WSBK 2016: Double Dutch Round 4 ASSEN

moto vudu said:

Spies wasted no time getting acclimated to WSBK and when he got there he had far less experience than Hayden currently does. Of course, the R1 (even in its first year) was a lot more competitive than the ancient CBR Hayden is racing on.

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Jumkie said:

Rea 2016 champ. Game over.

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#22 said:

Agreed. Race 2 was fantastic initially, with the weather changing the running roder a bit. I was rooting for Nicky but Brookes came from nowhere. Of course Rea was just biding his time and rode a great strategic race. The only thing I don't like about Rea at the moment is his dominance, he is making others look slow, not that he didn't fully deserve the win yesterday.

Sykes did well too I thought, and VDM got the almost obligatory Ten Kate bike on the podium at Assen.

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After reaching the cusp of the podium in the opening three rounds of the season Nicky Hayden happily walks away from Assen with a maiden World Superbike rostrum and a healthy helping of championship points.

The 2006 MotoGP champion claimed his first podium result in over five years - 2011 Spanish MotoGP when he finished third – and it marks his maiden WSBK rostrum since making the switching between series over the winter.

Hayden had been battling in the hotly-contested front pack throughout race one at Assen but after having a nervy moment at turn five and seeing his team-mate Michael van der Mark tumble out of contention on the penultimate lap the American says he played safe to secure third place.

“Towards the end [of race one], I started to feel more comfortable with the bike and conditions, so I thought I could find something extra in the final two laps,” Hayden said. “Just after Michael's crash I had a moment at turn five, so I thought it was better to ride home in third. It's my maiden WSBK podium and the first one in a long time, so I want to thank the team for the great work.”

Aiming to replicate the performance in Sunday's race Hayden endured trickier conditions in a race which began wet but dried up throughout.

Hayden was part of the trio of leading riders with Josh Brookes and Chaz Davies to stay out too long on the dry tyres which cost them valuable time once the pit stops had taken effect and he trailed to a distant sixth place.

“I can't say I'm happy with sixth as I felt I could have finished in a much higher position,” he said. “I got another great start, I went from tenth to fourth just on the first lap and everything felt right. This was the first race for me in the wet in Superbike and with these tyres, so that put a smile on my face.

“Then, when the sun came out, the track started to dry really quickly. I was feeling really good and I guess that made me stay out on track for a bit too long before I pitted. Even when I got back on track I could not get up to speed immediately, as for the first time I was riding a bike with a wet setup on slick tyres. At some stage I found my rhythm and went past Lowes, but then the gap to Davies was simply too big.”

Hayden regained fifth place in the World Superbike riders' championship from Jordi Torres and closed the gap to van der Mark to 23 points.
Read more at WSBK News - WSBK Assen, Netherlands: Hayden smiles after long-awaited rostrum return

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JPSLotus said:

I think what it is for me is all I see with Nicky is his post-2006 career where it's just disappointment and underachievement. I'd like to see a fire lit under his ... for one weekend in his life where he actually does a little more than ride to position. All I wanted to see him do today was not sit at the back and never make an effort to probe and see if he could make an overtake happen.

I know where you are coming from regarding the sensibility of crashing, but I'd also say that nothing great is achieved without risk. At the end of it, yeah Kawasaki/Rea will bag this title, but I'd like to see a little more out of Nicky especially after the last few years of him in GP. I can't buy the new series thing anymore, there's a point where you have to acclimate quickly because you are a professional racer. When I start hearing the acclimation stuff and all of that, I start immediately thinking underachieving. Why? I said the same stuff about a number of racers I thought more highly of talent-wise than they actually were. Loved the guys, but in retrospect what I saw from them, was exactly what they were; capable of turning in good performances every so often, just enough to make you think they were going to turn a corner finally, only to plummet back to earth the very next week.

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