Acerbis Dutch Round, Race 1: Does Rea put an end to the title race?

The sun is setting on the second day of the Acerbis Dutch Round after having given, with the Tissot-Superpole and Race 1, many emotions to the passionate Dutch public, and many ideas for all those involved in the sector.

The great protagonists were once again Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies: first with the controversy at the end of qualifying, with the Northern Irishman guilty of having obstructed the Welsh driver, even in a dangerous manner, as he launched on his last fast lap.
The Race Direction responded to the parc fermé controversy, with Rea not considering apologizing, demoting Jonathan Rea by three positions on the grid: a blemish on an applause-worthy performance for him, capable of even shattering team records. track set by Marc Marques with the MotoGP in 2015.
A test of the highest level with which he inflicts almost a second of separation on Chaz Davies and two tenths on his teammate, Tom Sykes, the only one capable of keeping up with him at least in qualifying.
However, it doesn't matter to the "Cannibale" whether he starts first, fourth or ninth on the grid: he wanted the sixth victory in a row at Assen at all costs and achieved it at the end of an exciting battle with Chaz Davies, who until at the last minute, still nervous about qualifying, he tried to deny her.
It was emblematic to see how Davies was almost forced to "tame" his Panigale, which at the end no longer had grip and skidded noticeably, while Rea rode clean and precise as if on tram tracks.
Overtaking was in the air and the World Champion, after long laps spent studying his opponent, managed to get the better of Davies, betrayed a few minutes later by his Panigale, which suddenly shut down.
By virtue of his retirement, Tom Sykes completes the Kawasaki double and Marco Melandri celebrates an unexpected third place: at parc fermé the man from Ravenna declared that he didn't even expect to finish fifth, and in fact the gap of 17 seconds is not encouraging ahead of the second heat.

Rea now leads the general classification with 170 points, 59 more than second, Tom Sykes: given the excessive power demonstrated on the track, are they already enough to declare the title race over?
Ducati is in third place with Marco Melandri while Davies is fourth with a 75 point gap and also has to deal with the reliability problems of his Panigale: if you really want to compete for the title with Kawasaki you can't afford episodes of this guy.
In addition to the fault still to be clarified, there remains the problem of the 17 seconds recorded by Marco Melandri at the end of the race.

The shadows at Ducati are echoed by the pitch darkness in the Yamaha garage with both riders retiring due to accidents: Michael Van der Mark pays for his excessive eagerness to impress the home crowd, while Lowes continues a decidedly negative weekend with a crash eight laps from the end.
Glass half full instead at Red Bull Honda which on the one hand celebrates Bradl's sixth place, an encouraging sign that the bike is there and the development path is the right one, but has to deal with Hayden's 14th placing, definitely below its potential.
Finally, great performances for the private teams Barni Racing Ducati and Go Eleven Kawasaki who achieved a fourth and seventh place respectively with Xavi Fores and Roman Ramos: new faces in a championship dominated by the usual suspects.

It's unlikely that the music will change in Race 2 tomorrow, unless the weather changes: we'll see!
Appointment at 13pm: everyone on time!