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Assen WSBK: Rea beats Sykes by 0.025s to complete double

Jonathan Rea took his seventh victory of the 2017 World Superbike season in Assen, beating Kawasaki teammate Tom Sykes in a photo finish.

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing
Start: Xavi Fores, Barni Racing Team leads
Xavi Fores, Barni Racing Team
Chaz Davies, Ducati Team
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing
Chaz Davies, Ducati Team
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing

Victory on Saturday meant Rea would start Sunday's second Assen race from ninth place on the grid, one place behind Sykes, who inherited the runner-up spot when Chaz Davies' Ducati broke down.

Barni Ducati rider Xavi Fores started from pole, and led the opening lap, but was passed by the fast-starting Milwaukee Aprilia of Eugene Laverty on the second lap.

MotoGP convert Laverty's spell in the lead was to prove short-lived however, as Rea - who vaulted from ninth to fourth on the opening lap and then made short work of Sykes and Fores - seized the advantage on the third lap.

It took Sykes another two laps to clear Laverty, by which time Rea had built a lead of one second.

Rea seemed to be on course for a comfortable win until he ran wide on Lap 11, which brought Sykes within striking distance of his teammate.

The 2013 champion stayed in Rea's wheeltracks for the remainder, and was right on his tail starting the final lap - but despite getting a strong run out of the final chicane, Sykes lost out on a first win of the season by a mere 0.025s.

Davies completed the podium in third, but lost any chance of challenging the Kawasaki duo losing crucial time behind Fores in the early stages. He was four seconds adrift of Rea by the time he cleared Laverty for third, and ended up five seconds down at the flag.

Yamaha's Michael van der Mark finished fourth, scything his way through the order from outside the top 10, but was never close enough to Davies to challenge for a podium on home turf.

Alex Lowes made it two Yamahas in the top five with a late charge, ahead of Leon Camier's MV Agusta, Jordi Torres' Althea BMW and a fading Laverty.

The Hondas of Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl - who made a poor start from the front row of the grid - took the final two spots in the top 10.

Fores slipped to an eventual 13th, having earlier lost ground when he was delayed by factory Ducati man Marco Melandri crashing directly ahead of him.

The second Milwaukee Aprilia of Lorenzo Savadori was another non-finisher, as the Italian youngster crashed out of a top-10 finish at half-distance.

Race results:

Pos.#DriverBikeGap
1 1 united_kingdom Jonathan Rea  Kawasaki 21 laps
2 66 united_kingdom Tom Sykes  Kawasaki 0.025
3 7 united_kingdom Chaz Davies  Ducati 5.077
4 60 netherlands Michael van der Mark  Yamaha 8.739
5 22 united_kingdom Alex Lowes  Yamaha 16.244
6 2 united_kingdom Leon Camier  MV Agusta 17.899
7 81 spain Jordi Torres  BMW 19.026
8 50 ireland Eugene Laverty  Aprilia 19.184
9 69 united_states Nicky Hayden  Honda 21.475
10 6 germany Stefan Bradl  Honda 24.693
11 40 spain Roman Ramos  Kawasaki 26.751
12 36 argentina Leandro Mercado  Aprilia 26.924
13 12 spain Xavi Fores  Ducati 36.611
14 88 switzerland Randy Krummenacher  Kawasaki 40.597
15 15 san_marino Alex de Angelis  Kawasaki 49.140
16 86 italy Ayrton Badovini  Kawasaki 51.241
17 35 italy Raffaele De Rosa  BMW  
18 37 czech_republic Ondrej Jezek  Kawasaki  
Ret 32 italy Lorenzo Savadori  Aprilia  
Ret  84 italy Riccardo Russo  Yamaha  
Ret  33 italy Marco Melandri  Ducati  

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