Source: World Superbike Championship

Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli and Honda’s Jonathan Rea have shared World Superbike race wins on a dramatic day in Assen in the Netherlands.

After qualifying second Guintoli made a lightning start to the first race, taking and building upon an early lead.

Pata Honda’s Rea and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes battled for second place in the initial stages, with Sykes recovering from a mistake to mount an attack on Guintoli.

Points leader Sykes reduced the gap to the French rider from four seconds to close to one, but was left to lament a red flag brought out when Geoff May’s EBR 1190X suffered a technical drama.

The race was declared at lap 16, confirming Guintoli as winner, Sykes second and Rea a solid third.

Polesitter Loris Baz stayed in check with the lead pack for fourth, while there was a considerable gap back to fifth-placed rider Toni Elias, who was 23.728 seconds off the lead.

The second factory Aprilia of Marco Melandri finished sixth, with Ducati’s Chaz Davies moving forward for seventh, Honda’s Leon Haslam in eighth, Suzuki’s Alex Lowes in ninth and Ducati’s Niccolo Canepa, also the first EVO class rider, rounding out the top 10.

Rain would play havoc with the second race, initially forcing a delay, and a further red flag just four laps in was shown due to unmanageable conditions as the weather worsened.

The race would restart an hour later, with a 10-lap sprint scheduled. While Sykes took the early advantage it would be Rea who would quickly establish himself as the leader, a position he maintained through to the wave of the chequered flag.

Suzuki’s Lowes proved the surprise packet of the race, revelling in the tricky conditions to climb through to a stellar second, his first-ever podium in WSBK.

Davide Giugliano scored the Ducati Panigale 1199’s second WSBK podium since its introduction, surviving a late challenge from Marco Melandri who made a mistake in the closing stages and ran off track.

Sykes lacked his customary speed on the damp, drying circuit, settling for fourth but retaining his points lead after coming home over 13 seconds behind Rea.

The second factory Honda of Leon Haslam rounded out the top five, completing a top showing for Pata Honda.

Melandri would recover for sixth, polesitter Loris Baz seventh and Chaz Davies eighth.

The recovery of the afternoon belonged to race one winner Guintoli, who was able to remount his Aprilia after a dramatic high-side to bank solid points in ninth, just ahead of the ever-consistent Canepa.

Earlier in the piece it was Michael van der Mark celebrating his first-ever World Supersport race victory and confirming a double-win for the locally-operated Pata Honda squad.

van der Mark won by a comfortable margin, crossing the line 9.494 seconds ahead of pole-sitter, Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpre’ Florian Marino.

Jules Cluzel completed another solid showing for MV Agusta, claiming third place on the dais, with Kev Coghlan dropping out of the points lead after finishing fourth. Lorenzo Zanetti made it one-five finishes for Pata Honda, results mirrored by Rea and Haslam in the premier class.

Kenan Sofuoglu was the high-profile retirement for the race, dropping back with a technical problem before eventually retiring.

Dutch rider Kevin Valk claimed a popular win on his MTM Kawasaki in the Superstock 1000 race, close to 10 seconds clear of Ondrej Jezek. Kawasaki rider Matthieu Lussiana completed the podium.

2014 World Superbike Championship
Round three – Assen, Netherlands

Race one results:
1. Sylvain GUINTOLI
2. Tom SYKES +1.259
3. Jonathan REA +4.116
4. Loris BAZ +4.459
5. Toni ELIAS +23.728
6. Marco MELANDRI +25.478
7. Chaz DAVIES +26.533
8. Leon HASLAM +26.696
9. Alex LOWES +27.971
10. Niccolo CANEPA +33.479

Race two results:
1. Jonathan REA
2. Alex LOWES +2.222
3. Davide GIUGLIANO +4.955
4. Tom SYKES +13.089
5. Leon HASLAM +13.639
6. Marco MELANDRI +18.041
7. Loris BAZ +21.837
8. Chaz DAVIES +26.919
9. Sylvain GUINTOLI +32.766
10. Niccolo CANEPA +37.965

Superbike championship standings (after round three of 15):
1. Tom SYKES 108
2. Sylvain GUINTOLI 96
3. Loris BAZ 93
4. Jonathan REA 89
5. Marco MELANDRI 69
6. Davide GIUGLIANO 59
7. Chaz DAVIES 47
8. Eugene LAVERTY 46
9. Leon HASLAM 44
10. Alex LOWES 36

Supersport race results:
1. Michael Van Der MARK
2. Florian MARINO +9.494
3. Jules CLUZEL +14.988
4. Kevin COGHLAN +17.131
5. Lorenzo ZANETTI +17.430
6. Roberto ROLFO +20.266
7. Roberto TAMBURINI +20.662
8. Raffaele DE ROSA +21.370
9. PJ JACOBSEN +23.557
10. Kevin WAHR +25.908

Supersport championship standings (after round three of 15):
1. Florian MARINO 49
2. Michael Van Der MARK 45
3. Kevin COGHLAN 44
4. Jules CLUZEL 41
5. Raffaele DE ROSA 34
6. Roberto TAMBURINI 29
7. Kenan SOFUOGLU 25
8. Lorenzo ZANETTI 24
9. Roberto ROLFO 19
10. Kevin WAHR 16

Click to view detailed results