World Supersport : Can it get any better than this?

World Supersport has on numerous occasions provided the world with jaw dropping, edge of the seat racing and Sunday proved to be no exception. For the fans that travelled to the cathedral of speed at Assen in Holland they witnessed one of the truly great World Supersport races.

Johnny Rea managed to grab the whole shot from his grid slot of second place leading the field into Assen’s tight first corner, which becomes even tighter when you’re trying to fit thirty six supersport machines through it. The Supersport class has affectionately been named the class of the axe murderers. This name has mainly come about because the class is made up of a mixture of up and coming stars and veterans who are trying to make a comeback, because of this no quarter is given between anyone, not even team mates, it’s quite normal to see team mates clashing fairings and elbows in an attempt to battle their way through to the front of this highly competitive field.

It was quite an amazing sight to see the train of bikes hurtling towards the chicane with Broc Parkes now leading the field. Johnny Rea who has struggled with the Pirelli tyres over the first three races was keen to capitalise on his impressive start and rode over the curbing to squeeze his Hannspree Honda past the Australians Yamaha to lead over the line. Rea’s team mate and former Supersport champion Andrew Pitt had made an impressive start to his race making up five places over the opening lap to get to fourth.

There have been several negative comments about the Assen circuit since the remodelling back in 2005 but there could certainly be no complaints about the racing on Sunday as the first fourteen riders battled it out nose to tail over the first 11 laps of the 22 lap race. The lead changed frequently with Rea, Pitt, Lascorz and Parkes all taking turns at leading the train, but as hard as they tried no one could break the tow and make a move away on their own. Many of the riders were even bouncing over the curbs and even risked brushing the astro turf with their tyres in an attempt to maintain the pace at the front.

As the leaders crossed the line with ten laps to go the top fourteen riders were separated by only 3.9 seconds. With the two Hannspree riders sitting in first and second, which would clearly be pleasing to their Dutch owners the Ten Kate brothers who were hoping for a good performance from both riders on their home track located only half an hour from their factory. The pace throughout the race was electric with the riders reeling off laps either in the high 1:42 or low 1:43 minute bracket. As the race wore on and the tyres started to ware the riders certainly started to earn their money if they hadn’t already, with many of the leading pack backing the bike in to the first corner attempting to scrub off the extra speed. Craig Jones on the Parkalgar Honda managed to leave a couple of very impressive marks from his rear tyre as he battled to make his way towards the front and up with his fellow British compatriot Johnny Rea.

Rea had admitted that he had struggled to adapt to the Pirelli control tyres used in the World Supersport championship and was maybe a touch gun shy in Phillip Island and Valencia after his huge high side in the opening lap of the Qatar round where Rea lost feeling in the rear and took both himself and his team mate Andrew Pitt out of the race. However Rea was back to his brilliant best at Assen, showing the field why Ronald and Gerald were so keen to have the Ulsterman in their team in 2008. Rea was firm but fair in his overtaking manoeuvres and made sure that his team mate knew that he would be no push over for the victory should it come down to a last gasp dash for the line.

With 6 laps to go Craig Jones decided it was the right moment to make a move and managed to force his way from fourth to the lead in just four corners. Jones who has finally received a much needed engine upgrade, providing Jones with the power to run with the leaders was clearly looking to show the factory teams that he was in the running for the championship. Jones tried to push on but like those before him, he was unable to break away and after almost rubbing shoulders with Andrew Pitt, ran wide losing the lead. As they crossed the line there were still eleven riders separated by only 2 seconds.

As the laps ran down the leading bunch all knew that it was probably going to come down to who would be willing to brake the latest into the final chicane. With two laps to go the front six managed to gap their pursuers and started to plan their attack to the line. As they made their way into the complex for the final time, Pitt attempted to lunge up the inside of his team mate for the lead with Lascorz and the two Yamaha’s in close attendance. Rea managed to break late enough and close the door, but as with Toseland and Bayliss in the superbike race last year, Pitt managed to hook up the drive out of the corner and managed to barge his way through to the line to win by 0.014 of a second. In fact the entire top six were separated by less that half a second after twenty two laps of racing.

With the World Superbike championship looking like it’s signed sealed and delivered to the fantastic Troy Bayliss who is looking unstoppable in his final season. It might be an idea to tune in to watch the Supersport championship as it looks like it will go down to the wire at Estoril.