2025 Dutch WorldSBK: Race 1 As It Happened

It's lights out in Assen and we are underway for Race 1. Not a great start for Lowes off pole, and it's a holeshot for Bulega ahead of Locatelli. Lowes in third ahead of Bautiata, Petrucci and Bassani.

The riders are off on their warm-up lap ahead of Race 1.

So, the updated grid for Race 1 with those penalties is:

Row 1: Sam Lowes, Bulega, Bautista

Row 2: Locatelli, Petrucci, Razgatlioglu

Row 3: Gardner, Bassani, Alex Lowes.

Confirmation of that penalty here.

Sam Lowes starts from pole for this Race 1. He will be alongside Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista on the front row, as Toprak Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani were both penalised with three-place grid penalties after Superpole for impeding Bulega during the qualifying session this morning.

Welcome back to live coverage of today's action from the Dutch WorldSBK. Race 1 is coming up in just under 15 minutes at 14:00 local time.

Dutch WorldSBK Results - Superpole

Andrea Iannone has crashed and the Go Eleven Ducati has been destroyed. Unclear exactly what's happened, but a big job on for the Italian squad to get the bike ready for Race 1 later on. 

Was P10 in Superpole there for Iannone, by the way, and the Italian was able to walk away from the incident.

Bautista improves on his final lap but stays fifth, and it looks like that's it. Pole position for Sam Lowes, his first in WorldSBK, beating Bulega and Razgatlioglu.

Bassani, Bautista, and Locatelli on row two.

Sam Lowes goes to pole position with his latest lap! Losing his last lap could really cost Bulega here, as Razgatlioglu goes third, too.

Bulega furious with Razgatlioglu and Bassani - they're both on out-laps and Bulega caught them in the middle of the first flying lap of his second run. Possibly a risk of penalties for Razgatlioglu and Bassani there.

Bulega the first rider back out on track for his second run.

Petrucci has had his lap deleted. He's back in 11th now, which has provisionally put Bautista on the front row in third place, and moved Alex Lowes onto the second row in sixth.

Bautista up to fourth with the second lap of his first run. That bumps Razgatlioglu to fifth.

Most riders now heading back to the pits and it's still Bulega on provisional pole from Locatelli and Petrucci.

A 1:32.760 is some lap from Bulega. A new outright lap record and 0.383s clear of Locatelli.

First flying laps are in now. Razgatlioglu was briefly fastest, then Petrucci, now it's Bulega who's gone fastest ahead of Locatelli.

Worth noting before the first laps come in that this weekend is the first of the season where we have the SCQ tyre available.

Pit lane is open in Assen and the Superpole session is underway.

Conditions are pretty much perfect ahead of this Superpole session, if fairly fresh.  There is some concern about the weather forecast for later in the weekend, but for now at least it's sunny in Assen.

Just under 10 minutes away from Superpole now and of all the riders taking part perhaps it's Alvaro Bautista who this session will mean the most to.

In Portimao, he was plagued by the same lack of one-lap speed he suffered with in 2024, but the Spaniard has been visibly enjoying himself on-track so far this weekend and clearly feels comfortable with the Panigale V4 R. A strong performance this morning would set his weekend up well to go and challenge the likes of Bulega and Razgatlioglu in the races.

Toprak Razgatlioglu seemed to be writing off his chances of winning Superpole last night, saying he was only focused on the race.

Coming in 29 points behind Bulega, Razgatlioglu needs to keep the momentum from his Portimao treble going in order to increase the pressure on the factory Ducati rider, but it's Bulega who has had the edge so far this weekend.

Although three riders have topped this weekend's three free practice sessions - Alvaro Bautista in FP1, Nicolo Bulega in FP2, and Andrea Locatelli this morning in FP3 - it's probably Nicolo Bulega who is favourite to take pole position here at Assen.

The Italian was especially quick yesterday afternoon, and although his race pace stood out from his rivals more than his one-lap speed, his time attacks weren't lacking either.

Welcome to live coverage of today's WorldSBK Superpole session at Assen, which is set to get underway in just under 15 minutes at 11:00 local time.