Haslam keeps clear of Dixon in Assen opener
Full BSB race one results from Assen
Leon Haslam has extended his Bennetts British Superbike championship lead to 36 points after sprinting clear from title rival Jake Dixon in second place in the Assen opener.
Full BSB race one results from Assen
Leon Haslam has extended his Bennetts British Superbike championship lead to 36 points after sprinting clear from title rival Jake Dixon in second place in the Assen opener.
The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider spent the majority of the race stalking leader Tarran Mackenzie, using the softer rear Pirelli tyre with his McAMS Yamaha, as the championship leader conserved his harder option rear tyre.
After scrapping with Mackenzie at the start of lap 16, Haslam got the move done at the famous final chicane by diving up the inside of the BSB rookie to take the lead at the start of the penultimate lap.
Dixon, also using the harder rear tyre, produced a near-identical move on Mackenzie at the final chicane one lap later to begin his final lap hunt of Haslam. But with half a second to make up over the final lap Haslam remained out of reach for the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki rider who had to settle for second place.
The result sees Haslam open up his BSB championship lead by five points and maintain his near-perfect record at Assen in the national series having taken four wins out of five races.
With Mackenzie having to settle for third place, he did keep clear of a late attack from Peter Hickman with the Smiths Racing BMW rider having been in touch with the podium trio throughout the race before a mistake on the penultimate lap which dropped him into fourth place.
Fellow BBS Showdown fighter Glenn Irwin finished in fifth place for Be Wiser Ducati keeping clear of Tommy Bridewell on the Moto Rapido Ducati and Honda’s Jason O’Halloran.
Despite a late race fade, Christian Iddon battled strongly through the pain from an injury collarbone to take eighth place for Tyco BMW comfortably in front of 2015 BSB champion Josh Brookes who continued to struggle for McAMS Yamaha in ninth.
James Ellison returned to the top ten for Anvil Hire Yamaha ahead of Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) who lead home a train of riders.
Richard Cooper narrowly missed out at the finish line in 12th place for Buildbase Suzuki as Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki), Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) and Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) rounded out the points places.
BSB Showdown contender Bradley Ray endured a nightmare opening Assen race down in 17th place behind the second Be Wiser Ducati rider Andrew Irwin.
