH MotoR University Team – Yamaha) and Inigo Iglesias Bravo (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki). · All SCR1 rain tyres chosen for the start of Race 1 in the FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup, which was won by Marc Vic (DS Racing School) ahead of Takumi Takahashi (bLU cRU Yamaha Racing Japan) and Dawid Novak (Szkopek Team). · Both Superpole and Race 1 of the Northern Talent cup were held in wet conditions, with the young riders making their début on SCR1 tyres. Thias Wenzel (Kiefer Racing) took pole position and then finished second in Race 1 today. The winner of round one was Antoine Nativi (Racing Nativi team), with Jurrien Van Crugten (BB64 Accademy) in third. |
||
