VOL. 56 ISSUE 15 APRIL 16, 2019 P35
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati)
was only seventh and fifth in The
Netherlands.
Rea admitted that as things stand,
and even after the Ducatis lost 250
rpm from the top of their rev range
after the first tranche of balancing
rules, there is no upcoming track
that he thinks he can do anything
about Bautista—and also his bike,
of course. "Right now, no," he said
at the end of the first press confer-
ence of the year in which he had not
finished second in a race. "Right
now, we are too far in performance,
from a machine point of view. Also,
Alvaro is riding very good, so when
you have both combinations working
good, the result is how it is. It should
be this way, kind of."
Behind Bautista there were some
epic battles, as there were behind
Rea in 2018, when he went on an
11-race-winning run. Only his was at
the end of the season.
Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini
Kawasaki) was top Independent
Rider in race one, in eighth place,
from the hurting Toprak Razgatlioglu
(Turkish Puccetti Racing), riding with
a hole in his knee. These positions
were reversed, with Toprak ninth in
race two and Torres tenth.
In the points, Bautista has 236,
Rea 183, Lowes 126, and van der
Mark 115. Haslam has 93.
WorldSSP
Young Italian Firebrand Federico
Caricasulo (Bardahl Evan Bros Ya-
maha) scored his first race win of the
2019 season after a race-long fight
at the front and eventually deposing
his teammate Randy Krummenacher
from a potential 25 points.
Krummenacher already had the
championship lead, and has a big-
ger one now, and at round four, few
would be suggesting that he would
be giving way to his teammate.
But with Jules Cluzel (GMT94) the
nearest challenger until this round
only fourth at Assen, and Austrian
Thomas Gradinger (Kallio Racing
Yamaha) far enough back in the
points, leaving Assen with a champi-
onship 1-2 was an ideal finish for the
ever-impressive Italian team with the
Swiss and Italian riders.
"I'm really happy to win, especial-
ly here in Assen, which is not one
of my favorite tracks," said Carica-
sulo. "I worked hard all weekend
with the team to make sure I had
the best bike possible today and,
in the race, I tried to ride more with
my head than my heart."
It was a great WorldSSP race
again, the top three covered by
just 0.223 seconds at the end of
18-frantic laps. All were covered in
glory after a tough fight.
Gradinger took his first pole at
Aragon, and his first podium here
in the Netherlands, which kept the
suddenly less-than-quite-fastest
Cluzel fourth, by the giant degree of
0.580 seconds.
Behind the Yamaha pony club
outing to the podium, the 2017
World Champion Lucas Mahias
(Kawasaki Puccetti) capitalized on
the midrace crash and exit for Raf-
faele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto
Corse) to finish fifth.
In the points, Krummenacher has
a near perfect 90, Caricasulo 73,
Cluzel 69 and Gradinger 40.
Gordon Ritchie
WORLDSBK
RACE ONE
1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
3. Michael van der Mark (Yam)
4. Alex Lowes (Yam)
5. Leon Haslam (Kaw)
RACE TWO:
1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
2. Michael van der Mark (Yam)
3. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
4. Alex Lowes (Yam)
5. Chaz Davies (Duc)
WORLD SSP
1. Federico Caricasulo (Yam)
2. Randy Krummenacher (Yam)
3. Thoas Gradinger (Yam)
4. Jules Cluzel (Yam)
5. Lucas Mahias (Kaw)
Caricasulo (64)
just managed
to edge out
teammate Randy
Krummenacher for
the WorldSSP win.
