Heavy rains and a crash mid-way through the Supersport race at Assen made for a two-part aggregate race in Holland, with WSS rookie Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) doing enough in leg one to allow his team-mate Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) to lead the field home in the second leg, and yet still let the young Turk take a popular first WSS race win by over four seconds.

Charpentier finished fourth on aggregate, and with his main championship rival Kevin Curtain second, Sebastien lost his championship lead for the first time this season. He now sits second, on 144 points, with Curtain leading on 151. Sofuoglu’s superb performance on his Winston Ten Kate squad’s home circuit puts him fifth overall, with 92 points.

Yoann Tiberio (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) fell from the leading group in the first leg, after ten laps had been completed, but will be fit for the next round at Lausitz next weekend. He qualified fourth before the race, and now sits seventh in the rankings, with 67 points.

Katsuaki Fujiwara (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) did not gain his normal confidence in the rain during his comeback ride, partly because all previous sessions had been dry, and was 17th In the race, going 22nd in the points.

Sofuoglu looked an assured and composed winner at Assen, after a disappointing ninth in dry qualifying.

“I am particularly happy because it didn’t start right for me, Friday and Saturday were not particularly nice,” said Sofuoglu in the post race press conference. “I started from ninth position but when it started to rain I knew I had a different chance. I am now really happy to win especially at Assen because it is Ten Kate’s home race and I live just 30km from here. So it is particularly nice. Now we got to Lausitz and I know it and like it.
Hopefully I can win another race in the three that remain.”

Charpentier was disappointed with fourth but got caught out in the wet weather conditions of race one, after qualifying impressively on pole in dry conditions.

“Happy? Yes and no but I am not satisfied, because I finished fourth,” said Charpentier. “That does not make me happy but it was a crazy race, not easy, and I tried my best to make a small gap in the second leg. The championship is open, and for me seven points is what I have to make up. There is no choice for me now, and maybe now I need the help of the other Honda riders to take points from my rival. I am very happy for Kenan.”

Tiberio was running in the leading group when he fell in the first leg, but in the prevailing weather conditions at Assen, there were 17 non-finishers in total.

"It was not easy after qualifying had been dry,” said Tiberio. “I was happy in the position I was in and I just made a mistake. I have to look to Germany now to get back some round in the championship points.”

Fujiwara found his recent injury to his hand much improved, and qualified ninth, but his set-up in wet conditions did not inspire confidence.

"As soon as the race started I just did not feel happy with the feel of the bike,” said Fujiwara. “I really felt I could go no faster or I would have crashed, so I had to concentrate on getting to the finish. My hand was not real problem, so that was positive”

World Superbike Round 9 of 12

TOSELAND MOVES UP TO SECOND AS FABRIZIO SCORES A PODIUM

James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) rode as hard as he has all season at his team’s home race but failed to score the podium places his practice form had promised. Tenth in race one and ninth in race two were his reward, and the points he gathered put him second in the championship, leapfrogging double crasher Noriyuki Haga. Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR) made the most of an almost flooded Assen circuit in race one to score third place, Honda’s highest placed rider in either of the 22-lap SBK races.

Race one saw almost half the riders in the race fall or retire at some stage, with Chris Walker taking his first career World Superbike win, from Andrew Pitt and Fabrizio. Michel had started from 14th on the grid after a disappointing Superpole, but was assured in his forward progress.

Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) went ninth after crashing and rejoining, with James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda
CBR1000RR) on the gravel at one stage, returning to the track to finish tenth. Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) retired with front suspension set-up concerns, having been forced to slow from a strong starting position of fifth. Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR) crashed out of contention on lap five.

In race two Barros was top Honda finisher, in seventh, but Toseland was taken out on the first corner, when he and Troy Corser tangled, in a crash where Noriyuki Haga also fell. James attempted to restart and rejoin the race, and fought his way back to a creditable ninth, one place up on Fabrizio, who had experienced gearbox issues.

Muggeridge found his rear traction dropping off in an unexpected and dramatic fashion in race two, as he went from fourth to 13th, while Chili retired from race two.

Toseland was unsure what to make of his Assen weekend, which promised much and delivered little.

“In race two I had a decent start and got into the first corner OK - until I saw a Suzuki on top of me,” said James. “I understand he might have clipped Haga, so it may not be all Corser’s fault, but I went down and then climbed back on the bike. I still had my brakes working, but no fairing.

But I got points and fought to the finish, and that gave me second place in the championship back. I did what I always do, and I never give up. If I had stopped and quit I would still be third. In race one we set off well, but my front locked on the first corner and I had to go straight.

Unfortunately it took me a little bit of time to come back on track, and then I had a very bad feeling with the front tyre. If there we no problems and the track was dry we would have had two podiums for sure.”

Fabrizio was delighted with race one, less so with his problems in the second race, including having to start from pitlane after a clutch change.
He is now 11th overall, on 109 points.

“Race one was perfect after a good dry qualifying but a bad Superpole result,” said Fabrizio. “Race two was very hard, as I had some internal problem in selecting gears and it really held me back. But I kept going to get the points.”

Barros fifth in Superpole, found race one a trial despite a good start, but got some recompense in race two. He is now sixth overall, on 175 points.

“I’m very disappointed about the races because the beginning of the weekend went very well,” said Barros. “I think I could win a race. But in the first race I had a big problem with the front. I just dropped down. I’m sure I stopped some of the riders at my back because this was a bike you could not ride. I could have crashed any time. In the first lap I still tried to attack a little bit but then I was pushing and pushing. In the second race the dry line in the beginning was very small and had to pay attention not to crash. It was a hazard to overtake other riders. So I lost a lot and after this I had to overtake other riders later in the race. This cost me a lot of time. When the track was clean I was not able to ride faster because I had no grip on this surface.”

Muggeridge was on schedule for two strong results but one small error in race one and the unexpected outcome in race two finished his chances of making top three results.

“My rear tyre just tore up after five laps in race two, and I went from doing low twos to low fives in one lap,” said Muggeridge. “Couldn’t do anything with that rear. I made a small mistake in race one and missed out on the podium really.”

Chili retired in race two because he made a bad start and had two off track excursions, and he pulled in.

“In the first race the conditions were terrible,” said Chili. “I was not the only one who crashed. In the second race I made a really bad start and then ran of track twice, so I decided to stop, rather than carry on for nothing.”

WSS and SBK classes now head to Eurospeedway Lausitz, for round ten on 8-10 September.