A true classic to rank among the best ever World Supersport races at Assen unfolded over 21-laps of the 4.555km circuit today and for Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) it was a close but ultimately victorious finish, winning from his team-mate Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) by only 0.014 seconds.
An eight rider fight for the win for most of the race came down to a last chicane battle of wits, with Rea leading on the exit, and onto the start/finish straight, but Pitt passed him on a wide line and took his second victory of the year. Championship leader Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard Honda CBR600RR) was third today and extended his championship lead to 20 points, over Pitt, 70 to 50.
Josh Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) qualified seventh and was in the fight for the win throughout, ending up sixth only 0.447 seconds down at the flag. Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR) was in line for a podium finish for much of the race but dropped back in the closing to finish ninth.
Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports Honda CBR600RR) finished on the tail of a loose leading group at the end of the intense race, a seemingly lowly 13th, but only five seconds behind the victorious Pitt.
After running straight on at one corner Gianluca Nannelli (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR600RR) crashed out of the race with five laps remaining.
In the championship chase, Brookes is now fourth, on 43 points, Rea affirmed himself sixth on 41 points with Jones in seventh, on 37. Harms is eighth on 28 and Nannelli an unlucky 13th, with 17 points.
In the Manufacturers' Championship, Honda leads by 24 points after four rounds.
Pitt said: "I was trying to keep myself up front as much as possible, like I did in Phillip Island. Jonathan was very strong and riding smoothly, but on some parts of the track I was faster. On other parts he was, so we kept overtaking each other and swapping positions. Jonathan and I had a couple of close overtakes, maybe too close at some points, but we both got through it and managed to get a great result for the team's home race. Now bring on Monza!"
Rea said: "First, I want to congratulate Andrew who rode a great race. The bike has been pretty good all weekend, it was a big challenge for me to come onto this new circuit and made a pretty good job of learning it. We were banging on the door in the top three all weekend. For me the race was a good example of Supersport racing. We also made a breakthrough with the front tyre this weekend; we chose a different one than we used at the previous rounds. For most of the race I felt I had it under control, until the last lap. I got on the brakes as late as I could, but Andrew was just coming up on the inside. We were both on the limit and had to let the bakes off. That's when I ran wide and got on the wrong line."
Brookes said: "Finally in the warm-up the bike felt much better. The changes we made in the morning were the right ones and they gave me a good feeling and more confidence for the race. Starting from seventh place on the grid, I was up to fourth in the first couple of laps. I could keep a good and fast pace, but made a few mistakes here and there. However, I could make up for them quiet easily and got back up again. It was actually harder for me to stay behind someone than to ride alone, as it felt much better and easier riding my own pace. The race was really tight today and considering how the weekend progressed, I'm not happy with sixth place. But at least we managed to get the bike working and I was able to have a competitive race."
Jones said: "That was a very hard race with a lot of close passing and tactics right from start to finish. There were always ten or more riders in with a chance of taking the win and right from the first lap I was fighting to hold position as well as pass the racers in front. I am disappointed with ninth place, especially after having the pace to stay at the front for 18 of the 21-laps. I will sit down with my Parkalgar Honda team and we will examine how we lost the race and make a plan so it will not happen again."
Harms said: "It's been a difficult weekend for us and not being up to speed in qualifying left me starting from 13th place on the grid. My plan was to focus on the start and the first couple of laps. Unfortunately I had a bad start and was only 15th on the first lap. I tried to make up for it by overtaking as many riders a possible, but it was not so easy. In the middle of the race, I finally caught up with the front group and was, at one stage, in seventh place. I kept on making mistakes because I was really pushing myself and the bike to the limit. With just a few laps to go I made a mistake and dropped to 13th and that's where I finished."
Nannelli said: "Because of a very bad start I pushed extremely hard from the beginning and I was able to reach the riders in front of me. After only a few laps, I felt pain in my right shoulder due to my fall in Valencia and I was unable to ride in a precise way. I tried to move forward, fighting with Foret but I ran on in a corner and crashed."
The next race is at Monza, on May 11.
