Rea romps to first WSB double
Added on Sunday, April 25th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Rea romps to first WSB double
It was a thrilling afternoon in Assen for the World Superbike fraternity this afternoon, with Jonathan Rea overcoming drama and excitement to take his first double WSB win.
The sun-soaked Assen circuit provided the many spectators with a perfect fix of true motor racing action, as the twenty-two strong grid fought it out for top spot.
After winning his very first Superpole in yesterday’s qualifying session, Rea and his fellow front row starters all enjoyed strong getaways at the start if the first race, firing away from the line. WSB Veteran Troy Corser got the better of the starts, immediately firing passed Rea to inherit the lead. Reigning British Superbike Champion, Leon Camier, slotted into second, after making a number of changes to his bike this weekend, while Rea was left to accept third.
Inches behind, James Toseland rocketed away at the start, launching from a tenth place grid start to lay sixth at the end of the first lap. Fellow Brit and championship leader, Leon Haslam had a difficult start, which saw him drop back towards the rear of the field, and battling it out with Michel Fabrizio, Noriyuki Haga for fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth places.
Eager to continue making ground, Toseland was soon harrassing Camier for fourth. Before long, Camier ran wide, allowing the Sterilgarda Yamaha Team rider to pass. Just behind, fastest man on the track, Carlos Checa, was making his way through the pack, edging away from Max Biaggi in seventh.
As the race approached half distance Rea made a move on Corser for the top spot. With just eleven laps to go the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider slipped through into the lead. Still on a charge, Toseland mad ehis way up into second, a position he didn’t want to relinquish – despite the best efforts of Corser in third.
By this point, the top seven riders were separate by just 2.378 seconds, indicating how close a race it was. In the closing stages Toseland made a break for the lead, however, Rea’s straight line speed got the better of the Yamaha rider, enabling Rea to hold position. Minutes later and Camier tried a similar maneouvre on Toseland, but it was not to be as they crossed the line to finish the race.
After twenty-two laps it was Rea who came out on top, with a fired up Toseland second, and Camier just behind in third, making it a British top three. Checa eventually fought through for fourth, while Corser was muscled back to fifth. Biaggi finished a strong sixth, with Jakub Smrz losing his early strong pace to drop back to seventh, while Cal Crutchlow crossed the line eighth. Shane Byrne finished ninth with Haga fighting back to tenth. Haslam was able to find a way through the field after losing ground, and eventually finished eleventh.
Race two was even more exciting, with the usual suspects fighting it out for the number one spot. As the lights went out it was Corser who again launched into the lead. This time it was Haslam who slotted into second with Rea again demoted to third.
Before long Rea had climbed his way back towards the front and, despite briefly losing the position to Corser, again, and Haslam, the Honda rider was in front when it mattered to take the chequered flag.
Haslam was able to hold onto second, just ahead of Toseland who completed the second all British podium of the day – something not achieved since back in 2003. Camier crashed out of a top position on the penultimate lap at 120mph. He appeared uninjured, which is more than can be said for his Aprilia Alitalia Racing bike.
Biaggi made it through to fourth at the finish, with Corser again forced to settle for fifth. Checa scored another sixth place finish, with Smrz seventh and Byrne eighth. Max Neukirchner recovered from a crash in race one to finish ninth in this second race, while Ruben Xaus followed in tenth.
A domino effect style collision on the opening lap robbed Tom Sykes of a second Dutch adventure, when he and Lorenzo Lanzi slipped into one another. Haga and Crutchlow joined the duo and also Camier in retirement from race two.
Looking back over his dream weekend, Rea said: “It has been great and I could not have done this without my team. They gave me a fantastic bike. We changed the balance of the bike for this weekend and made it more comfortable. Both races are probably the smartest races I have ever ridden. I never got frustrated in traffic and when it was time to pull the pin I did. I am really happy with the double. It was a clean sweep, so I am proud as punch and I cannot wait to take this result on. I will savour the moment.”
After two podium finishes, an ecstatic Toseland said: “To come from tenth on the grid to take a second and a third was a great result for the team and myself. It has been coming slowly but it was nice to get two consistent podium results. I said before the season started there could be some British 1-2-3 results, and there are a lot of British riders out there. But we are all running up the front and doing a fantastic job, so we deserve to be there. It is great for the fans in the UK and I am sure we are all looking forward to Silverstone.”
Despite one difficult race, Haslam did enough to hold onto his championship advantage over Biaggi, with 148 points to Biaggi’s 128 points. Rea is third with 110 points.
The next round of the championship is on 8/9th May at the infamous Monza circuit in Italy.
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