Assen provides thrills and spills for thr top men. Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) drove the strong British contingent in the Assen crowd wild after taking his first career victory in SBK. Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) may have crashed in the first race at Assen but after an assured display of riding to win in race two, he left with an increased championship advantage, with three rounds still to run. His main championship rivals had virtual disasters in the wet first, and largely dry second, races but despite only finishing with a tenth and ninth place James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) regained overall second in the title hunt. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) both fell in both races and scored no points. In the championship battle, Bayliss now leads Toseland by 100 points, 332 to 232, with Haga third on an unchanged 230.
A fuel and oil spill in the wet morning warm-up led to some delays in the race schedule, but the 22-lap Superbike races themselves went ahead as planned and on time.
Race One:An astonishing 22-lap contest gave Chris Walker his first ever World Superbike race win, as the Nottinghamshire rider overcame the atrocious weather and slippery track to go from dead last (and on the gravel at the first corner on lap one) to victor in front of a drenched Assen crowd. It was Kawasaki's first race win in SBK since a double success for Hitoyasu Izutsu, at Sugo in 2000. Walker's last podium finish was in 2005, third at Valencia.
In second place came Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia), with Michel Fabrizio taking his Honda DFX Treme Honda to third, after moving forward confidently from a 14th place start.
Race Two: In the second race, on a dry track with damp patches around, Bayliss took another of his assured race wins, after an early fight with eventual fourth place rider, Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). He was almost ten seconds ahead of second place rider Pitt, who now sits fourth overall, on 197 points after two runner-up rides. In a strong day for PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse rider Fonsi Nieto, a fourth in race one was followed up but his first career SBK podium of third in race two.
Dry Practice Leaves Everything Open At Wet And Dry AssenYukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) recovered from his first race crash to secure an impressive fourth in race two, although being passed twice by eventual podium rider Nieto in the process. Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) lost the front while in the leading group in race one. In race two a collision between Corser and Haga on the startline broke the wheel and dented the front disk on Corser's Suzuki, and when he went into the first corner he had no brakes, taking out James Toseland as a result, before he remounted to finish a brave ninth. In race one Toseland ran off the wet track while with the leading group, but battled on to finish tenth. Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) had to contend with the wrong choice of rear tyre, fitted in error, in race two, and after a few laps started a charge to the back that saw him finish an eventual 14th. He nonetheless moves from ninth to eighth overall in the series, thanks to his race one win.
Race One Offers Bonus To Private RidersWith so many riders falling in the opening race, including potential podium rider Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) the privateer machines of Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) and Max Neukirchner (Alstare Engineering Suzuki) ran out fifth and sixth, with the factory Ducati of Lorenzo Lanzi the top twin cylinder rider on show, seventh. He was followed by the private machine of Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) and also Karl Muggeridge, who was in a podium scoring place before running off track in race one and then losing traction to finish 13th in race two. There were only 15 finishers in race one, but Steve Martin (Petronas FP-1) obtained the first of two points scoring results, with 12th in the wet opener, 11th in the dry second race.
Second Race Offers Second Chance For Some Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) pulled out of race one after feeling a lack of confidence in his front fork performance in the rain, but he recovered in race two to score seventh, albeit dropping to sixth in the overall standings after a tough weekend. Xaus made a superb recovery in race two to fifth, and had he not found his rear traction diminishing slowly as time went on, he could have challenged for the podium right to the end. Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) a faller in race one, found chattering a problem in race two, but still finished in the top eight. A six-rider battle in the early laps featured Laconi in the vanguard. Rounding out the top ten, Toseland found his six points enough to put him second in the series, but a gearbox problem for Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) put him 10th. Pierfrancesco Chili, Fabrizio's team-mate, endured a crash in race one and a retirement from race two. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) damaged his back in race one, and us undergoing exploratory scans in hospital.
Supersport World Championship Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) rode the race of his life in wet conditions in a two-part aggregate Supersport race to secure the race win from new clear championship leader, Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany). After 21-laps of high-risk racing, another new star was born, Kai Borre Andersen (Hoegee Suzuki), who gave his team its first podium in WSS, finishing third, ahead of Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda). Local rider Arie Vos (J&E Sport Ten Kate Racing Honda) went fifth, with the Hoegee Suzuki team having a successful day, as Barry Veneman scored sixth. In the championship chase itself, Curtain has 151 points, Charpentier 144 and Broc Parkes 119. Parkes, running to a clear early lead in the wet track conditions of race one, fell heavily, and has suffered what initial test have concluded to be three broken ribs, a possibly fractured shoulder and a punctured lung. After his Assen race win, Kenan Sofuoglu now sits fifth overall, only two points behind Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda).
Superstock 1000 FIM CupIn a closely contested Superstock race Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) took his second race win of the year, in a delayed 13-lap race at the new-look Assen. Battling with Aussie Brendan Roberts (HP Racing), he passed on the final lap and Roberts ran off track at the final chicane in his attempt to get back into the lead. He finished second, with class leader Alessandro Polita (Celani team Suzuki) third. Polita now has a lead of 22 points from Ayrton Badovini, with Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing) third, after finishing fifth at Assen.
Germany Awaits Sbk At Lausitz The tenth round of the championships is scheduled for 8-10 September, at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany.
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