38 machines took to a very wet grid at Assen for the ninth race of the 12 race 2006 World Supersport Championship and the inclement weather could prove crucial in the fight for the title.  Charpentier was looking sure to completely dominate the series and he did exactly that over the first half of the season before a testing crash saw him struggle back to full race fitness over a period of months and that recovery period allowed Kevin Curtain to bridge the massive gap and as they lined up on the grid the two combatants were level pegged on 131 points and Broc Parkes was also within striking distance only 12 points adrift of the leading duo.

Parkes was keen to narrow that 12 points further right from the off as the Yamaha man sprang out of the gates and was streets ahead of the field less than a half a lap into the race. Another rider to get a great start was Ten Kate man Keenan Sofuoglu and the Turk was the only rider to have the race leader in visual sight by the end of the opening lap. Further back the joint championship leaders Charpentier and Curtain were heading a busy battle for third place while keeping them company was Harms, Tiberio, Veneman and Andersen.  Harms checked out of the battle on lap three however after tumbling off into the kitty litter. A lap later race leader Broc Parkes had a huge off in a fast part of the circuit and was laying motionless on the grass for some time before he was attended to by medical personnel. Eventually he was stretched to the sidelines in a conscious but obviously pained state

Inheriting the race lead was Sofuoglu who was starting to be stalked by the wily old fox that is Kevin Curtain who had pulled away from his pursuers in the previous battle for second.

Only a few laps later however Norway's Kai Andersen closed on Curtain and quickly slotted his Suzuki past the Australian.  That move gave Curtain a wake up call and blasted back past Anderson on the next straight. It took the Norwegian another lap to again put his nose in front of Curtain and this time the Yamaha man had no immediate answer to his advances.

Sofuoglu continued to run his own race out in front well away from the carnage that had unfolded behind him. Around half race distance the red flag came out due to a new run of carnage which then made the event into a two part affair.

They lined up on the grid for the restart half an hour later with Sofuoglu enjoying a six second lead over Curtain from the start of the second leg when the combined times were taken into account. The Turk increased that lead immediately when they got going again while Kev Curtain had his hands full with the Suzuki of Andersen as Charpentier watched on a couple of bike lengths further behind. Sofuoglu was not going to escape this time around though as Curtain, Andersen, Vos and Charpentier stayed within striking distance over the opening laps in the restart but of course on combined time Sofuoglu was a country mile ahead, a fact the Turk was only too well aware of.

With four laps to run Charpentier upped his pace to move past Andersen and Curtain to take second place on the track but on combined time Andersen was in second place by a fag paper over Curtain.

Charpentier moved through to the race lead on the track with a few laps to run and went on to cross the line first but on combined time it was Sofuoglu that was declared the winner and Kevin Curtain came home second on the track and second on the timers.  While Charpentier got to the flag first the timers had him finishing fourth place behind Andersen.

Broc Parkes looked in for a strong result before a painful demise that saw him leave Assen with plenty of bruises, three broken ribs and a ruptured lung.

In the fight for the championship Curtain leaves Assen with a seven point advantage over Charpentier but there are still 75 points up for grabs in the final three rounds. Next week the battle resumes at the Lausitzring. The penultimate round will unfold at Imola on October 1 before the championship finale at Magny Cours the following week.

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Gallery A - Gallery B

----    Day 3    ----
SBK Race 1 - SS Race - SBK Race 2 - Reports - FG Sport - Aussie - Ducati - HRC - Yamaha - FPR - Suzuki - Corser - Brookes - Roberts - Pirelli

----    Day 2    ----
SS FP2 - SBK QP2 - SS QP2 - SBK Superpole - Reports - FG Sport - Ducati - Ten Kate - Yamaha - FPR - Suzuki

----    Day 1    ----
SS FP1 - SBK FP1 - SS QP1 - SBK QP1 - Reports - FG Sport - Ducati - Ten Kate - Yamaha - FPR - Suzuki

----    Previews    ----
Aussie - FG Sport - HRC - Yamaha - Suzuki - FPR
 

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