A penalty is not enough to stop Alvaro Bautista: in Assen the reigning world champion prevails despite the Superpole sanction which had forced him to retreat from pole to fourth place and with an incredible progression he bends his rivals, going on to win in the Race 1 the sixth success of the season.
Once again it was the Ducati rider who climbed to the top step of the podium and Jonathan Rea could do nothing. Taking advantage of the Spaniard’s penalty, he started from pole position but bowed to his rival and passed under the checkered flag in second position. In the lead in the early stages of Race 1, the Northern Irishman is unable to stop his rival’s ride, who after taking the lead, gives him a good 3 seconds.
On the third step of the podium goes Toprak Razgatlioglu, who after the difficulties of the weekend manages to grab a good position at the end of Race 1. In the finale, the Yamaha rider tries to get close to a Rea who seems to be in more difficulty, but then has to settle for of third place. The finish position allows him to keep second place in the championship, despite being 46 points behind leader Bautista.
Big tussle behind the leading trio, with the fourth position disputed between several riders. Andrea Locatelli has the upper hand, who interprets the Assen track well and takes fourth place, making fun of Axel Bassani in the final. The Motocorsa rider is the best of the independent riders, passing under the checkered flag in fifth position. The driver from Veneto also prevailed over Alex Lowes, who started from third box but fell back during the laps.
In fact, the Kawasaki rider entered into a crisis in the last stages of Race 1 and crossed the finish line in seventh position, behind an excellent Dominique Aegerter. The Swiss enters the fight right in the final and grabs sixth place. His teammate Remy Gardner also conquered the top 10 with eighth position. Rounding out the top ten group we find Danilo Petrucci, ninth with the Ducati of the Barni team, while Scott Redding, very effective in the first laps in which he is also close to the podium, does not go beyond tenth position.
On the edge of the top 10 is Xavi Vierge, 11th and best of the Honda riders. In fact, Race 1 of Iker Lecuona ends up in the gravel, after he crashed when he was in the top 10. The other BMWs are also struggling, with Garrett Gerloff 12th ahead of Michael van der Mark, 13th in his home round. Philipp Oettl follows, 14th astride the Panigale V4R of team Goeleven. However, the German still got the better of his brand mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Very difficult race for the Aruba rider, who doesn’t go beyond the 15th place finish, continuing a difficult weekend that started uphill. Follows Lorenzo Baldassarri, 16th, while Gabriele Ruiu is 22nd and last of the Italians.
