the next two races.
Andrea Locatelli was fourth
on his factory Yamaha, top HRC
rider Xavi Vierge placed fifth, with
his teammate Iker Lecuona sixth.
The Sunday morning Superpole
race, over 10 laps as usual, was
held in nearly damp and change-
able track conditions that became
almost fully dry at the end.
Rea and Razgatlioglu offered
up a real scrapping show again,
with Rea losing out on the lead
and then losing ground after
Razgatlioglu passed him under
braking, pushing him onto the
damp fringes of T1.
That should have been it, but
a strange last-lap mistake in the
chicane from Razgatlioglu saw
him completely lose the front, only
to save it again and go wide. For
Rea, it was the ideal opportunity
and he barreled past. The two
riders came very close to con-
tact, once again, as Razgatlioglu
regained composure and grip.
Recent memories of race two
at Assen were inescapable, but
finally inapplicable this time.
A margin of victory of just 0.174
for Rea, with Toprak second and
Bautista eventually third, despite
some heavy early pressure from
Lecuona.
Locatelli was fifth, Alex Lowes
(KRT) sixth.
The final race of the weekend
in the biggest class of all was
fought out between the Big Three
again and the forceful Alex Lowes
(KRT), running confidently on a
bike that was turning better than
on day one.
He would not last the final
pace after the top trio broke
away, but neither would pre-race
potential favorite for three wins,
Razgatlioglu, by the time it came
to fight for the win itself.
Up front it was eventually a show-
down between Rea and Bautista.
Rea had to have two goes at
passing the red bike on the final lap.
When Bautista gave him
a chance in a slow left, Rea
planted his bike in the correct
place, and on the blocking line,
to prevent Bautista from cutting
back on him.
Rea then nearly lost it com-
pletely as he was so hard on the
final corner exit gas, but he rode
the slip and spin and took the win.
Bautista was too far behind to
close in enough across the line,
IN
THE
WIND
P44
American Garrett
Gerloff crashed during
practice and was ruled
out for the weekend.
