Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1497874
explained his fall to the media. Locatelli capitalized to take another podium finish, making a handful so far in 2023. No wonder he is third overall in the championship. Bassani could not quite get into fourth place as he was caught and passed in the final laps by Aegerter, who took his best WorldSBK race finish so far in fourth place. With Bassani fifth, Remy Gard - ner found the kind of pace on his Yamaha R1 for sixth. His best result so far, even if his weekend was, as he said, up and down. Unfortunately, it was to be a completely down weekend for Michael van der Mark (BMW), who left his home fans with a wave and a grin entering the trackside ambulance, despite breaking his right femur after a lap-two mega-highside at turn 16. After all his 2022 issues with a broken right leg and hip, a fe - mur fracture this early in the year was a cruel blow, especially as it happened right in front of one of the main spectator areas. Gerloff wasn't happy with his 12th-, 17th- and 12th-place finishes, saying, "I feel like we had good pace. Just starting so far back after we had such a difficult qualifying didn't make it any easier. It was really my own fault that I was so far back, and that's the most frustrating thing. Also, it was so close because it was so tight between everyone. It would have been nice to start a few rows more towards the front and I could have changed some things." Assen was not absolutely stellar entertainment, but the second race provided thrills and spills, most of which were thank - fully not as horrible as VDM's. In the points, Bautista has 174 to Razgatlioglu's 118. Locatelli has 104, Bassani 77 and Rea 73. WorldSSP In WorldSSP, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Ducati) was the domi - nant rider, winning both legs. In race one, Bulega only had Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti) as his shadow for a while, but as the Kawasaki rider's front tire went off after so much abuse trying to hold onto the clearly faster rider and bike combo, Bulega was racing only his shadow at the end. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta) ended up taking second and Glenn van Straalen (Yamaha) third. Race two, Bulega avoided all the carnage that went on behind him to take another win, this time ahead of Yamaha rider Stefano Manzi, who was fifth in race one. Schroetter, second in race one, was fourth in race two. In the championship points, after six races over three rounds, Bulega has 127 points, Manzi 90, Schrotter 79 and Federico Caricasulo 77. Gordon Ritchie WorldSBK Race One 1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 2. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) 3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam) 4. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) 5. Axel Bassani (Duc) WorldSBK Superpole Race 1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 2. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) 3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam) 4. Alex Lowes (Kaw) 5. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) WorldSBK Race Two 1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam) 3. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) 4. Dominique Aegerter (Yam) 5. Axel Bassani (Duc) WIND IN THE P46 Nicolo Bulega doing his best Bautista impression in WorldSSP by smashing the field at Assen.