News

Aegerter claims victory ahead of van Straalen in red flagged WorldSSP Race 1

Saturday, 23 April 2022 14:11 GMT

    • The reigning Champion timed his move to perfect to claim victory for home team Ten Kate Racing Yamaha

    Race 1 for the FIM Supersport World Championship was red flagged with five laps to go with Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) denying Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) an emotional first victory with a perfectly timed moved at the TT Circuit Assen for the Motul Dutch Round. When the red flag was shown, and the results taken from the last timing point, Aegerter’s margin of victory was just 0.081s.

    LESS THAN A TENTH IN IT: late heartbreak for van Straalen

    Aegerter had closed the gap to van Straalen throughout the race after the Dutchman moved into the lead, with Aegerter making his move through the right-hander of Turns 13 and 14 on Lap 14 of the scheduled 18. It would prove to be the last lap of the race when the red flags were shown for an incident involving Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) and Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing). Aegerter’s move came right before the timing point the results were taken from, meaning he claimed his second win of the 2022 season and the 12th win in WorldSSP, tying him in fourth with the all-time list with Andrea Locatelli, Sebastien Charpentier and Eugene Laverty. It was also Yamaha’s 120th victory in WorldSSP Van Straalen’s second place meant he claimed his maiden WorldSSP podium and became the first Dutch rider to stand on the WorldSSP podium since Michael van der Mark when he won at Losail in 2014. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) did lead the race in the early stages but found himself demoted to third place when overtaken by van Straalen and Aegerter. He was able to claim his second podium in WorldSSP; backing up his third place from Race 2 at MotorLand Aragon.

    CLAIMING A TOP SIX FINISH: a close fight

    French rider Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) was fourth as he looked to kickstart his 2022 campaign, finishing ahead of former teammate Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) in fifth place. Carciasulo had been running towards the front in the early stages of the race but dropped back as the race progressed. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was sixth after battling his way up the order from outside the top ten at the start of the race.

    BEST CAREER RESULTS: rounding out the top ten

    Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Dynavolt Triumph) was seventh place at the end of the race ahead of Patrick Hobelsberger (Kallio Racing) in eighth; the German’s best result in WorldSSP so far. He was ahead of Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) in ninth place while Leonardo Taccini (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) completed the top ten and, like Hobelsberger, claimed his best WorldSSP result to date.

    TAKING HOME POINTS: completing the top 15 at Assen

    Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) continued his strong start to his rookie WorldSSP campaign with 11th place as he took more points. He was ahead of fellow rookie Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 12th place, while Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) was 13th. Australian rookie Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) took his first points of the 2022 campaign with 14th place, ahead of Turkish rider Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in 15th.

    Kyle Smith (VFT Racing) was 16th ahead of wildcard rider Jaimie van Sikkelerus (MPM Routz Racing) in 17th. He was ahead of fellow Dutch rider Jeffrey Buis (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) in 18th place with Filippo Fuligni (D34G Racing) in 19th and Austrian rookie Maximilian Kofler (CM Racing) rounding out the top 20. Eugene James McManus (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) was 21st with Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) in 22nd and Federico Fuligni (D34G Racing) the last of the classified runners in 23rd.

    HOUSEKEEPING: to note from Race 1

    French rider Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha) was declared unfit arm pump syndrome in his right arm and did not take part in Race 1. Alessandro Zetti (Kallio Racing) crashed out of the race at Turn 8 on the opening lap of the race. Ondrej Vostatek (MS Racing Yamaha WorldSSP) also retired from the race with a technical issue in the opening stages of the race, while Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) bought his bike into the pits at the end of Lap 4 after a Turn 10 crash. Shortly after, Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) had a Turn 7 crash that put him out of the race. After battling up the order, Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) crashed out of the race at Turn 9 on Lap 6. Wildcard Tom Edwards (Yart – Yamaha WorldSSP) was shown a black flag on Lap 9 of the race after not taking a ride through penalty which was given to him for not starting the race in the right starting position.

    The top six following WorldSSP Race 1, full results here:

    1. Dominique Aegerter (Tem Kate Racing Yamaha)

    2. Glenn Van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) +0.081s

    3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +1.796s

    4. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +5.725s

    5. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) +7.896s

    6. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +8.067

    Fastest Lap – Dominique Aegerter, Yamaha: 1’37.926s

    Don’t miss WorldSSP Sunday action starting with Warm Up from Assen at 09:00 Local Time (GMT+2) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!