WSB: Rea holds off van der Mark for 12th Assen win

Jonathan Rea scorched to another race win after holding off a hard charging Michael van der Mark in Assen today.

After a strong start to the race from the front row, Rea came under early pressure from polesitter Alex Lowes before home hero van der Mark made his way through the pack.

Looking for his debut WSB win, van der Mark was pushing Rea hard but the world champion would ultimately come out on top to cross the line 0.9 seconds ahead.

Van der Mark was left to take an impressive second place in front of his home crowd despite Chaz Davies moving past the Dutchman to join the victory fight mid-way through the race.

Tom Sykes enjoyed a late race resurgence to take a strong fourth place ahead of the Barni Ducati of Xavi Fores.

Marco Melandri suffered a tough opening race to cross the line sixth on the second Aruba Ducati, ahead of a jubilant Loris Baz on the Althea BMW.

Leandro Mercado, Jordi Torres and Toprak Razgatlioglu rounded out the top ten.

Having taken his first ever World Superbike pole position just hours earlier, Alex Lowes finished a dismal 12^th place. The British ace had to switch to his second bike for the race after an engine issue and while he was able to run at the front in the early stages he’d soon drop back through the pack.

Rea’s victory sees him equal King Carl Fogarty’s tally of wins at the iconic TT circuit Assen.