FIM Superbike World Championship Assen, Netherlands April 23, 2010 Provisional Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098R), 1:36.041 2. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:36.339 3. Troy CORSER (BMW S1000RR), 1:36.489 4. Leon HASLAM (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.618 5. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:36.752 6. Carlos CHECA (Ducati 1098R), 1:36.805 7. Leon CAMIER (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.064 8. Shane BYRNE (Ducati 1098R), 1:37.081 9. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098F10), 1:37.165 10. James TOSELAND (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:37.166 11. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 1098R), 1:37.344 12. Tom SYKES (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.434 13. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.453 14. Noriyuki HAGA (Ducati 1098F10), 1:37.462 15. Luca SCASSA (Ducati 1098R), 1:37.506 16. Max BIAGGI (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.580 17. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.684 18. Ruben XAUS (BMW S1000RR), 1:37.685 19. Matteo BAIOCCO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.795 20. Chris VERMEULEN (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.079 21. Roger HAYDEN (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.186 22. Broc PARKES (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:40.485 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Alstare: LEON IN TOUCH, SYLVAIN NOT. There were mixed fortunes for Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli on day one of the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship at Assen today. Leon kept up his impressive start to the season by posting the fourth fastest time of the day, but Sylvain struggled in both sessions and only ended 17th quickest. Sylvain at least ended in good company though, as Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) are just in front of him in 16th and 14th places respectively. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) once again showed his liking for Assen by taking provisional pole position, with Jonathan Rea (Honda) second and Troy Corser (BMW) third. Leon in fourth and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) means that the top five places are filled by five different manufacturers. Leon – 4th, 1:36.618 I’m quite happy to be fourth at this stage because today we were just going through the usual motions and trying out a few things. We tried some different brake options, but didn’t really try any soft rubber, so to end fourth is pretty good, I think. Tomorrow, we’ll try altering the balance of the bike and see if we can make more progress. The new section of the track is going to improve the lap times for sure. It’s still quite technical and high-speed, but that’s the kind of corner I like. The track felt a bit dusty today, but I’m sure it will get better as the weekend goes on. I feel pretty confident about our prospects and I’m looking forward to tomorrow and the races on Sunday. Sylvain – 17th, 1:37.684 I’m not sure where I was today and could not get a comfortable feeling at all. All day, I struggled and could not find any confidence in the front end of the bike and I felt like I was losing the front everywhere. On our last run of the day we made a radical change to the chassis and we will carry on in that direction tomorrow. It should be better because it can’t be worse! I know that the bike is a really good package and it’s up to me to get my head round what’s going on and work with my mechanics to find the improvement we need so much. I feel confident that tomorrow will be a lot better than today and I will end up at the right end of the grid. Friday qualifying 1 Smrz (CZE-Ducati) 1:36.041, 2 Rea (GBR) 1:36.339, 3 Corser (AUS-BMW) 1:36.489, 4 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare) 1:36.618, 5 Crutchlow (GBR-Yamaha) 1:36.752, 6 Checa (ESP-Ducati) 1:36.805, 17 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) 1:37.684, More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: HAGA AND FABRIZIO (DUCATI XEROX) CONFIDENT AFTER FIRST QUALIFYING AT ASSEN Assen (The Netherlands), Friday 23rd April : Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) concluded first qualifying at the Assen TT Circuit in ninth and fourteenth position respectively. In the early afternoon, the riders kicked off the weekend with the first free practice session and concentrated on refining the set-up of their 1198 machines. Michel made constant improvement throughout the sixty minutes to conclude the session in eighth position ; Noriyuki, who had more difficulty, finished sixteenth. Later on, in the first of the weekend’s two qualifying sessions, both riders improved on their times with respect to the previous session and, more or less mid-way through, both Michel and Noriyuki recorded their fastest lap times. Noriyuki is still having some trouble in the second split, losing an average of sixth tenths; this is the part of the track that has been modified since last year’s race with the removal of a chicane. Unfortunately in the last minutes of qualifying, when all the riders were pushing to the limit, a fall for Rea caused a red flag. The track was reopened with almost four minutes left on the clock but Noriyuki decided not to exit, believing that the oil on the track would not permit him to improve further. Michel, with the same idea, did make an exit but only to practice his start. The Ducati Xerox riders thus concluded the session in ninth (Michel) and fourteenth (Noriyuki) position. Michel Fabrizio 1m37.1 “We’ve improved throughout the day but there’s still more work to do tomorrow. I expected better results but tomorrow we’ll more further changes to improve the overall set-up of my bike and I hope this will allow me to drop the times. Rea is going strong, and he’s not the only one; it will be challenging this weekend.” Noriyuki Haga 1m37.4 “I’m still trying to understand how best to tackle the new corner, I don’t especially like that point of the track and I’m losing precious tenths in the second split. We have however improved somewhat during the day and I know we can perform better tomorrow, I just need more time on the track but I’m feeling confident.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY ON THE PACE FROM THE START! Troy finished the first day of qualifying at Assen with the third quickest time of the day and afterwards said “Today the bike has been the best it has ever been on the first day of a Superbike Weekend!” It has taken a long time for Troy to make such a bold statement, but recent good work by the team in the last round in Valencia and in tests at Mugello has given him a bike that he’s really happy with. Of course there is still more work to be done, but today has been the best first day since the team entered the championship at the start of 2009. Troy was second quickest in the morning untimed practice, behind Jonathan Rea (Honda) and was on course for a low 1:36 this afternoon, but had to slow when the flags came out for an oil spillage. In the end, his lap of 1:36.489 was good enough for third, behind Jakub Smrz (Ducati) and Rea. Troy – 3rd, 1:36.489 Well that was the best the bike has ever been on the first day of race weekend and I am happy that we’re at this stage. The bike came on a step in Valencia and then we made further progress in our tests in Mugello last week. The improvements in the traction control and engine braking have made the bike a lot better. The bike feels like a normal bike now and I can just go out and ride it. I was on a hot lap when the flags came out and think I would have got into the low 36s for sure, so it was a bit disappointing to have to roll off the throttle and end third. But, I am happy with the way the bike is and I am not pushing that hard. There are some areas of the track where I know I can go quicker, so we’ll see how tomorrow’s practices and Superpole go, but I’m pretty confident that we’re going to be competitive. The boys have done a good job, the engine feels strong and fast and the gearshifting is nice and smooth. All that, together with the improvements in the traction control and engine braking, is allowing to me to go out and ride quickly. The new section of the track is faster, but I am not sure if it is better to go in fast and exit slow or the other way round. In the race it could be a new passing place and that’s good because there aren’t many passing places around here. The track felt quite grippy today, especially in one area where I think there is some new tarmac. All in all, I’m looking forward to tomorrow and getting even more out of my bike. More, from a press release issued by Infront Motorsports: Privateer Ducati rider Jakub Smrz leads the opening day Czech rider up front in Holland Jakub Smrz was the fastest rider on his Pata B&G Racing Ducati, setting a new circuit best of 1’36.041 this afternoon at a sun-kissed Assen circuit. The privateer Ducati 1098 rider made the best of the slightly changed Assen layout, adapting to it even more effectively than Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) who had tested on the new track layout last week. Rea was second quickest, despite suffering a late technical issue. The hour long first qualifying session at Assen was halted for a few minutes to clean up an oil spill, leaving only one last flying lap for the riders to improve their early qualifying pace. The official BMW Motorrad Motorsport S1000RR of Troy Corser was third quickest at the end of day one, proving that the BMW team has made a repeatable jump in its real world abilities, following the team’s best ever fourth place finish at Valencia last time out. Corser was 0.4 from provisional pole man Smrz, on this 4.542km track, which features a faster Ruskenhoek chicane section than last year. Championship leader Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) rounded out the early top four at the 4.542km circuit, proving his prowess once again at another different layout and character of circuit. Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha) crashed more than once in the first session but still went into the top five, making it five different types of machine in the top handful of spots again. Sixth was the early result for privateer rider Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) and Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) outqualified his team-mate Max Biaggi today, going seventh to Biaggi’s 16th. Chris Vermeulen’s comeback ride put him 20th on the opening day for the official Kawasaki Racing Team, but his team-mate Tom Sykes was top ZX-10R rider, 12th from the 22 riders. Rider Comments Jakub Smrz: “I have a very good feeling with this track and every time I come back it is very satisfying to ride here. I like the new section but I do not have the gearing correct yet for that part, so there is more to come. I am ready for the rest of the weekend and I hope I will be battling for the top positions, especially at this track.” Jonathan Rea: “We did a nice race run this morning and also went through a few tyres to find the best choices for the race, and I think we will try the best combination of front and rear tomorrow. I am really enjoying riding and in a rhythm now. I do not have to ride on the edge to achieve a lap time. We have more grip on the rear after our test here and we still managed to keep a good front end feeling.” Troy Corser: “The team has done a great job and the traction control is working very well. The bike feels very connected. Both throttle and engine braking systems have given me a good feeling and our engine is pushing strongly. From first to fifth gear the acceleration is really hard. Overall, the bike is a good package now. Unfortunately, someone crashed in the last chicane when I was on my flying lap at the end of qualifying, and I lost another chance to go faster.” Times: Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 R 1’36.041; 2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’36.339; 3. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S 1000 RR 1’36.489; 4. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1’36.618; 5. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.752; 6. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098 R 1’36.805; 7. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F 1’37.064; 8. S.Byrne (GBR) Ducati 1098 R 1’37.081; 9. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 R 1’37.165; 10. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’37.166; 11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’37.344; 12. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10 R 1’37.434; 13. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’37.453; 14. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’37.462; 15. Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 R 1’37.506; 16. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV 1000 4F 1’37.580 Supersport First Qualifying Kenan and Michele go 1-2 for local team Sofuoglu begins on top after recent test Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and his team-mate Michele Pirro were first and second respectively at the new-look Assen circuit, making it a dream start for their Dutch-based team. Kenan was the clear leader, by 0.317 seconds, making the most of a recent test at Assen. Third quickest man was Fabien Foret (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) boosting his and his team’s confidence. Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was fourth in the early rankings, leading two Triumph riders, David Salom and Matthieu Lagrive. Times: 1. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’38.250; 2. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’38.567; 3. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’38.780; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’39.002; 5. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 1’39.143; 6. Lagrive M. (FRA) Triumph Daytona 675 1’39.405; 7. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’39.638; 8. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’39.785 Superstock 1000 First Qualifying The Max factor comes into play Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Junior Honda) and championship leader Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) went 1-2 in the opening qualifying session of the big Superstock class. Michele Magnoni was third on his Squadra Corse Italia Garvie Image Honda, if not quite into the 1’39s like Berger and Badovini. The first Suzuki was the Team06 Suzuki of Davide Giugliano in sixth place, while the first KTM twin-cylinder machine belonged to Pere Tutusaus (Go Eleven). One more qualifying session remains for all. Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’39.439; 2. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’39.702; 3. Magnoni M.(ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’40.022; 4. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 1’40.144; 5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’40.429; 6. Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1’40.698; 7. Petrucci D. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10 R 1’40.790; 8. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’40.988; 9. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’41.021; 10. Tutusaus P. (ESP) KTM 1190 RC8 R Superstock 600 First Qualifying Florian flies to provisional pole position in 600 Superstock Marino leads the opening 600 session Florian Marino (Ten Kate Race Junior) made it a great day for his team when he scored provisional pole at Assen, ahead of Jeremy Guarnoni’s MRS Racing Yamaha. Marino’s leading margin was an impressive 0.613 seconds, but his rivals have one more session to peg him back before Saturday evening’s 10-lap race. Martini Corse Yamaha riders Federico D’Annunzio and Bernardino Lombardi slotted into third and fourth respectively. Frederik Karlsen (MTM Racing Yamaha) was fifth. Times: 1.Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’42.755; 2. Guarnoni j. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’43.368; 3. D’annunzio f. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’43.538; 4.Lombardi B. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’43.542; 5. Karlsen f.(NOR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’44.111; 6. Major n. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’44.311; 7. Fanelli d. (ITA) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’44.364; 8. Carrillo C. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’44.465; 9. Cecchini R.(ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 1’44.903; 10. Krajci t. (SVK) Yamaha YZF R6 1’44.976 More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders Jonathan Rea and Max Neukirchner declared themselves happy after the opening day of the fourth round World Superbike championship meeting at Assen in Holland. Although 11 places separate the two CBR1000RR-mounted riders, both benefitted from a two-day test conducted last week at the revised 4.542km circuit near Groningen in the north of the country. Rea spent much of the free practice and qualifying session in first place but a technical problem towards the end of the afternoon prevented the 23-year-old from further improving his time. Provisional pole position was taken by Jakub Smrz. Neukirchner, meanwhile, made further adaptations to both his machine and his riding style to allow him to exit corners faster. The improvements allowed him to go more than a second faster than during last week’s test. Jonathan Rea P2 1’36.339s It’s been a positive Friday, really maybe one of the best I’ve had in Superbikes. We’ve already found a good race pace and I was able to go four tenths quicker this afternoon than I did in the morning, when I found it quite easy to go fast. We already did a race run this morning, doing 24 laps on the rear, and then I was happy with the front that we used this afternoon. It’ll be even better when I use the right tyre combination. It’s still only Friday, of course, and because we tested last week, the others have probably got a bit more to find than I have. But we’re not playing catch up this weekend and we mustn’t go to sleep tomorrow. I’m really enjoying riding the bike and feel like I’m in the zone. Max Neukirchner P13 1’37.453s I’m actually quite happy that we made a good step forward today. I went faster than at the test here last week and was able to find a second from this morning to this afternoon. The biggest thing we’ve been able to find is more stability with the bike and this has improved its turning. All this helps me to adapt my riding style as well, so it’s all helping. I hope to improve in all these areas some more tomorrow and keep making up some positions like I was able to today. Ronald ten Kate team manager It’s been a good day on both sides of the garage and with Jonathan we’ve already done quite some work on used tyres in preparation for Sunday’s races. There are still some areas that we need to look at but it’s going OK so far. Max is climbing up the rankings again but there’s still a bit more work to do to find the ultimate combination of adapting his style to go with the right settings on his CBR1000RR. But we remain positive and will continue with that work tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: A clear sky allowed dry tests today in Assen for both Superbike and Superstock 1000 session. During morning free practice team Pedercini riders worked a lot on their bikes set up. In Superbike Roger Lee Hayden (1’41″195) finished in twentieth place while Matteo Baiocco (1’41″375) was twenty first. In afternoon qualifying session Baiocco recorded a time of 1’38″795. He improved his best lap time with more than 2 seconds and claimed a provisional nineteenth position. Also teammate Roger Lee Hayden is improving his performance. He ended his afternoon’s session with a best lap of 1’39″186 obtaining the twenty first place. Superbike qualifying 1 : 1) Smrz (Ducati) 2) Rea (Honda) – 3) Corser (BMW) 4) Haslam (Suzuki) 5) Crutchlow (Yamaha) ..”¦19) Baiocco (Kawasaki)”¦”¦21) Hayden (Kawasaki) Roger Lee Hayden : “Everything went pretty good today. It was my first time in Assen and I like the track. It’s really fast and flowing. This morning we had some problem to the front of my Kawasaki but this afternoon we made it better and I was able to improve my lap time. I’m pretty happy considering that this was only the first day of test and hopefully tomorrow I’ll improve my position entering the Superpole”. Matteo Baiocco : “This morning we found a lot of problems on the electronics and we spent quite the full session trying to solve them. This afternoon qualifying went better and I found very soon a good feeling with my Kawasaki. We still have some problems to solve but I’m confident for tomorrow and I want to work hard with my team, because we have to get a better set-up to be able to enter the Superpole”. In Superstock 1000 FIM Cup free practice, Petrucci (1’42″658) reached the tenth position while Leeson (1’44″687) obtained the nineteenth place. Both riders improved their best lap time during the first qualifying session. Danilo Petrucci (1’40″790) was seventh, reaching the provisional second row on the starting grid. Also teammate Leeson (1’42″993) improved his best lap time but he remained in nineteenth position. Superstock 1000 qualifying 1 : 1) Berger (Honda) 2) Badovini (BMW) – 3) Magnoni (Honda) – 4) Barrier (BMW) 5) Bussolotti (Honda) 6) Giugliano (Suzuki) 7) Petrucci (Kawasaki) “¦”¦ 19) Leeson (Kawasaki) Chris Lesson : “I’m pretty satisfied with my today practices. I was able to take advantage of the changes my team made on my Kawasaki. The morning free session was quite good while in the qualifying I was able to improve my best lap time with more than one second. My bike is working well but tomorrow I will test some new setting, trying to improve my today’s performances”. Danilo Petrucci : “I am pretty happy for what we have done today. With my team we worked intensively to find the best possible setting. I would say that we have done a good job and we solved a lot of the problems we had in Valencia. I’m satisfied with my best lap and with my seventh place. My result today is thanks to a really big effort from the team who have worked so hard to make the bike comfortable for me. time and tomorrow we will need to concentrate at the maximum in order to improve the race pace and to obtain a good position on the grid”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland spent the first day of the Assen race weekend working hard on setting up their bikes for tomorrow’s Superpole heats. Crutchlow got quickly down to fast consistent laps, spending the majority of the first qualifying session in second position. Two crashes resulting from losing the front end disrupted his session although he was unhurt and came away from the heat having demonstrated a consistent fast race pace. Team mate James Toseland spent the session working with his team on two very different bike set ups, exploring both front and rear end feel. They found positive steps in both areas so will work to combine and produce a race package ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole session. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (5th, 1’36.752) “It’s been a good day speed-wise, I felt quite comfortable keeping the pace I had. We had two stupid crashes, both when I lost the front end. I was using my usual tyre for the first one, I hit a bump and crashed, on the second one I used the new harder front tyre but didn’t have any feeling in it, I came into the last chicane maybe 6km slower than usual and just crashed for some unknown reason. Still, as I said I’m happy with the pace so looking forward to tomorrow and seeing if we can improve and achieve something good in the Superpole session.” James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (10th, 1’37.166) “We’ve been trying a few things with the geometry to see if we can improve the front feel and the rear feel. Over the last three rounds we’ve either got the one or the other so we’re trying to find a better balance using head angles and offsets. On one bike I had a setting very similar to what we used in Valencia, and the other bike had something completely different, I’ve been jumping between the two, and towards the end of the session I think we were getting there. My best lap time of the session was on the harder rear tyre which is generally not the quick tyre which is encouraging. I’m pleased with what we’ve done today, we’ve got through a lot and we’ve got some good ideas for tomorrow. There’s a lot more time in me and the bike to come.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager “For our first day today we saw some good things, for sure tonight the technicians and the riders will continue to work to find ways to improve on the current set up even more. I’m expecting to be in a different position tomorrow afternoon. Cal has really good times through three sectors of the track, he’s losing something in the last sector, we know this and so we’re studying to understand why so we can fix that. When we do I think he will be really strong. I’m expecting James to take another step forward tomorrow, today he was focussed on comparing two very different bike setups, we found good things in both so we’ll work tonight to bring those together.” More, from a press release issued by Team PATA B&G Racing: Provisional pole position for Jakub Smrz at Assen. The rider of PATA B&G Racing was the fastest in the first qualifying practice of fourth round. He was followed by Rea, Corser and Haslam who make up the provisional front row. The prestigious result was obtained despite the fact that Smrz was working exclusively on the race, for which he is preparing in order to score an important result. It was on this very track that Jakub took his first career podium in World Superbikes. A crash at over 200 kmph stopped Lorenzo Baroni, who had done very well in practice this morning to set the fourth fastest time. The Italian had to retire after only eight laps due to the crash, fortunately without consequences. JAKUB SMRZ | Ducati 1098R | 1st in 1’36.041: “We did a great job and the result is a consequence of our hard work. I always look forward to returning to this track, I feel great on it and I really have a lot of fun when I race here. The change that has been made this year will require us to make some modications as well because we seem to have some issues but we have all the time we need to do that tomorrow. I need to be in top form for the race in order to battle for the top slots and so I have to replicate today’s performance”. LORENZO BARONI | Ducati 1098R | 14th in 1’41.999: “I lost control of the bike in the fastest corner (over 200 km/h) and I literally flew over and crashed. Fortunately I didn’t get hurt, but the bike was smashed and I couldn’t continue. I hope to redeem myself tomorrow, I was doing pretty well and I’m confident I can get a good result”. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: Assen, April 23rd 2010 – The first day of action on the Dutch circuit of Assen today and both of Althea Racing’s riders finished in the top ten. Carlos Checa, completing 26 laps, built up confidence on the modified track, recording the sixth fastest time, less than eight tenths of a second behind fastest rider Smrz. The Spaniard has been on the podium here in the past and enjoys riding at this track. Shane Byrne made 25 laps, also getting to grips with the new-look track and concluding in eighth position, a second behind Smrz. Genesio Bevilacqua, team owner, declared, “Today was undoubtedly a positive one, not so much for the fact that both riders are in the top ten, but rather for the work we’ve completed. It’s satisfying to be among the best Ducatis and this gives us confidence for both the Superpole and the races.” The track schedule continues tomorrow with the second qualifying session at 10.45 and free practice at 13.50, followed, at 15.00, by the Superpole. On Sunday morning at 9.20 warm-up gets underway, while Race 1 starts at 12.00 and Race 2 at 15.30, both races are 22 laps in length, equal to 99.924km. The official lap record for Superbike at Assen is held by Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), set in 2009 in a time of 1m38.680, in an average of 166,173 km/h, while Ben Spies lapped in 1m37.626 (at an average of 167,970 km/h) in practice last year.