Flying Scot Stuart Easton extended his lead in the chase for the Motorpoint British Supersport title as he took a hard fought victory ahead of pole starting Richard Cooper while his main rival for the crown Alastair Seeley finished in fifth place.
Cooper, riding the Oxford TAG Triumph, made a great start but Easton was hanging on to the leader, with little between them before he eased his MarTrain Yamaha into the lead on the third lap.
By then the defending champion Glen Richards had crashed out and his Smiths Gloucester team-mate Billy McConnell had pitted.
Easton had the lead, but Cooper was giving nothing and harassing all of the time while adrift of them Luke Mossey aboard the Techcare Profile Triumph was locked in a real power struggle with Samsung Honda's Jason O'Halloran with the Aussie finally making the final podium position his on the penultimate lap.
Easton had the victory, his eighth of the campaign.
"That was the result that I wanted and now I have to try and keep it going the same in the feature race." Easton sated. "It was a hard race, Richard kept me honest all weekend, he rode well and it was a really good race."
Cooper took his first podium finish of the season in second place ahead of O'Halloran, Mossey and Seeley while Ben Wilson who had been running fifth slipped back through the pack, his Gearlink Kawasaki developing a technical problem.
FEATURE RACE:
Martrain Yamaha's Stuart Easton celebrated the second win of the weekend in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Assen as he extended his lead in the overall standings after edging out the battling pack in the closing stages.
Easton had led from the start as he fired into the lead with Richard Cooper getting ahead of Jason O'Halloran and Ben Wilson all in close contention over the opening laps. Wilson was soon in second and pushing hard as he bids to reduce the gap in the overall standings but Luke Mossey then carved his way up the order to join the fray at the front.
Easton was edging out an advantage as Wilson then moved back into second from Alastair Seeley and O'Halloran with Glen Richards also charging up the order after a steady start to the race.
Easton claimed the win but the final podium positions were again decided by a final lap scrap as Wilson held the advantage at the start in second, but O'Halloran was able to get ahead leaving the Gearlink Kawasaki team-mates to fight for third on the final corner, with Wilson not giving his team-mate an inch to take the position.
"That was a good weekend, we had a good pace all of the way through." Easton stated after the feature race. "The double win and in the second race leading from start to finish was a good result so it's fair to say that we have been quite dominant.
"Now we have to keep focussed, working hard to continue like this into Silverstone, keeping the pressure up on Alastair," he concluded.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Sprint race result:
1. Stuart Easton (MarTrain Yamaha)
2. Richard Cooper (Oxford TAG Triumph) +0.621s
3. Jason O'Halloran (Samsung Honda) + 3.192s
4. Luke Mossey (Techcare Profile Yamaha) +3.506s
5. Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) +5.378s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship, Assen, Feature race result:
1. Stuart Easton (Martrain Yamaha)
2. Jason O'Halloran (Samsung Honda) +1.146s
3. Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +1.551s
4. Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) +1.926s
5. Richard Cooper (Oxford TAG Triumph) +4.696s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings after Assen:
1. Stuart Easton (Martrain Yamaha) 376
2. Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) 342
3. Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) 279
4. Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) 274
5. Graeme Gowland (Appleyard Macadam Racing Yamaha) 217
Top Image: Stuart Easton Won the Sprint race in the British supersport race at Assen
Credit: britishsuperbike.com
