REA WINS AS NINJA ZX-10RR GOES 1-2

In the opening 21-lap Superbike World Championship race of the Assen weekend Jonathan Rea scored the win and his KRT team-mate Tom Sykes took second place, results which put them 1-2 at the head of the championship rankings.

In cool but dry and bright conditions Sykes from the front row and Rea from the second row both made clean starts, with fellow-championship challenger Chaz Davies doing most of the early front-running. Rea set a new lap record, over a second faster then the previous one, on lap three, with a 1’34.880 as he caught up to Davies.
 
The race was evidently going to be contested by three riders, as Davies and Rea headed up Sykes, who moved closer and further behind in his third position, only losing contact for the possible win in the latter stages.
 
Rea had passed Davies, only to be re-passed, close to the end, but on the approach to the last two laps Jonathan’s burst to the front would be a final one, as Davies was forced to slow and then stop at the trackside. Tom therefore took second place, with Marco Melandri taking over third spot in a dramatic final act to what had already been a dramatic day for the KRT squad in some regards.  
 
In Superpole 2, held shortly before race one, Rea set a new track best for the Superbike class with a 1’33.505. Jonathan was demoted to fourth place on the grid after it was judged he had impeded the progress of a rival while he had been setting a fast lap. Jonathan remained on pole statistically but Tom took over pole position on the grid, with Jonathan finally starting from fourth spot in a race he would ultimately go on to win.
 
This 1-2 for the Ninja ZX-10RR ensures that Kawasaki still leads the manufacturers’ Championship, this time by 33 points after seven races.
 
Rea, in taking his sixth race win of 2017 secured his tenth win at Assen across his career, five of them on Kawasaki machinery.
 
In the championship, before race two at Assen, Jonathan has 170 points and Tom is second overall with 111. Race two takes place on Sunday 30th April, with the 21-lap race scheduled for a 1pm start again.
 

STATEMENTS:
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team Rider): “That one was really nice because the more wins you get on a certain track the more pressure you feel to repeat it. I am not sure why I click so well with Assen but it seems to be working. It seems like our bike was working very well in the faster sections of the track, and Chaz was fast out of T5 in acceleration. I could maintain the lap time as we were to-ing and fro-ing at certain parts of the track, but I was strong in the back section, where it counts for passes. I had good pace at the end and I wanted to go through then and make a gap. But every time I put my nose in front there was a big block pass into the last corner. It was, honestly, very unfortunate for Chaz at the end and it is never a good way to lose points. But it was important for me that that bad luck happened to him when he was behind me because at that point of the race I was trying to make my rhythm and go away.”
 
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Rider): “Obviously I did not feel 100% fit but that is no excuse. On the bike we just had some limitations for the set-up in this race. I think that tomorrow we can make a change in set-up and be stronger. Realistically we need to close in by about three seconds and I feel this is possible, taking all things into consideration. I was struggling at the end today not because the tyres had given their best or anything like that but, it was just that in two fast areas of the track I was struggling with feedback. In the beginning of the race I dropped back but I could keep up a good pace and got back up with the leaders again. Whatever I did, I just lost it again in the faster section of the track. That was just about confidence, so I feel we can improve.”