Superbike World Championship - Essen

Race1 - Sykes pulls away and gets the win

Tom Sykes dominated race 1 to get the 6th race win of his career - the 1st of 2013 - at Assen's TT Circuit today. The Kawasaki Racing Team rider rode a lonely race at the front thanks to an incredible pace, that allowed him to pull away from the chasing pack already in the opening laps.

The 27 year old from Huddersfield has given Kawasaki the first victory after 7 long years: last time out was Chris Walker, in 2006, to win Race 1 on the iconic Dutch circuit.

Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) finished with a solid 2nd place after a successful overtaking manoeuvre on Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) at Turn 13. Second works Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty was part of the 3-way battle for 2nd place but had some hard time in the last part of the race.

Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) was 5th at the chequered flag ahead of Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia), who was very competitive in the early laps but couldn't keep the pace of the leaders as the race progressed.

It's been an unlucky race for BMW, with Chaz Davies who had to line up on the last row of the grid after the warm-up crash that forced his crew to a quick rebuild of his BMW S 1000 RR. The Welshman made his way up to a 7th place finish after a good start. An unfortunate Marco Melandri suffered a technical problem on his bike during the warm-up lap and was forced to pull in before the start of the race.

Race2 - Laverty denies Sykes a double win

The final race for Round 3 of eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Assen saw a close battle between race 1 winner Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team), who pulled away at the front in the early laps. Sykes stayed on the lead until lap 19, when Laverty decided to take the plunge and made a move on the Brit at Turn 6.

Sykes managed to stay with the Irishman until the end and tried his final shot at the win at Turn 16, with the two riders crossing the line side by side. A 0.089 seconds margin allowed Eugene Laverty to score his 5th career win, the 2nd one in 2013 after Phillip Island Race 2.

Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) successfully defended his 3rd place over Jonathan Rea, who ended on a positive note a difficult round for the Pata Honda World Superbike Team. A below-par race for Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), 5th and 6th respectively at the chequered flag.

Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) rode bravely from last place on the grid to a 7th place finish, while his team mate Jules Cluzel was forced to pull in during lap 16 due to a technical problem. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) had a perfect start of the race but struggled to keep the pace, eventually finishing 8th ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) and Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare).

An unfortunate Davide Giugliano crashed out of Turn 2 during lap 6, while he was in 3rd place. The Italian rider was OK straight after the crash unlike his Aprilia RSV4 that went on fire.

After the disappointment of the Aragon round, Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) and reigning Champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki) were back at the front for a two-way fight for race win at TT Circuit of Assen. The two riders shared the lead over the course of the 21 laps, but it wasn’t until the last lap that the final battle took place: Sofuoglu overpowered Lowes on the straight that leads to Turn 6, but couldn't do much when Lowes got along the inside of him - entering the last chicane - to cross the line in 1st place.

Championship leader Fabien Foret (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki) got an important 3rd place finish despite the 7.2 seconds gap from the lead at the chequered flag. The Frenchman looked strong halfway through the race, closing the gap with the front runners before eventually falling back. Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport) got a terrible start of the race from the 11th grid slot, but was able to make his way through the field to a final 4th.

Florian Marino (Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki), substitute for injured David Salom, rode a great race finish 5th ahead of Roberto Rolfo (ParkinGO MV Agusta Corse), who got his best finish so far in 2013, and Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda), early protagonist of the race before losing a lot of ground.

La Marra makes his way to race win

A final lap thrilling battle characterised today's FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race at Assen. Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Team Ducati) got a close victory on the finish line by just 0.023 seconds over defending Champion Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad GoldBet).

The two riders had an incredible last lap, that started with La Marra closing the small gap to the front and waiting for the right time to overtake: the Italian rider made a successful move at Turn 13 but Barrier was ready to counter-attack entering the last chicane. Because of his last attempt for the win, the Frenchman was forced to take a different line on the curb and couldn't get up to speed on the exit, so the two rode side by side to the chequered flag, followed by 3rd place Niccolò Canepa (Barni Racing Ducati).

That's the 2nd career win for La Marra, 2012 STK1000 runner-up, who is now second in the standings behind Championship leader Barrier and tied up in points with team mate Canepa. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) got the better in the end of Jeremy Guarnoni to eventually finish 4th ahead of the MRS Kawasaki rider.

Gauthier Duwelz (MTM Racing Team Yamaha) keeps his winning streak alive after a close battle with his team mate Adrian Nestorovic to get on the top step of the podium in today's Superstock 600 European Championship Race at Assen. The young Belgian got the inside of Nestorovic to make a successful move entering the 'Geert Timmer', on the final lap, and rode the last meters ahead of him to cross the line in first place.

The two riders battled out during the 8-lap race, that was shortened straight after the first start because of crashes involving Dutch wild-card Rob Hartog (NIWA Racing Team Suzuki), Federico D'Annunzio (Pata by Martini Team) and Niki Tuuli (Tuuli Racing Yamaha), who broke his left medial malleolus in the process.

The last part of the race saw 5-way battle for the podium, but despite how close the racing was at the front the fight for the win was mostly about Duwelz and Nestorovic, with Swiss Bastien Chesaux (EAB Ten Kate Junior Honda) crossing the finish line in 3rd place side by side with Dutch wild-card Wayne Tessels (Wanyes Racingteam Suzuki).

Despite a late charge at the front - and the Fastest Lap of the race - Christian Gamarino (Team Goeleven Kawasaki) was 6th ahead of Dutch rider Tony Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki).

Wildcard Bendsneijder wins Euro Junior Cup Race