WSBK-weekend in Assen

27.07.2021
Race-1 of the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round, the fifth event of the 2021 WorldSBK season, offers a terrific show to the public on the stands of the TT Circuit in Assen (Netherlands).

After a convincing Superpole, Scott Redding and Michael Ruben Rinaldi start respectively from the third and fourth position and since the first lap, they give the feeling to be able to fight for the victory. Rinaldi's pace seems to be particularly incisive and allows him to take the third position behind Rea (Kawasaki) and Razgatlioglu (Yamaha). The Italian rider pushes hard but during the third lap, he loses the front at turn 8, compromising his race.

Redding stays glued to the leading group and on lap 8 he overtakes Razgatlioglu to take the second position. Scott seems ready to attack Rea, but is forced to defend himself from Toprak's return: the two riders engage in a spectacular duel, but they allow Rea to create a little gap.
The fight for second place is exciting. Two laps from the end, however, the red flag shown for the crash of Folger (BMW) interrupts the duel, giving Scott Redding the final second position.

P2 - Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
"It's nice to be back on the podium and get this result in Assen with so many fans in the stands. In the first half of the race the feeling was very positive and I was aware that I could fight for victory. Then I started to have some issues with the front tire and I had to fight hard with Toprak. All things considered, I'm very satisfied with this result”.

DNF - Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
"I am very sorry for the crash. Despite a rather difficult Friday, we were able to take some steps forward and this morning the sensations were quite positive. After a good start, I had the feeling that I could easily stay with the leading group. Unfortunately, I made a mistake because I approached turn 8 in the wrong way, without taking into account the fact that the tank was still full. A lesson I’ve learnt for the future".

The Sunday of Prosecco DOC Dutch Round ends with two podiums finish for the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team thanks to the second place of Scott Redding in Race-2 and the same result achieved by Michael Ruben Rinaldi in the Superpole Race.

Superpole Race

Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s start (from the fourth position) is superb and the Italian rider takes the lead in the first lap. Rinaldi tries to push but on lap 3 he can't defend himself from Rea (Kawasaki). In the final part of the race, Rinaldi loses momentum, surrendering in the last lap to the attack of Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) and Locatelli (Yamaha), both later penalized for exceeding the track limits at the last corner.

Scott Redding starts from the third position but since the first laps, he doesn't find a good feeling with the front tire, finishing in fifth position.

Superpole Result

P1 - J. Rea (Kawasaki)
P2 - M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
P3 - T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha)
P4 - A. Locatelli (Yamaha)
P5 - S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)

Race-2

Redding stays with the leading group from the beginning and his pace increases considerably from the middle of the race. After a great battle with Rinaldi for the third position, Scott starts chasing Locatelli, overtaking him with three laps to go, securing his second podium finish of the weekend.

Rinaldi's start is once again incisive and in the first 3 laps, he tries to attack Locatelli to take the lead of the race. Since lap 4, however, the number 21 is not able to push effectively and is forced to settle for the eighth position, which allows him to climb to the fifth place in the world ranking.

Race-2 Result

P1 - J. Rea (Kawasaki)
P2 - S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
P3 - A. Locatelli (Yamaha)
P4 - C. Davies (Ducati)
P5 - A. Bautista (Honda)
P8 - M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)

Championship Standings

P1 - J. Rea (Kawasaki) 243
P2 - T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) 206
P3 - S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 162
P4 - A. Lowes (Kawasaki) 127
P5 - M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 111

After the Superpole Race Michael Ruben Rinaldi does a lap of honor of the Assen track riding the Panigale V2 Bayliss 1st Championship 20th Anniversary, the special bike presented last Thursday 22 July to celebrate Troy Bayliss' first world title in 2001. During the press conference on Friday at the Paddock Show, Michael had the opportunity to exchange a few words with the Australian champion, recalling why he also races with the number 21 (the day he was born in December 1995).

Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #45)
"I'm happy to end the weekend with another podium. I struggled a lot to find the feeling with the front tire but in Race 2 we were able to make that small step that allowed me to keep a better pace. In the beginning, I tried not to push hard to save the front tire and for this reason, I lost a little bit of ground compared to the lead. The pace has improved a lot since the middle of the race but the gap with Rea was too wide to fight for the victory".

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #21)
"Honestly I can't be satisfied with this weekend. Yesterday I gave my best but I crashed, while today I never had the feeling to be in the ideal conditions. The result of the Superpole Race is clearly positive, but it came after the penalization of Razgatlioglu and Locatelli; after a good start in the afternoon, since the tire performance started dropping, I have been no longer efficient. It's a bit frustrating: we have to work to find a solution that will allow us to be more consistent".

Race results

Pos.	Nr.	Driver	Bike	Time-gap to Leader
1	1	J. Rea	ZX-10RR	1:34.689
2	45	S. Redding	Panigale V4 R	1.605
3	55	A. Locatelli	YZF R1	3.431
4	7	C. Davies	Panigale V4 R	8.695
5	19	A. Bautista	CBR1000 RR-R	9.584
6	60	M. van der Mark	M1000RR	12.691
7	22	A. Lowes	ZX-10RR	12.992
8	21	M. Rinaldi	Panigale V4 R	13.752
9	47	A. Bassani	Panigale V4 R	19.087
10	91	L. Haslam	CBR1000 RR-R	19.629
11	53	T. Rabat	Panigale V4 R	20.974
12	3	K. Nozane	YZF R1	34.615
13	36	L. Mercado	CBR1000 RR-R	35.640
14	32	I. Vinales	ZX-10RR	38.917
15	66	T. Sykes	M1000RR	47.840
16	9	A. Mantovani	ZX-10RR	56.387
17	84	L. Cresson	ZX-10RR	1:09.598
NC	31	G. Gerloff	YZF R1
NC	54	T. Razgatlioglu	YZF R1

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