WSBK: Rea does the double
The Kawasaki rider continues to take the 2015 world superbike title by the scruff of the neck, and is now a 50pt leader over Aprilia's Leon HaslamKawasaki's Jonathan Rea continues to dominate the 2015 Superbike World Championship, taking the double in round four at Assen on April 19, both times finishing ahead of Chaz Davies (Ducati) and hometown hero Michael van der Mark (Honda).
“Today has been amazing and like in Thailand I need to sit down and savour this moment," said Rea. "There was a lot of pressure on me coming here, everyone talking about how Assen was my circuit, so I am just happy to deliver.
"We chose a different rear tyre in race two and it worked out well. Race two was slightly different because I knew Tom would be fast in the beginning. When Chaz put a pass on me and I saw Tom slowing I knew that it could end up as a messy fight. This one is for all my mechanics who have been working tirelessly and all the people at KHI (Kawasaki Heavy Industries)."
Race one saw Rea set a new lap record on the penultimate lap to record his sixth win at Assen and the fifth in his 2015 campaign. Meanwhile, van der Mark's third place behind Davies saw him become the first Dutchman to stand on a WSBK podium. Leon Haslam (Aprilia) was fourth from Tom Sykes (Kawasaki), who ran strongly in the opening laps before fading to fifth.
The Suzuki pairing of Alex Lowes and Randy de Puniet went down together at turn one, the Frenchman crashing alone and collecting his teammate who appeared to have run straight on. Both riders were unhurt.
Race two served up another nail-biting climax that once again had the crowd on its feet as the leading riders stayed locked together until the final lap. Rea’s win completed his second double at Assen, making him the second most successful rider in the history of the Dutch round.
Another brave move through the penultimate corner saw van der grab a double podium, ahead of Haslam and Sykes.
In world supersport, a last corner decider went in the favour of Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) ahead of a clearly frustrated Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta). Cluzel had the consolation of a new lap record as he secured 20pts to keep alive his championship chances. Kyle Smith (Honda) was third.
Australia's Glenn Scott (Honda) was a retirement.
The next round will be held at Imola, Italy from May 8-10.
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