World Superbike News

Jonathan Rea - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda 2010

Jonathan Rea completed a successful weekend for the Ten Kate Honda team after a pole position and winning both races at the Assen round of the World Superbike Championship.

Race 1

After starting from pole position, Rea sat behind Troy Corser on the BMW Motorad and Leon Camier on the Aprilia.  Jakub Smrz was in fourth followed by Max Biaggi and an impressive James Toseland who had started from the third row of the grid.

Toseland soon made a pass on the Aprilia of Biaggi, slotting his Yamaha Sterilgarda into fifth position by lap 2 and begun to hunt down the leading pack.

Leon Haslam had dropped back to ninth position by lap 4 after making a mistake going into the chicane and by lap 5 the Suzuki Alstare rider was out of a point scoring position after another error.  It was later discovered that Haslam had been suffering from a slow puncture throughout the race.

With Troy Corser leading the race, Rea made his move up to second position after passing British rider Camier and by lap 10 had fought his way past the race leader.  Toseland had moved up to third position ahead of Smrz and Camier.

Corser stuck to the tail of Rea while be challenged by both Toseland and Camier for his position but before long both had managed their task seeing Corser out of a podium spot once again.

With only three laps of the 22 lap race to go, Toseland made a move to pass Rea at the chicane which he did but only briefly after making a mistake by running wide and allowing Rea to re-pass.

Camier also made an unsuccessful move on Toseland, passing him on the inside of lap 10 but he too ran wide allowing Toseland back through.

As Rea crossed the line to take the chequered flag, Toseland claimed the second position on the podium with an impressive Camier in third.  Carlos Checa took fourth position ahead of Corser in fifth, Biaggi in sixth, Smrz in seventh, Cal Crutchlow in eighth, Shane Byrne in ninth and points leader Haslam in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 35mins 38.483secs
2. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +1.106s
3. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +1.249s
4. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198 +1.548s
5. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +2.738s
6. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +2.813s
7. Jakub Smrz CZE PATA B&G Racing Ducati 1198 +6.296s
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +12.022s
9. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1198 +12.146
10. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 +19.753s
11. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +22.204s
12. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +22.282s
13. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198 +22.780s
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +23.364s
15. Luca Scassa ITA Team Supersonic Ducati 1198 +37.097s

21. Broc Parkes AUS Echo-CRS Honda CBR1000RR 9 laps completed
22. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 8 laps completed

Race 2

Jonathan Rea went on to claim the victory in the second race of the day despite a spectacular battle between eight of the best WSB riders vying for the number one spot.

Despite being beaten off the line once again by Troy Corser, Rea had taken the lead position by the end of the first lap, however, Corser regained the front spot by lap 4.

Leon Haslam was in third position with Leon Camier in fourth, Jakub Smrz in fifth and James Toseland in sixth followed closely behind by Max Biaggi, Shane Byrne, Carlos Checa and Cal Crutchlow.

As Corser, Rea and Haslam all challenged for the lead, it was Corser who moved backwards until once again retaking the front spot on lap 10.

The three riders continued their battle at the front of the field, swapping the leading position between them.

While Haslam led the race for the first time, Rea began to put his foot down with only seven laps remaining.  Rea passed Haslam at the final bend as the Suzuki Alstare rider made yet another mistake.  The pair continued to swap positions before Rea finally managed to hold onto it seeing him take the top step of the podium for the second time followed by Haslam in second.

Corser had been passed by both Toseland and Camier before the Aprilia rider sneaked up to take third place at turn 12.  Camier managed to create a gap between himself and Toseland only to run wide at turn 14, running over the kerb and causing him to lose the rear of his machine and ending his possible second podium spot of the day.

Toseland took the third spot on the podium ahead of Max Biaggi in fourth, Troy Corser in fifth, Carlos Checa in sixth, Jakub Smrz in seventh, Shane Byrne in eighth, Max Neukirchner in ninth and Ruben Xaus in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 35mins 43.137secs
2. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.942s
3. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +3.928s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +4.067s
5. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +4.176s
6. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198 +4.525s
7. Jakub Smrz CZE PATA B&G Racing Ducati 1198 +4.682s
8. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1198 +7.698s
9. Max Neukirchner GER Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +9.903s
10. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +11.465s
11. Luca Scassa ITA Team Supersonic Ducati 1198 +15.489s
12. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198 +23.604s
13. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +29.085s
14. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +35.401s
15. Matteo Baiocco ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +44.330s

18. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 20 laps completed
19. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 11 laps completed
20. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 6 laps completed
21. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 0 laps completed
22. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Ducati 1198 0 laps completed