Recapping the opening day of WorldSBK/SSP/300/WCR Practice at Assen

WorldSBK 2025

Round Three – Assen – Friday

A string of fast times on Friday afternoon at Assen saw Nicola Bulega on top when all was said and done. The Ducati star arrives in The Netherlands with a perfect record of six podium finishes from six races and he showed his strength again today. Team-mate Alvaro Bautista was fifth quickest after working on tyre choices.

Nicolo Bulega – P1

“I feel quite good on my bike. We made an improvement from FP1 to FP2 and even though I don’t feel 100% we are OK. We can still improve, not so much in terms of lap time, but in terms of my comfort on the bike. I’m struggling a little bit too much today but, in general, it was a good Friday. We improved a lot from FP1 and that’s good. Hopefully we can make another step tomorrow to feel more comfortable and go faster.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed 35 laps today. The reigning WorldSBK champion was the fastest rider of all in Sector 1 throughout the day and used this as the foundation for his fast times. However the other sectors were more of a challenge and he ended the day three tenths of a second off the pace in third position.

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P3

“I’m not feeling perfect on the bike so we haven’t started as strongly as we would like. I’m always trying to do my best and we’re working to improve the bike. It’s not working how I need it right now, the bike doesn’t help me when I’m riding, but we still have one more practice session tomorrow morning before Superpole. We’ll try a different setup for tomorrow to improve. If we can improve the bike, I think I’ll start enjoying it more. Then I’ll focus on qualifying, because I need a good lap time for a strong grid position.”

Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) split Bulega and Razgatlioglu with an impressive 1’33.844 to set the second fastest time

Axel Bassani – P2

“We didn’t start in a really good way, we were P14, but it was OK. The feeling with the bike was really good. For FP2 we started trying some different tyres and the bike was working well so I was happy. The feeling with the bike is really good. It’s only Friday but we have to be happy with today. We know where we lose time on the straight but we only lose time there. We know we have a good bike and tomorrow we will try to fight. We can improve the race pace but we will try to do our best.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) ended the day fourth fastest ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). Locatelli, armed with the Super Concession chassis upgrades introduced at the Portuguese Round, looked confident again as he aims to continue his podium form from the last round.

Remy Gardner was just under a second off Bulega’s benchmark in 13th place while called up countryman Jason O’Halloran was a further second behind in 21st place.

WorldSBK Combined Practice Times

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP Superpole

Can Oncu claimed pole position by an impressive half-a-second at Assen overnight.

A 1’36.734 was rewarded with a second front row start of the campaign for Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing). Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) rounded out the front row

Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse), Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) and Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), the championship leader, form the second row of the grid

The session ended with a red flag brought out for a Turn 5 crash involving Loris Veneman (EAB Racing Team) and Rafaele de Rosa (QJMOTOR Factory Racing). De Rosa was taken to Assen Hospital for further assessments and his fitness will be reviewed before warm-up

Oli Bayliss was 12th on the opening day while countryman Luke Power was 29th fastest on Friday.

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A short delay to Superpole delayed the action getting underway. In the early moments Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Racing Sport) set the pace but a red flag following a crash at Turn 5 for Giacomo Zannini (Kawasaki GP Project) brought out another red flag

When the session resumed Garcia was the man to beat. The 18 year old Spaniard claimed his second career pole position with a time of 1’48.112

Joining Garcia on the front row of the grid is his fellow Kawasaki rider David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI).

Australian youngster Carter Thompson heads the second row. Countryman Cam Swain had some technical difficulties in morning practice before improving to 19th in the afternoon session.

WorldSSP300 Superpole Times

WorldWCR Superpole

An action-packed Superpole session kicked off a second ground-breaking WorldWCR season at the TT Circuit Assen on Friday, with Klint Forward Factory Team rider Maria Herrera clinching pole with an impressive 1’48.146

Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) and Sara Sanchez (Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) also maximised Friday’s 25-minute qualifying phase to secure a spot on the front row of the grid for the weekend’s races, closing second and third respectively.

Representing New Zealand, category rookie Avalon Lewis (Carl Cox Motorsports) made an immediate impression. Already strong in practice, she was able to put together an incredible qualifying to conclude fourth, less than a tenth of a second from third.

Herrera’s Klint Forward Racing team-mate, Italian rider Roberta Ponziani, rounded out the top five today and will line up on the second row of the grid on Saturday just ahead of Australian Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing), sixth.

WorldWCR rookie Chloe Jones (GR Motosport), Isis Carreno (Italika Racing FIMLA) and Lucy Michel (TSL-Racing) make up row three of the grid, the trio having closed within two tenths of a second of each other. Flying the flag for the UK, Chile and Germany, this tight-knit chasing group highlights the level of competitiveness already on display.

2024 WorldWCR runner-up Herrera immediately sets a high bar for her 23 rivals, all of whom ride identical Yamaha R7 bikes in this single-make championship.

This is the first time the WorldWCR class is competing at the historic TT Circuit Assen, levelling the playing field as the second edition of this women-only championship gets underway.

In free practice, the top ten comprised riders of eight different nationalities, but it was Herrera who came out on top, the only rider to duck under 1’49 with a best of 1’48.495.

WorldWCR Superpole Times

2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar