World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea secures Assen treble to increase series lead

Jonathan Rea will aim to complete a weekend Assen treble later on Sunday

Jonathan Rea completed a race hat-trick at Assen to move 37 points clear in the World Superbikes Championship.

The Northern Ireland rider won the feature race to make it a perfect weekend as he bids for a seventh straight title.

Closest challenger Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed out on the opening lap while Scott Redding finished second with ,Andrea Locatelli third.

Rea won Saturday's opener and Sunday morning's Superpole race.

Razgatlioglu's race ended on the first turn after colliding with Garrett Gerloff, who received a ride through penalty before later crashing out.

Rea was forced to evasive action to avoid Razgatlioglu and dropped back before moving smoothly through the field to challenge leader Locatelli, who earned a first podium finish.

The Kawasaki rider moved to the front with 11 laps left before easing clear to win by 1.6 seconds to take a 107th victory in the series and fifth treble.

Redding came through to take second place while Chaz Davies, Alvaro Batusta and Michael van der Mark completed the top six.

Rea also won the Superpole race in dominant fashion at the Dutch circuit.

After regaining his series lead by winning race one on Saturday, Rea had to battle with Michael Ruben Rinaldi early on but soon pulled well clear to chalk up a 14th win at Assen.

Razgatlioglu crossed the line in second spot but was relegated to third. This was because he ran wide on the last corner which left Rinaldi second.

Locatelli crossed the line in third place but was relegated to fourth by the stewards after also been deemed to have run wide on the final corner which led to compatriot Rinaldi being promoted by two spots to runner-up.