Race 1
Ducati rider Bautista overcame Kawasaki rider Jonathan Rea to win Saturday’s opener by a little over three seconds.
Bautista had secured pole earlier in the day but was handed a three-place grid penalty for riding slowly on the racing line, promoting Rea to pole position.
Rea held off Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu in the fight for second, while Andrea Locatelli likewise bested top independent Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) for fourth.
Superpole Race
World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista completed the double in Assen ahead of Race 2, after getting the better of Jonathan Rea during the Superpole Race.
The race start was then delayed due to liquid coming out of Baz’s M 1000 RR at turn seven, before a new schedule of 8 laps was confirmed.
After a 15 minute delay, the race finally got underway as Rea got a brilliant launch to beat Bautista down to turn one.
However, Bautista was not to be held back as he regained the lead before the end of lap one, while Razgatlioglu and Lowes were very close to the leading duo.
Shaping up for a move with 3 laps to go, Rea got very close to Bautista on the run to turn seven but was unable to stage an attack. Bautista then opened up the gap as he set the fastest lap of the race with two laps to go before controlling the gap en route to victory.
Race 3
Alvaro Bautista completed his second World Superbike hat-trick of the season, first at Assen after winning Race 2 from Toprak Razgatlioglu.
After issues on his way to the grid, Alex Lowes started the final race of the weekend from the back of the pack.
Lap three saw the first change at the head of the field as Razgatlioglu overtook Bautista at turn eight before running wide a few corners later.
That mistake gave Bautista the lead straight back, while Rea also came through for P2. The Kawasaki rider replicated Razgatlioglu’s overtake at turn eight to gain the lead for the first time [lap four], however, Bautista again responded and took back P1 before the lap was over.
Then came a huge moment as Rea saw his faint title hopes punished even further after losing the front-end at turn nine.
Razgatlioglu’s challenge then faded on lap eight as Bautista set the fastest lap of the weekend. Bautista’s incredible long-run pace was again proving too hot to handle as the gap went over a second on lap nine.
Bautista is 56 points clear of second-placed Razgatlioglu while Rea drops down a spot to fifth.
The race was marred however when Michael Van Der Mark’s was brutally thrown over the top of his M 1000 RR sustaining a very serious leg injury. More than likely ruling him out for the rest of the season.
