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/1534384
podium contender to fourth, and was then caught by tons of rid- ers, finally finishing a seemingly impossible eighth. Back over in the red corner, Bulega was almost speechless after the race in his brief press conference. Ducati was com - pletely open-mouthed after two consecutive bike fails for their championship leader. In the race two game of op- posites, Locatelli and Yamaha took a very unexpected vic- tory ahead of Bautista. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was third. Thanks to pre-race setup chang- es, Yamaha's latest disaster of an early season was suddenly 3D-printing winner's trophies and more podiums. Just to put the tinfoil hat on all things unforeseen, the deep Sat - urday race woes of the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team duo, Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes, turned into fifth and sixth places, respectively, in race two. These were their best finishes of the year on the new KB998 Rimini WorldSBK bike. In the points, Razgatlioglu clawed himself closer to the lead, with Bulega now on 136 and Razgatlioglu on 115. WorldSSP Pole position for Can Oncu (Yamaha bLU cRU Evan Bros Rac - ing) threatened to be translated into another front-running ride, but in a 12-lap opening race (after a big crash and restart shortened it from its planned 18 laps), he would finish third. He was reeled in and passed by home race win - ner Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and second- placed Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha). The near-sprint-race win for Bendsneyder came after a race- one win for another Dutch rider, Jeffrey Buis, in the WorldSSP300 class, adding to the local fans' joy under another sunny sky. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Ducati) was fourth and top Triumph rider, Tom Booth-Amos, was fifth. Leonardo Taccini, once of Ten Kate Yamaha, took his Ecosanta - gata Ducati to sixth. Still recovering from in- jury, Philipp Ottl (Feel Racing WorldSSP team) was in the thick of a battle for the top 10 places, ending up seventh. Another Assen win for MV and Bendsneyder seemed likely in race two but as it transpired, it was to be a Yamaha-to-Yamaha scrap, with another one of "those" Assen moments into the final chicane. Motorcycle racing history is laden with Geert Timmer chi - cane dramas, and this time around it was the inside pass from Oncu on Manzi that saw Manzi run wide, well onto the track-limits paint, yet still cross the line first. But he almost im - mediately dropped one position WIND IN THE P68 Can Oncu goes toe to toe with teammate Stefano Manzi in WorldSSP race two. The latter crossed the line first but was demoted to second for exceeding track limits, and the win went to Oncu.