Jonathan Rea dominance continues with narrow victory in Assen race two

Rea, on the Kawasaki, has now won seven of the first eight races of the season, including race one in Assen on Saturday.

It was his 11th win at Assen, just one behind the great Carl Fogarty, and his 13th career double.

Tom Sykes, also on the Kawasaki, consolidated second spot in the standings by coming a close second to Rea, just 0.025 seconds behind.

Rea started the second race of round four in Assen from ninth on the grid, but made a brilliant start and needed less than three laps to surge into the lead.

The Northern Irishman looked to be cruising to an 11th win at the Dutch circuit in the 200th race of his career, only to run wide on lap 10 and allow Kawasaki team-mate Sykes to close the gap.

Sykes made a last-ditch bid for victory as he powered out of the final corner, but Rea held on for the win to move 64 points ahead of Sykes in the standings.

"Another double, what can I say?" Rea told Eurosport. "I'm so happy. The last sector I just had to defend as much as possible and get it to the line. A Kawasaki 1-2 in both races is an incredible weekend for the team and me as well.

"It's so, so hard to lead round here in the wind today; it's so strong I actually lost the front in the fast right, my foot came off and after that my lap times just dropped. It was actually quite dangerous in some places. You go past the pit wall and the wind gusts you off the track - it's mental."

Britain's Chaz Davies (Ducati) finished third, with Holland's Michael van der Mark giving the home fans something to cheer in fourth.

Britain's Alex Lowes and Leon Camier were fifth and sixth respectively, with Ireland's Eugene Laverty dropping back to eighth after leading in the early stages.