Corser pushes hard, Rea wins both races

Australia's Troy Corser has continued his world superbike renaissance in the fourth round of the championship at Assen, circulating at the front of the pack in both races before eventually signing off with two fifth places.

While his countrymen Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) and Broc Parkes (Honda) laboured at the tail end of the field in Holland, Corser led the first half of race one on his factory BMW before dropping back in the last few laps with a rear tyre that didn't last the distance.

And in race two the Wollongong rider frequently traded places with Leon Camier (Aprilia), Jonathan Rea (Honda) and championship leader Leon Haslam (Suzuki) in an Assen classic.

Rea prevailed in that one to make it a superb double for the Northern Irishman, and also Honda's first clean sweep since the 2008 season.

But for Corser, Assen reconfirmed that he's now back as a powerful front-running presence in world superbike.

"When we rolled the bike out here we were pretty good right from the start," said Corser, who started from third on the grid.

"We did not have to change a lot. In the first race the rear tyre just did not last long enough. I changed the electronics a bit, but that was pretty much it.

"For the second race we decided to run the bike a little more controlled at the beginning to save the tyres. It definitely seemed to work better, and my lap times were more consistent.

"I can now change the way I ride the bike. We have not had that all year. I am pretty happy."

Although Rea sat on pole position, Corser engineered the best start in race one, ahead of Camier, Rea, Jakub Smrz (Ducati) and Biaggi.

Rea moved into second place on lap six, and then slipped past Corser just before mid-race distance. Rea would then hold all the aces for the balance of the 22-lapper, while Corser only dropped back from second to fifth in the final four laps as Toseland, Camier and a slow-starting Carlos Checa (Ducati) made their way past the Australian.

Race two may have been run at a slightly slower pace but it was a better spectacle than the opener, with Rea again proving to be the master as he defeated Haslam by 1.942secs, with Toseland third from Biaggi and Corser.

"We changed the balance of the bike quite a lot for this weekend and it's made it more comfortable to ride," said Rea. " I guess you could say that today's two races were probably the smartest I've ever ridden; I never got frustrated or caught in traffic and, when it was time to pull the pin, I did, and I'm really, really happy with the double.

"It's a clean sweep with pole position, a double win and, I think the fastest lap, so I'm as proud as punch and I can't wait to take this home."

Only Checa's fastest lap in race one prevented Rea from taking home the 'full monty' at Assen.

Camier crashed out of third place in race two with just a few laps to go, watching the final stanza on the sidelines alongside Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), who retired with a mechanical problem after finishing a modest 10th in race one.

Haga, the reigning championship No. 2, has now slipped back to sixth in the standings on 85pts, behind Haslam (148), Biaggi (128), Rea (110), Checa (103) and Toseland (86).

Despite finishing 11th in race one with a front tyre that was losing air pressure, Haslam still managed to increase his championship lead at Assen.

Corser is seventh in the title on 68pts.

In his return from a nasty knee injury, a clearly underdone Vermeulen was 17th and 14th in the 22-lappers, and was lucky to come out unscathed from a nasty highside in Superpole on Saturday.

Parkes, in a similar return mission to Vermeulen, recorded a DNF-17 scorecard at Assen.

In world supersport, Eugene Laverty made it a red letter day for Honda with a clinical victory over championship leader Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda).

There will be a 30-minute highlightsw package from Assen on SBS at 12.30pm on May 2.

ASSEN WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS
Race one: 22 laps
1 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain, Honda 35:38.483
2 James Toseland, Great Britain, Yamaha +1.106secs
3 Leon Camier, Great Britain, Aprilia +1.249
4 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati +1.548
5 Troy Corser, Australia, BMW +2.738
6 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia +2.813
7 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati +6.296
8 Cal Crutchlow, Great Britain, Yamaha +12.022
9 Shane Byrne, Great Britain, Ducati +12.146
10 Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Ducati +19.753
17 Chris Vermeulen, Australia, Kawasaki +46.468
DNF Broc Parkes, Australia, Honda +13 laps

Fastest lap and founding record (revised track): Checa - 1:36.413

Race two: 22 laps
1 Rea 35:43.137
2 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, Suzuki +1.942
3 Toseland +3.928
4 Biaggi +4.067
5 Corser +4.176
6 Checa +4.525
7 Smrz +4.682
8 Byrne +7.698
9 Max Neukirchner, Germany, Honda +9.903
10 Xaus +11.465
14 Vermeulen +35.401
17 Parkes +58.819

Fastest lap and new record: Rea - 1:36.312

WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER ROUND FOUR OF 13):
1 Haslam 148
2 Biaggi 128
3 Rea 110
4 Checa 103
5 Toseland 86
6 Haga 83
7 Corser 68
8 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Suzuki 55
9 Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Ducati 53
10 Crutchlow 49
20 Vermeulen 2

Next round: Monza, Italy, May 7-9