The shortened Tissot Superpole Race in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship was a fierce fight between Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) for victory at the TT Circuit Assen during the Pirelli Dutch Round. The pair could barely be separated throughout the eight-lap race as they secured a front row start for this afternoon’s Race 2 following their battle.

FRONT ROW FOR RACE 2: battling for the win

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) got the holeshot as the lights went out and jumped into the lead of the race but Bautista was able to respond on the opening lap to re-claim first place before looking to build a gap. Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) both kept the pressure on Bautista while Rea’s teammate, Alex Lowes, was also in the four-rider group for victory.

As the race approached the final few laps, Bautista started to pull out a gap over Rea to claim victory in the Superpole Race and claim first on the grid for Race 2, ahead of Rea in second and Razgatlioglu in third. Victory for Bautista moved Ducati onto 399 wins in WorldSBK history and 699 races on the podium, while Rea’s second place set a new record for podiums at one track with 25. Razgatlioglu claimed his 89^th podium in WorldSBK with third place.

RACE 2 FROM ROW TWO: fierce fights for good grid positions

Lowes finished in fourth place after losing time to Razgatlioglu, Rea and Bautista but he also had a margin of more than two seconds over Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in fifth place after he had a fight with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team). Locatelli got through on Lap 6 while Bassani and Aegerter were fighting and separated by just 0.273s at the end of the line.

THIRD ROW START: looking to take advantage of their starting position

Aegerter took seventh and he will lead the third row in Race 2 as he withstood a charging Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in eighth place. Aegerter held on by just 0.071s to take seventh spot in the eight-lap Superpole Race to secure a third-row start for Race 2. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) will start from ninth in Race 2 after taking the same position in the Superpole Race as he looks to emulate his podium from Mandalika.

HOUSEKEEPING: to note from the Superpole Race

The race was shortened to eight laps following a technical issue for Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) with possible fluid on the track, with the start delayed for this to be checked. Baz did not take part in the shortened Superpole Race following the issue.

The top nine following the WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race, full results here:

1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.916s

3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +1.757s

4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +3.126

5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +6.067s

6. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +6.781s

7. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +7.054s

8. Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +7.125s

9. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) +8.568s

Fastest Lap: Alvaro Bautista, Ducati – 1’33.780s

Watch WorldSBK Race 2 from the TT Circuit Assen from 14:00 Local Time (GMT+1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!