For the last time this weekend, the FIM Supersport World Championship raced at the TT Circuit Assen, in a race that will be remembered for a long time. Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) clinched victory in his home race and in the team’s home race. The #28 became the first Dutch winner in Assen in 10 years and the fourth winner of the same nationality in WorldSSP.
HOME HERO: van Straalen beats Huertas
After finishing fourth in Race 1, van Straalen put on an incredible display to win after switching to rain tires on the second lap. The #28 managed to move up to second in the final stages of the race to take the lead with four laps to go. Van Straalen finished ahead of Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), who secured his fourth podium in the WorldSSP class, finding the pace to snatch second place from Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team), who was the first rider to pit on the first lap and ends Sunday with his 11th podium.
STRATEGY: pit stops were crucial in Race 2
The rain fell throughout the warm-up lap, with the entire grid on slick tires. Leading into turn 1 was Huertas, who was caught out when the rain started to fall, in a tense start to the race. Eight riders made a pit stop at the end of the first lap, with Tuuli being the first to enter the pit lane. The race leader, Huertas, then decided to pit on the second lap and was followed by eight more riders, each needing to spend at least 76 seconds in the pit lane. Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) led the race in the early stages after opting to stay on slick tires. John McPhee (WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph) was another rider who stayed on slick tires, eventually retiring from the race. There was a difference of over 20 seconds per lap between the riders on slick tires and those on rain tires, with 14 laps remaining. Edwards was overtaken by Kaito Toba (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda), who took the lead before Lorenzo Baldassarri (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) assumed the lead. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) made a pit stop on the fifth lap, leaving the #62 in 25th place – out of the points. Things went from bad to worse for Manzi, who received a penalty of 11.82s for not completing the required 76 seconds in the pit lane. With 10 laps to go, the battle for second place was intense, with Tuuli managing to pass Huertas and Toba. Van Straalen, however, was making a charge and reached second place before taking the lead. Strong pace: Tuuli unable to respond to HuertasOn the last lap of the race, all eyes were on the Dutchman Van Straalen and the drivers in second and third place, with Huertas managing to overtake Tuuli. The #66 could not respond to Huertas’ pace, with the Spaniard increasing the gap to over half a second at the finish line. With a strong pace on the final lap, Van Straalen managed to secure his first victory and become a home hero.
Source: WorldSBK.com
