well-honed that he knows exactly when to push, when to pass( on those rare occasions he’ s not already leading) and how to manage a lead. Lecuona ended the weekend with an impressive three second-place finishes. Sam Lowes continues to bang in quality performances, putting real pressure on the Aruba. it boys and was rewarded with three third place finishes. This is with a hand injury that’ s still troubling him. A noticeable comparison between the Aruba. it bikes and Lowes’ setup is that the Aruba bikes hold tighter lines through almost every corner and look more stable when sliding. Those little advantages are what turn into significant leads as the race progresses. At Barni Spark Racing, Bautista, at last, got his act together. Poor qualifying and too many crashes would have raised red flags for the team coming away from the first two rounds but at Assen, it all clicked and we saw more of the Bautista of old. Seventh place on the grid doesn’ t count as epic but it’ s a marked improvement. More importantly, he had pace from lap one rather than suddenly coming up for air halfway through the race when any chance of decent points was long gone. He also showed a lot more poise than in the previous two rounds with no crazy moves or unnecessary visits to the gravel traps. Fourth place in all three races was an important comeback for the resurgent Spaniard. Yari Montella, the other half of the Barni Spark garage, also kept the bike sunny side up at Assen, whilst never being in with a realistic chance of a podium. A twelfth-place qualifying result was always going to put him in traffic during the races, evidenced by an eleventhplace finish in Race One. Importantly, he was able to finish eighth in the Tissot Superpole sprint race which translated into a place on the third row of the grid for Race Two which he capitalised on to take out fifth place. Happy faces all around at Barni as they scored fifty points from the weekend, a marked improvement over the dismal twelve-point haul from Round Two at Portimao.
28 KIWI RIDER