Day Two
Rea takes his first ever Superpole win
The classic circuit of Assen once more played host to a tense period of practice and qualifying, with the new overall length of 4.542km making for new track bests in each class. Six of the seven competing WSBK manufacturers were represented in the top ten after three sessions of Superpole, with a new track best coming in the very final session, a 1’34.944.
TOP WORK FOR LOCAL TEAM: Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) won the first Superpole prize of his career at Assen, after setting a 1’34.944. Rea is the only rider to have gone under the 1’35 mark on the new Assen layout, although Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Ducati) came close with his second place time of 1’35.062. Troy Corser starts from the front row on his official BMW, the first time a BMW has started this high up in WSBK. Leon Haslam went fourth for Suzuki Alstare, having spent most of practice working on race set-up, but having enough left to make a good job of Superpole.
THE OTHER LEON ROARS: Leon Camier made it five different makes in the top five on his Aprilia Alitalia RSV4, as he continues to strive to find a perfect set-up. Behind the leading handful of riders, the second row will be completed for Sunday’s 22-lap Superbike races by Carlos Checa, his team-mate Shane Byrne and factory Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox). Each rider had perfect conditions to run in, on the modified Assen circuit, with the top riders getting more and more used to the new 4.542km layout, with a major change at Ruskenhoek and a minor one at the right of Hoge Heide.
YAMAHA RIDERS NEARLY THERE: Of the eight riders who did not make the final Superpole 3 shoot-out, Cal Crutchlow was closest to the final session, with his Yamaha Sterilgarda team-mate James Toseland just behind him and tenth on the grid. Struggling to deal with his machine at this round, Max Biaggi was 11th overall on his Aprilia, Ruben Xaus 12th and a late faller in the second Superpole session. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) rounded out the top 16 places, and the fourth row of the starting grid.
VERMEULEN RETURNS AND IS READY: The tense and unpredictable nature of Superpole came to the fore again when Superpole started, with comeback rider Chris Vermeulen crashing his Kawasaki Racing Team machine by highsiding at a fast section of track, but escaping uninjured. He missed out on Superpole 2, as did Luca Scassa (Supersonic Ducati) who was 17th quickest, Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Corse Ducati) and ECHO CRS Honda rider Broc Parkes (another comeback kid). Only two riders, Matteo Baiocco and Roger Lee Hayden did not make Superpole this weekend, qualifying 21st and 22nd respectively.
RIDER COMMENTS SUPERPOLE
Jonathan Rea: “I am happy and excited to have won Superpole. I can’t quite believe that this is my first ever world championship pole, so it is good to win it. On a serious note, tomorrow is raceday and there will be at least three or four guys who have good pace, so it will be 22 long laps in each race.”
Jakub Smrz: “Practice and qualifying has gone pretty well, always in the first few places, and we all did a good job. The set-up and tyre choice is good but for sure in the race other guys will be very strong and I think it will be a tough race. A few things will depend on temperature tomorrow.”
Troy Corser: “This is my best qualifying for BMW so far, so I am pretty happy. The engineers have done a great job away from the track, we have done a fair bit of testing and it has definitely improved the bike. I feel more comfortable on the bike now and when you feel comfortable you push more, and can go a bit faster. I am looking forward to the race.”
Leon Haslam: “I am happy to have a front row start, because this weekend had been pretty tough and Jonathan has been fast – all the guys in front of me have. It has been a case for us of finding a set-up not just for a fast lap but for the race as well. The positions have been changing in practice but I have been happy with my lap times on race tyres.
World Supersport
Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) took pole position at a sun-kissed Assen, despite crashing in the final qualifying session. The Turkish rider set a new best of 1’37.908, to hold off Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) who put in a 1’38.421 today. Sofuoglu’s team-mate Michele Pirro was third quickest, one place up on Joan Lascorz (Motocard.com Kawasaki). Fabien Foret (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) went fifth just up on fastest ParkinGO BE1 Triumph, ridden by Matthieu Lagrive.
Superpole | Supersport Final Qualifying |
1 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’34.944 2 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’35.062 3 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’35.306 4 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’35.330 5 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’35.633 6 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’35.892 7 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’35.909 8 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.405 9 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.027 10 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.061 11 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’36.069 12 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.094 13 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.327 14 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’36.348 15 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’36.574 16 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.581 17 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.906 18 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.989 19 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.378 20 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’38.622 21 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.471 22 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.769 | 1. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’37.908; 2. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’38.421; 3. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’38.567; 4. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6 R 1’38.660; 5. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’38.780; 6. Lagrive M. (FRA) Triumph 675 Daytona 1’38.961; 7. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’39.087; 8. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph 675 Daytona 1’39.143; |
Superbike Final Qualifying | Superbike Final Practice |
1 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’35.621 2 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’35.939 3 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.211 4 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’36.447 5 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’36.588 6 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.618 7 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’36.644 8 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’36.655 9 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.685 10 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.689 11 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.774 12 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.829 13 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.859 14 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.872 15 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.898 16 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’36.904 17 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’37.084 18 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’37.100 19 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.065 20 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’38.214 21 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.471 22 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.769 | 1 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.092 2 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.179 3 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.189 4 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.426 5 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’36.525 6 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’36.534 7 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.580 8 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’36.715 9 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’36.766 10 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’36.875 11 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.911 12 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.958 13 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’37.174 14 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’37.219 15 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’37.304 16 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’37.382 17 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1’37.461 18 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’37.530 19 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.626 20 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.821 21 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’39.069 22 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’39.212 |
— Ducati Report Ducati Xerox riders Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga will line up on the second and fourth row respectively for tomorrow’s Superbike races at the TT Circuit in Assen, Michel having qualified in eighth position, Noriyuki in fifteenth. In morning qualifying, the lap times began to fall in the latter stages of the 45-minute session. Both Michel and Noriyuki were losing valuable tenths through the third split, which prevented them from putting together very fast laps, but both riders nevertheless improved on yesterday’s performances, with Nori taking eight tenths of a second off his best time, and Michel half a second. They thus concluded the second qualifying session in sixth and ninth position, easily qualifying for the afternoon’s Superpole. Superpole 1. Both riders made a first exit on the race tyre but, with so many riders putting together such fast laps, Michel and Nori both decided to exit again, this time on a qualifier, to ensure safe passage to the second phase. Superpole 2. Noting that the level of grip between the race tyre and qualifier were similar, both riders replicated the first session,going out first on one then the other. Michel was able to make an extremely fast lap on the race tyre, faster than the lap he made later in the session on a qualifier. That first lap time meant that he finished the second phase in eighth place. Noriyuki unfortunately was not able to put together a clean lap, despite his best efforts, and he concluded with the fifteenth fastest time. Superpole 3. Michel, having already made use of the two available qualifiers, went back out on race rubber but couldn’t get below 1m36, thus closing in eighth place, securing a place on the second row for tomorrow’s races. Michel Fabrizio Noriyuki Haga — Althea Ducati The Assen Superpole saw both Althea Racing riders secure places on the second row for tomorrow’s races. At the end of the third phase, Carlos Checa and Shane Byrne had registered the sixth and seventh fastest times which will allow them to be up fighting with the leading group. Carlos Checa spent the practices preparing for the races but without losing sight of the importance of the grid position, fundamental in racing as close and competitive as this. “We’re looking good with renard to race pace”, said Carlos. “We’ve concentrated on preparing for tomorrow. In Superpole we set the same time with both the qualifier and the race tyre. Our grid position is not bad and tomorrow I will try to stick with the leading group and not let them get away early on. Tyre-wear will also be an important factor, hopefully my riding style will be an advantage in this respect.” Satisfying results for Shane Byrne too, who’s back among the frontrunners, having set the seventh fastest time to secure a place on the second row next to Carlos. “We’ve been mainly preparing for tomorrow”, said Shane, “and the times registered demonstrate that we can fight for good results. It will be important to make a good start so as to not lose contact with those starting on the front row. Overall I’m very happy with the work that we’ve carried out in these sessions.” Genesio Bevilacqua, team owner, declared, “This is the first track where we haven’t tested beforehand and the first job was to understand the new chicane. The qualifying was difficult and demanding for everyone and we’re happy with the work completed. Shane has returned to a good level and Carlos has proved himself to be a top rider.” — Yamaha Report Crutchlow and Toseland take ninth and tenth on the grid at Assen for raceday Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland made it through the first Superpole heat this afternoon to secure ninth and tenth place on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s two World Superbike races at the Assen TT circuit. Both riders had spent the previous qualifying sessions working on their set ups for the afternoon’s Superpole heats and had headed in to the Superbike shootout with confidence. They both made it through the first heat comfortably on race tyres, then switched to qualifiers midway through the second session. Crutchlow struggled to improve on his time in the second session leaving him just outside the top eight at the end. Team mate Toseland was on form and had nearly completed a hot lap which would have taken him through to the final eight when a violent wheelie three corners from the end at high speed disrupted his time. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (9th, 1’36.027) James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (10th, 1’36.061) Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager — BMW Report Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport continued the upward trend from the last couple of weeks in Assen (NED) on Saturday. Troy Corser (AUS) achieved the team’s best ever qualifying result in the FIM Superbike World Championship. The 38-year-old finished the Superpole 3 qualifying in third. Ruben Xaus (ESP) will start Sunday’s races from 12th. Prior to this the team’s best qualifying position was fifth for Troy at the previous round in Valencia (ESP). Troy Corser: Ruben Xaus: Davide Tardozzi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team Manager): — Suzuki Report Team Suzuki Alstare’s Leon Haslam finished Superpole in fourth place and will start tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races at the Assen World Superbike Championship fourth round in Holland from the front row of the grid. The young Briton was always in contention to win Superpole, but fellow countryman Jonathan Rea (Honda) had tested at Assen recently and used his greater knowledge of the new section of the track to good advantage and stormed to his first-ever World Superbike Superpole victory. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) took second with Troy Corser (BMW) third. Haslam’s team mate Sylvain Guintoli improved from yesterday but was unable to get his qualifiers to work and ended up 13th overall. Leon Haslam – 4th, 1:35.330: “I am on the front row so I’m happy. Anything else would’ve been a bit of a disappointment the way the season is going, and although Pole would’ve been good, front row is fine. I’m pretty happy with the bike on race tyres, but I didn’t go any quicker on qualifying tyres, so that’s good for the races tomorrow. I’m not sure why we didn’t go any faster on qualifying tyres and it’s an area that we’ll have to look at next time out. “My last lap today would’ve been faster but I made a little mistake in the last sector and lost time. I’m not sure if it would’ve been fast enough to beat Jonathan but it might’ve been good enough to get ahead of Jakub and Troy. It’s going to be a long, hard day tomorrow, but I don’t usually suffer physically in races so I’m looking forward to fighting for podiums again and keeping my series lead.” Sylvain Guintoli – 13th, 1:36.327: “Yesterday was pretty bad and although today was better, I should’ve improved more and gone faster. At least today I felt more confident in the front end and was able to push harder, but I didn’t get much feel from my qualifying tyres this afternoon and so couldn’t go any quicker. We need to do some more work on the rear end and tomorrow I need to make two really good starts and be in the leading group. If that doesn’t happen, it’s going to be a very long day indeed.” — Ten Kate Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two fourth round World Superbike championship races from pole position after setting the fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole shoot-out at Assen in Holland. It marks the Northern Irishman’s maiden world championship pole start and was made in emphatic style as Rea was the only rider to dip under the 1’35s barrier at the recently revised 4.452km Assen circuit. Rea will be joined on the front row for tomorrow’s two 22-lap races by Jakub Smrz, Troy Corser and fellow Briton, Leon Haslam, while his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Max Neukirchner, has work to do from the fourth row of the grid after qualifying 16th fastest. Jonathan Rea – P1 1’34.944s Max Neukirchner – P16 1’36.581s Ronald ten Kate – team manager Kenan Sofuoglu maintained his domination of the fourth round World Supersport championship event at Assen in Holland by taking pole position in this afternoon’s second qualifying session. The Turkish ace, currently lying second in the championship standings, has topped every session of the weekend thus far at the 4.452km Dutch circuit and he underlined his scintillating form by being the only rider to break into a 1’37s lap, leaving a half-second gap between himself and second place rider, Eugene Laverty. After a successful test at Assen last week, Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Michele Pirro, has also been among the leaders in each timed session. The Italian rider set the third-fastest time over the two qualifying sessions to secure another front row start for tomorrow’s 21-lap race. Kenan Sofuoglu – P1 1’37.908s Michele Pirro – P3 1’38.567s Ronald ten Kate – team manager |
Superstock 1000
Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Race Junior Honda) took his first pole of the 2010 season with a 1’39.105, ahead of Suzuki rider Davide Giugliano (Team06 Suzuki). Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) could not add to his pole total of two so far, and now starts this race third on the grid. Michele Magnoni (SCI Garvie Image Honda) took the final place on the front row, in a class with 27 riders on the grid. Danilo Petrucci (Pedercini Kawasaki) was the highest-placed Kawasaki rider, sixth.
Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’39.205; 2. Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1’39.677; 3. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’39.702; 4. Magnoni M. (ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’39.726; 5. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S 1000 RR 1’39.897; 6. Petrucci D. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10 R 1’40.374; 7. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’40.429; 8. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’40.434;
Sueprstock 600 – Race
Florian Marino (Ten Kate Race Junior Honda) scored his second win of the year and moved to within 11 points of the championship lead at Assen. He was only 0.154 seconds up on second place rider Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Racing Yamaha) who still leads the championship, on a new total of 61 points. A close fight for third place saw Bernardino Lombardi (Martini Corse Yamaha) take the final podium place, from his team-mate Federico D’Annunzio and Fred Karlsen (MTM Yamaha).
Results: 1. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR 600 RR 17’07.536 (159,130 km/h); 2. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 0.154; 3. Lombardi B. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 7.436; 4. D’Annunzio F. (ITA) Yamaha R6 7.709; 5. Karlsen F. (NOR) Yamaha YZF R6 7.871; 6. Lanusse R. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 20.050; 7. Covena T. (NED) Yamaha YZF R6 20.892; 8. Major N. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 21.176; 9. Carrillo C. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 21.194; 10. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 21.244….