Jonathan Rea 17th in World Superbike Superpole race at Assen as Nicolo Bulega stretches unbeaten start in 2026 to eight wins
Honda HRC test rider Jonathan Rea was 17th in the Superpole Race at Assen in the Netherlands on Sunday as Italy’s Nicolo Bulega extended his unbeaten start in 2026 to eight races.
Rea, who was 17th in Saturday’s first race, was the only Honda rider on the grid after team-mate Somkiat Chantra was ruled out following a crash in FP3 on Saturday.
Chantra was diagnosed with ‘contusions and a hematoma on his lower back and thigh’, and following an assessment on Sunday morning, the Thai rider was deemed unfit to race.
It was another setback for the former Moto2 Grand Prix rider, who missed the first round of the championship in Australia at Phillip Island following a pre-season training accident.
Chantra and English rider Dixon were signed for 2026 by Honda in a new-look line-up, replacing Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge.
Championship leader Bulega, the title runner-up behind Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2024 and 2025, won the Superpole race by 1.742s from Aruba.it Ducati team-mate Lecuona, with Sam Lowes third on the Marc VDS Ducati in a repeat of Saturday’s top-three result.
Alvaro Bautista was fourth on the Barni Spark Racing Ducati ahead of Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing) and Vierge on the Pata Maxus Yamaha.
Former British Superbike champion Tommy Bridewell finished 15th on the Superbike Advocates Ducati.
Race 2 is scheduled to take place at 14:30 BST.