'Maybe they can prepare a cake'; Rea on the verge of history in Assen

The six-time WorldSBK champion produced one of the best races of his career to overcome significant challenges from both Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista. 

Rea, who was already the most successful Superbike rider ever around Assen heading into the weekend, took his 16th win at the Dutch TT, which is three more than his next best record of 13 at Portimao. 

• 2022 World Superbike Assen, Netherlands - Race Results (1) 
• 2022 World Superbike Assen, Netherlands - Superpole Results 
• Zarco stuns Mir with a last-gasp effort to take pole in drama-filled qualifying

After clinching 100 WorldSBK wins in 2021 two more opportunities on Sunday could allow Rea to make that 100 with Kawasaki as he continues to break records. 

Should he do so, which at this stage looks likely, then what type of celebration does Rea anticipate. 

Before Friday’s action Rea said a ‘maybe they can prepare a cake’ in the event he wins two of the three races, and although he joked after winning race one that those things have little importance, reaching the above-mentioned milestone with Kawasaki is far from a joke, in fact, it’s a big target going forward: "Step by step. We don’t want to think too much about that. Of course, the target is to go out and get as many points as we can, try to win the race, but not for a piece of cake. 

"I don’t know if the team have got anything planned but 100 wins for a manufacturer is an incredible milestone and, of course, that’s the next big hurdle for us.

"If it’s not tomorrow, I’m sure it’s going to happen at some point this season. We can be very proud of our partnership together and look forward to many more race wins."

During race one, Rea, Razgatlioglu and Bautista all had moments where they appeared to be faster than the other. But after finding a way to impressively push and conserve the tyre at the same time, Rea started to open up a small lead during the final five laps. 

But after gaining a couple of tenths on laps 19 and 20, Bautista, who was visibly on the limit as he tried to close in for one final effort at the win, did just that as the pair started sector four. 

However, with Rea traditionally stronger than Bautista on the brakes, the Kawasaki rider used that to his advantage as he went extremely deep into the final chicane in order to avoid the Ducati rider sliding up the inside.

In epic fashion, Rea managed to pull his ZX10-RR down to the apex, before crossing the line just 0.103s ahead of Bautista. 

"It was so tough," added Rea. "Both Alvaro and Toprak were super strong, especially in that middle part of the race, in the middle or latter part. 

"The gap on my pit board was always so small. I understood that I was in front. I must’ve been in front because they weren’t coming past. 

"Some things were going through my head, ‘are they hanging me out to dry with my tyre, or maybe they don’t have the pace’. 

"It was all going on in my head, but I thought ‘just keep doing what you’re doing, keep doing my own rhythm, looking after my own tyre, worrying about my race and being strong in the areas I could, to limit my mistakes’."

Front tyre issues cost Razgatlioglu again in Assen WorldSBK race one

For the reigning world champion, race one promised so much after delivering an outrageous lap in Superpole. 

Razgatlioglu was four tenths clear of anyone after setting the first ever sub 1m 33s lap on Superbike machinery at Assen, however, more tyre issues like in Aragon proved to be the Turk’s downfall. 

"I tried my best but, in the race, I was feeling some tyre problems," claimed Razgatlioglu. "Also, I tried fighting. Third position finish. We are again on the podium; we take good points for the championship. We are trying our best today. I need to win now. 

"I’m always in third position, but for me this isn’t enough. Tomorrow I will fight for the win again. It won’t be easy because everybody is very fast, Alvaro and Jonny are very fast."