World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea second in Assen as Alvaro Bautista takes sixth win of season
- Published
Jonathan Rea secured his best finish of the season so far at Assen
Jonathan Rea finished second in race one at the World Superbike round at Assen as Alvaro Bautista took his sixth win of the season at the Dutch circuit.
Toprak Razgatlioglu was third but Bautista's victory extended his lead over the Turkish rider at the top of the series standings to 46 points.
Rea started from pole position and led in the early stages, before Bautista overtook him with 13 laps of 21 to go.
Bautista's advantage over Rea at the chequered flag was 3.1 seconds.
Rea got off to a flying start as he chased a remarkable 18th individual race success at Assen and the race followed a familiar pattern, with Razgatlioglu and Spaniard Bautista in hot pursuit.
Ducati-mounted Bautista worked his way to the front to claim another 25 points to boost his bid to retain the title he won last year.
Pata Yamaha claimed third and fourth positions, with Razgatlioglu taking the final podium spot and his team-mate Andrea Locatelli next, with Axel Bassani fifth.
Rea's runner-up finish equalled his best result of what had been a disappointing season up to this point and saw him move up from sixth to fourth in the overall championship positions.
"The bike's good. It's just the energy we have to put in," Rea told Eurosport after the race.
"I don't think we're going to find the perfect setting, at the moment we are extracting everything we can from the bike.
"It's 20 good points but we need to step up, we need to find something. With a few tweaks we can be better."
The sprint race and the second feature race at the third round of this year's championship will take place on Sunday.
World Superbike standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Ducati, 137 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Tur) Ducati, 91
3. Andrea Locatelli (Ita) Yamaha, 83
4. Jonathan Rea (NI), 64
5. Axel Bassani (Ita) Ducati, 62
6. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ita) Ducati, 48