WorldSBK championship leader Nicolo Bulega ultimately prevailed to take a commanding victory in Race 1 at Assen.
The Italian fared in mixed conditions to take another win in the Netherlands, finishing 1.6s clear of team-mate Iker Lecuona and fellow Ducati rider Sam Lowes.
Lecuona launched incredibly well off the line to take the holeshot over team-mate Bulega and Marc VDS rider Lowes.
The Spaniard successfully led the entire first lap, closely followed by Bulega and Lowes, but his fellow countryman Alvaro Bautista rose up to fourth.
Behind the four Ducati riders was Bimotya’s Alex Lowes, Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli and BMW’s Danilo Petrucci, though the latter was issued a double long-lap penalty for jumping the start.
At Turn 11, Bulega swooped past his team-mate to take the lead, though he had formed only a 0.3s gap by the end of Lap 3.
Petrucci ran in too hot when completing his first long lap, meaning he rejoined dead last before having to take the second.
Yamaha riders Locatelli and Xavi Vierge and BMW rider Miguel Oliveira entered the fold, with the latter starting from 13th, as all three were separated by half a second on Lap 6.
MGM Ducati’s Tarran Mackenzie caught up to the back of the trio before sealing an opportunistic move on the former MotoGP race winner.
The Scotsman had both Yamaha riders next on his checklist, but diced with Vierge on Lap 9 in the flip-flop first sector.
This allowed Locatelli to gain a few marginal tenths before Mackenzie sealed a concrete move into Turn 1 on Lap 10.
Oliveira was the next rider to overtake Vierge, putting his Bavarian machine into eighth, but the biggest talking point for the final third was the white flag being issued as spots hit the track in Sector 3 and Sector 4.
As the rain intensified, Lecuona caught up to the back of Bulega to regain the lead down the straight on Lap 15.
The Spaniard kept the lead through the next lap, but the factory Ducati duo tussled in the final sector on Lap 16 before Bulega made an impressive move at Turn 4.
The mixed conditions on track allowed Marc VDS rider Lowes to cut the 2.5s gap to only a few bike lengths, but he made no opportunistic move just yet.
By Lap 19, the lead trio dispersed with 1.6s separating all three Ducati riders, but the biggest battle from eighth to 12th saw four different manufacturers battling it out.
The unpredictability provided chaos, but when challenged, it was Bulega who still came out on top to secure his seventh consecutive win of the 2026 season.
Lecuona continued his strong showing from Portimao to take second in Assen, making it four second-places in a row.
Sam Lowes rounded off the podium spots as the Lincolnshire-born rider posted his first podium of the season.
Bautista endured a quiet race in fourth for Barni Spark Racing, followed by Bimota’s Alex Lowes.
Locatelli made use of the precarious conditions to take sixth for Yamaha, finishing ahead of Oliveira by over a second.
Lorenzo Baldassarri claimed eighth off former British Superbikes champion Mackenzie after a last corner overtake.
Vierge made it a double top-10 delight for the factory Yamaha, closely followed by Yari Montella and Axel Bassani.
Tommy Bridwell secured 13th on his Panigale, with Remy Gardner and Alberto Surra securing the final two point-scoring positions.
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