Toprak Razgatlioglu prevailed in the wet Assen WorldSBK Superpole race, as championship rival Nicolo Bulega retired.
The BMW rider dominated over the rest of the field, winning by a large margin of 3.7s over Sam Lowes and Alvaro Bautista.
On the wet track Bulega took the holeshot into Turn 1 as pole-sitter Lowes ran wide on the wet track, demoting himself to ninth.
GoEleven rider Andrea Iannone impressed in the early corners to rise up to third place before Yamahas Andrea Locatelli regained the final podium spot.
Iannone’s race ended abruptly as he ran wide at Turn 15, as the Italian ran wide and rejoined over 20 seconds behind the rest of the field. He later crashed out of proceedings.
Tito Rabat and Xavi Vierge were caught up in the Turn 1 chaos as both Spaniards ended their race at the earliest possible opportunity.
Razgatlioglu took the lead for the first time by making an opportunistic move at Turn 5 on Lap 2, before building a gap of 0.9s to Bulega by the end of the lap.
Pole sitter Lowes divebombed Alvaro Bautista into Turn 5 before running in too hot on his Marc VDS, leaving the Spaniard to ease his way through.
Lowes’ strong pace was evident and he squeezed past later in the lap at Turn 9 and made it stick this time round.
Tarran Mackenzie produced an impressive performance in the first half of the race, climbing six positions from his 15th-placed qualification. The Petronas Honda rider ended Lap 4 in ninth place.
He and fellow countryman Scott Redding swapped positions following an overtake from the Bonovo Ducati rider in the first sector.
Back at the front Bulega ran wide at Turn 1, resulting in Lowes moving up into second position. However, the Italian rider slowed down on the mini-straight between Turns 5 and 6, meaning a mechanical issue put him out of contention for the race win.
Razgatlioglu’s win reduces the championship deficit back to within 29 points between himself and Bulega.
Lowes produced his first WorldSBK podium for Marc VDS, recovering from a Turn 1 mistake to claim second place.
Bautista secured an important podium as the Spaniard crossed the line 6.8s behind his Turkish rival.
Andrea Locatelli fended off late pressure from home nation favourite Michael van der Mark, finishing fourth for the Pata Maxus Yamaha outfit.
Redding rose through the field to claim a more than respective sixth place for Bonovo Ducati, having produced a late overtake on Yamaha rider Remy Gardner.
The Australian secured seventh place for GRT Yamaha, finishing a second clear of Barni Spark Racing’s Yari Montella.
Mackenzie secured ninth spot in an impressive outing for the Honda rider, with former British Superbikes colleague Ryan Vickers ending in 10th spot.
The Bimota duo of Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes claimed 11th and 12th place in a photo finish, but famed wet weather specialist Danilo Petrucci could only salvage 13th position.
After a close battle, HRC rider Iker Lecuona and Pata Maxus Yamaha rider Jason O’Halloran crossed the line in 14th and 15th place, finishing five seconds behind Petrucci.
