Belgian Luca de Vleeschaumer and Dutch rider Finn de Bruin shared honors at the end of KTM RC Cup World Final Race One Saturday at TT Circuit Assen.
De Vleeschaumer crossed the finish line first, winning by 0.094 second at the end of the 10-lap, 34-rider sprint, but because the 14-year-old was entered as a wild card he was not the official winner of the KTM RC Cup World Final event. That honor went to 15-year-old de Bruin.
The race saw 10 riders fighting for the front positions for much of its duration, with American riders Anthony Mazziotto, Brandon Paasch and Ashton Yates quickly making up for their disappointing qualifying positions and joining the front pack on the opening lap.
On the last lap, Paasch took the lead in the fast Turn Six-Seven switchback, and Mazziotto moved up to second into Turn 10. But the two Americans were swallowed up by the pack into the ultra-fast Turn 15 sweeper. The field shuffled one last time in final chicane, and de Vleeschaumer emerged as the winner with the top seven finishers covered by just 0.7 second at the line.
Third overall and second among the World Final competitors was Joep Overbeeke, a 17-year-old Dutch rider. Mazziotto got around Paasch in the final scramble and took the checkered flag fourth overall and third among the World Final contestants.
Glenn van Straalen passed Paasch in the drag race from the final chicane to the finish line, and they were scored fifth and sixth overall, respectively.
Yates went from 14th on the grid to fifth on the first lap, but he said he struggled with a poor gearing choice on the straightaways and could do no better than eighth overall and seventh in the World Final, just 1.196 seconds behind the winner.
Pole-sitter Adolfo Delgado crashed without injury on the first lap and took Finnish rider Peetu Paavilainen down with him.
Race Two is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. local time Sunday, and that race will be gridded based upon the riders’ fastest lap times in Race One. That means Americans Paasch, Yates and Mazziotto will start from fourth, fifth and sixth on the grid, respectively.
KTM RC Cup World Final/MCE British Superbike Championship
TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands
October 1, 2016
Overall Race One Results (all on KTM RC390s and Metzeler tires):
1. Luca de Vleeschauwer, Belgium, 10 laps, Total Race Time 20:07.912, Best Lap Time 1:59.487*
2. Finn de Bruin, Netherlands, -0.094 second, 1:59.514
3. Joep Overbeeke, Netherlands, -0.151, 1:59.049
4. Anthony Mazziotto, USA, -0.312, 1:59.364
5. Glenn van Straalen, Netherlands, -0.611, 1:59.571
6. Brandon Paasch, USA, -0.700, 1:59.182
7. Kimi Patova, Finland, -0.708, 1:59.131
8. Ashton Yates, USA, -1.196 seconds, 1:59.207
9. Mate Laczko, Hungary, -1.531, 1:59.515
10. Marco Fetz, Germany, -15.931, 2:00.882
11. Randy van Hees, Netherlands, -15.959, 2:00.846
12. Ryan Vos, Netherlands, -16.061, 2:00.870
13. Jack Nixon, UK, -31.775, 2:01.681
14. Aaron Wright, UK, -32.254, 2:01.352
15. Scott Swann, UK, -32.297, 2:02.275
16. Milan Merckelbagh, Netherlands, -32.373, 2:02.776
17. Jared Schultz, South Africa, -33.278, 2:02.494
18. Roy Voermans, Netherlands, -34.250, 2:02.469*
19. Jannik Kruse, Germany, -34.284, 2:02.446
20. Dianne Geesink, Netherlands, -36.891, 2:02.474*
21. Taylor Fox-Morton, UK, -43.054, 2:02.158
22. Nicola Barneba, Italy, -44.453, 2:02.850
23. Myles Wasley, UK, -44.854, 2:03.209
24. Rien den Ouden, Netherlands, -44.956, 2:02.869*
25. Rick Kooistra, Netherlands, -45.211, 2:03.157*
26. Lorenzo Betton, Italy, -57.876, 2:04.885
27. Alex Dumas, Canada/Mexico, -65.826, 2:05.184
28. Alexis Cardona, Mexico, -85.527, 2:07.808
29. Tijs Heesakkers, Netherlands, -109.703, 2:10.126*
30. Florian Chayne, France, -1 lap, 2:11.319
31. Jan-Ole Jahnig, Germany, -2 laps, DNF, mechanical, 1:59.014
32. Niko Hamalainen, Finland, -5 laps, DNF, 2:05.340
33. Adolfo Delgado, Mexico, -10 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
34. Peetu Paavilainen, Finland, -10 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
*not a World Final competitor