Jonathan Rea extended his record to six victories from eight starts in 2015 after seeing off the challenge of Chaz Davies in race two at Assen. The championship leader was pushed all the way by Davies but held his nerve under pressure, taking a seventh Assen win by four tenths of a second.
Keen to avenge the disappointment of race one, Tom Sykes muscled his way past Rea at the final chicane on lap one to take the lead and the Yorkshireman dictated the pace for the first half of the race. It soon became apparent though that the quarter chasing him had much more speed in reserve and when Rea regained the lead on lap thirteen, the 2013 champion began to plummet down the order.
Davies followed Rea through within a matter of seconds, mindful that he couldn’t let the Ulsterman get away, while Michael van der Mark knocked Sykes out of the podium spots at the chicane later that lap, bringing Leon Haslam through with him. The feeling was all too familiar for Sykes who would trail home a lonely fifth for the second race in a row.
Just as he had in race one, Rea raised his game with a handful of laps to go with the intention of breaking the pack behind him but on this occasion, Davies wouldn’t be dropped as the Ducati Panigale remained locked onto the rear wheel of the no.65 Kawasaki. The final push didn’t quite materialise though as Rea maintained just enough of a gap to take a narrow victory in the end.
Van der Mark claimed back-to-back podiums thanks to a forceful move at the final chicane which sent both across the run-off area while Jordi Torres closed to within half a second of Sykes in sixth. Sylvain Guintoli got the better of Xavi Fores this time for seventh while Alex Lowes gave Suzuki something to show for their efforts with a battling ninth.
