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Assen Sunday Guide

Saturday, 29 April 2017 14:18 GMT

All the facts and stats to get you through the Acerbis Dutch Round

1st in the Championship: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)

Jonathan Rea became the second rider in history with at least 10 wins at a given circuit, after Carl Fogarty scored 12 here in Assen from 1993 to 1999. He will start 9th in Race 2, facing an uphill task to record the double. The only race won from outside the top-5 spots at Assen was the very wet Race 1 back in 2006, when Chris Walker scored his only WorldSBK win starting 13th.

Round numbers for Rea into Race 2: 200th start, the 60th for Kawasaki and in case of a win, that will be his 30th success for the Japanese manufacturer. The grid penalty for Race 1 put an end to his best string of qualifying front rows (6). His strong of podium finishes is still alive with 12. 170 points in the first 7 races of the championship: only Neil Hodgson did better in 2003, when he nailed 9 wins at the beginning of the season, so, after the 7th race he had scored 175 points. Two years ago, after 7 races Rea had scored 165 points. A win in Race 2 will be his 7th straight at this track: his team-mate Sykes last year nailed his 8th straight win in Donington, an all-time record shared with Carl Fogarty (Assen).

2nd in the Championship: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)

In Qualifying, Tom Sykes improved on his record: 5 poles at Assen with his best rivals are Frankie Chili and Troy Corser at 3. He secured his 5th podium at Assen: four of these were second places. His next podium will be his 90th. This year Tom Sykes has always finished the first races on the podium, while he has recorded only one podium in the second races (Thailand: 2nd). In Qualifying, Kawasaki became the only manufacturer to record 6 straight poles at Assen. For the 21st race in a row Kawasaki qualified on the front row, equalling their best string which ran from Assen 1992 to Albacete 1994 (at the time the front row could contain up to 5 bikes).

3rd in the Championship: Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

At his 9th attempt, Marco Melandri finally climbed on the podium at Assen: now he has climbed on the podium on 18 tracks out of 20 visited. This was his 54th podium, one more than his team-mate Davies. Ironically without the premature stop for Davies, the count would be the opposite.

4th in the Championship: Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

For the first time since his first WorldSBK weekend at Assen back in 2012 (a double crash), Chaz Davies was not classified on the Dutch track: since 2013 he had finished all his races here from 2nd to 8th. In qualifying, Chaz had recorded his first front row start at Assen.

6th in the Championship: Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team)

The 4th in Race 1 was Fores’ best result of the season and his best since his maiden podium on the 2nd Lausitzring Race last year. Thanks to the new regulations, Xavi Fores will start from pole for the first time in Race 2.

7th in the Championship: Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)

The pattern for Van der Mark at Assen so far has been either a 3rd place (3 times) or a fall (twice).  Race 2 will be his 60th WorldSBK race, matching his bike number.

11th in the Championship: Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)

Best career result for Stefan Bradl in Race 1 (6th): he will start from the front row for the first time in WorldSBK. From 3rd on the grid, Bradl is in the best position to keep alive the string of podium finishes of Honda at Assen: at least one per weekend since 2004.

13th in the Championship: Román Ramos (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven)

Roman Ramos equalled his best career result in Race 1 - a 7th, scored previously in the second Imola Race, back in 2015.

15th in the Championship Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia)

For the first time in his career, Lorenzo Savadori will start from the second grid spot. In Qualifying he had recorded his 2nd front row after Donington last year.

Winners this season: Rea 6, Davies 1, In Race 1, a British rider won for the 21th consecutive race; this is LA the second longest run of consecutive race wins for British riders after the 24 successive wins recorded between Phillip Island/1 and Magny Cours/2 in 2015. Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea were the only winners of the last 15 races.

 Keep up with all the racing action on the final day of the Acerbis Dutch Round, with action kicking off at 11:30LT (+2 GMT) and watch it all exclusively on the WorldSBK VideoPass.