Nicolo Bulega beat out Toprak Razgatlioglu further extending his championship lead. Razgatlioglu struggled to hold on to the top 3 and battled it out for third with Danilo Petrucci. Ultimately Petrucci held on to the final podium spot. The top 3 was an Italian lockout with Andrea Locatelli finishing P2.
Bulega comment on race 1 saying, “I am thrilled because since FP1, we have worked well, managing to improve a feeling that was already very good. For this reason, I thank my team. It was a good race, maybe not a close one, but one during which I had a lot of fun riding on this beautiful circuit. Expectations for tomorrow? The weather conditions could change the game, but the objective remains to fight for the win”.
Elsewhere in the FIeld
There were 6 retirements in the race. Next up for the field is the Superpole race which Alex Lowes will start from the front. Lowes will look to improve on a disappointing retirement from race 1 leaving him again with no points. He said, “We worked quite hard this weekend on race pace and we did a lot of laps in the practice sessions. I knew that tyre life was going to be difficult, so I wanted to get a good start to put myself in position to maybe use the experience we had gained in the last part of the race. I was pushing hard to fight with the guys in the top five or six positions.
I made a mistake on the small left onto the straight. I was so focused on the exit and trying to stay with the riders in front I think I was a little bit fast. It is a shame but I picked the bike up and did my best to the end of the race. Even with some damage on the footpeg, the pace was quite strong.”
Race 1 Results From TT Assen