Weather Shakes up the Assen Results
World Superbike 2014
www.motorcycle-usa.com By Bart Madson
Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli and Honda’s Jonathan Rea split wins at Assen during the third round of the 2014 World Superbike series. Red flags and unstable weather conditions affected the racing and shook up the results, with Rea the only double podium performer at the Dutch circuit.
Race 1
In the first race Guintoli led flag-to-flag, snaring the holeshot ahead of Rea – the Irishman having vaulted from a Row 2 start to punch ahead of the Kawasaki’s in the opening corner. It didn’t take long, however, for reigning champion Tom Sykes to move ahead of Rea and start tracking down Guintoli, with the Superpole winner, Loris Baz, running fourth.
Guintoli held the lead up front while the back three battled for position. Sykes ran clear in second for much of the first half, while Rea and Baz scrapped for the final rostrum position.
Sykes continued to close, but a mistake caused the Kawasaki ace to run wide. Rejoining the race in fourth, Sykes had to get around his teammate and Rea. Once he did, the SBK champ made steady progress tracking down Guintoli.
The race appeared poised for a late lap challenge between the title contenders, but the red flag came out – ending the race with the Lap 16. The red flag came out from a mechanical failure on Geoff May’s EBR1190.
Guintoli took the Race 1 checkers, followed by Sykes. Rea claimed the final podium spot, beating Baz. Toni Elias bested fellow Aprilia rider Marco Melandri to round out the top five.
2014 World Superbike Assen Race 1 Result:
1. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia)
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
3. Jonathan Rea (Honda)
4. Loris Baz (Kawasaki)
5. Toni Elias (Aprilia)
6. Marco Melandri (Aprilia)
7. Chaz Davies (Ducati)
8. Leon Haslam (Honda)
9. Alex Lowes (Suzuki)
10. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati)
11. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki)
12. David Salom (Kawasaki)
13. Leon Camier (BMW)
14. Claudio Corti (MV Agusta)
15. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki)
16. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki)
17. Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki)
18. Kervin Bos (Honda)
19. Geoff May (EBR)
20. Imre Toth (BMW)
DNF Michele Fabrizio (Kawasaki)
DNF Eugene Laverty (Suzuki)
DNF Aaron Yates (EBR)
DNF Peter Sebestyen (BMW)
DNF Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 
Race 2
The second Assen SBK race started under threatening conditions, with a drying track. After the warm-up lap, a delayed start was declared as some light rain was detected on part of the track. Riders pitted and swapped slicks for rain tires, and then went out for a shortened 15-lap race.
On the start, one again Guintoli charged up to the front, where he led with a lot of water on the track. The conditions were too extreme, and after three laps the leader, Guintoli, put his hand up indication the racing should stop and the red flag was waived.
After a long delay, the race was restarted once again, shortened this time to 10 laps. Rea jumped out to take the win in the second race, the 12th SBK victory of his career. The Honda was joined on the podium by Suzuki's Alex Lowes and Ducati's Davide Giugliano.
Sykes finished off the podium in fourth, followed by Rea's teammate Leon Haslam. Melandri placed sixth, followed by Baz and Chaz Davies. Guintoli, who was leading when the red flag came out, crashed in the restarted segment, but managed to remount and salvage points with a ninth-place finish.
Sykes leaves Assen having extended his points lead from four to 12. Guintoli vaults ahead of Baz for the runner-up spot in the championship, with his countryman now three points behind. Rea gained the more ground in the championship, blasting by Melandri for fourth in the title and 19 behind Sykes.
2014 World Superbike Assen Race 2:
1. Jonathan Rea (Honda)
2. Alex Lowes (Suzuki)
3. Davide Giugliano (Ducati)
4. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
5. Leon Haslam (Honda)
6. Marco Melandri (Aprilia)
7. Loris Baz (Kawasaki)
8. Chaz Davies (Ducati)
9. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia)
10. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati)
11. Kervin Bos (Honda)
12. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki)
13. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki)
14. Michele Fabrizio (Kawasaki)
15. David Salom (Kawasaki)
16. Imre Toth (BMW)
DNF Eugene Laverty (Suzuki)
DNF Claudio Corti (MV Agusta)
DNF Leon Camier (BMW)
DNF Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki)
DNF Toni Elias (Aprilia)
DNF Fabien Foret (Kawasaki)
DNF Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki)
2014 World Superbike Championship Points:
1. Tom Sykes, 108
2. Sylvain Guintoli, 96
3. Loris Baz, 93
4. Jonathan Rea, 89
5. Marco Melandri, 69
6. Davide Giugliano, 59
7. Chaz Davies, 47
8. Eugene Laverty, 46
9. Leon Haslam, 44
10. Alex Lowes, 36
