Assen WSB: Guintoli takes first win in two part wet race

Effenbert Liberty Ducati rider Sylvain Guintoli has taken his first ever WSB win in a two part race one, with the restart run in torrential conditions.

Guintoli started from second on the grid for the restart, but was down in eighth position after the end of the first lap. Guintoli patiently worked his way through to the front and was rewarded when Ayrton Badovini crashed out of the lead, handing the lead to Guintoli with two laps remaining.

Factory Ducati rider Davide Giugliano finished second after a brave move on team-mate Carlos Checa in the final chicane.

Factory BMW rider Leon Haslam and Honda rider Jonathan Rea broke away at the restart, but Jonathan Rea crashed out of second place before the end of the first lap.

Haslam then dominated, riding three seconds a lap faster than anybody else, but crashed out on lap two at the same corner as the multi-bike crash from the original race.

Suzuki rider Leon Camier’s run of bad luck continued when he high-sided during the warm-up lap for the restart and was unable to make it to the grid. Team-mate John Hopkins didn’t have much more luck, the American crashing out on lap two of the restart.

Welshman Chaz Davie crashed out of 11th at the end of lap three.

Tom Sykes again led from pole position during the dry first half of the race, and looked to be comfortably leading when a water hose broke on lap 11, forcing him to retire from the race and robbing him of his first win of 2012.

Two laps later Marco Melandri, Jakub Smrz and several other riders crashed at the same corner, forcing the race to be red flagged due to rain.

1. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 18’38.395
2. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 18’41.028
3. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 18’41.426
4. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 18’42.322
5. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 18’42.769
6. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 18’49.754
7. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 19’04.807
8. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 19’15.957
9. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 19’28.291
10. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 19’47.242
11. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 19’50.155
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 19’52.383
13. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 20’05.414
14. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 19’33.081
15. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 19’45.779
RT. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 12’40.295
RT. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 6’43.300
RT. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 4’16.738
RT. John Hopkins (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’26.685
RT. Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 
RT. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR