Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders, Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea, head to Assen in Holland this weekend (24-26 April) for round four of the 2009 World Superbike championship looking for improved results. The pair struggled last time out at Valencia in Spain but the Dutch-based team has been working around the clock since then, looking for ways to improve the power delivery of the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. Jonathan Rea undertook a brief test session at an oval circuit near the team’s base and declared himself happy with the work undertaken and confident of an improvement in performance at Assen, which is just 50km north of the Ten Kate squad’s Nieuwleusen workshop. The historic circuit known as ‘The Cathedral’ has hosted world championship motorcycle racing since it began in 1949, although it was originally a street circuit. It underwent a significant redesign in 1955 and then again in 2006, shortening to its current length of 4.55km. Jonathan Rea After what’s been a sluggish start to the season, we needed to look at making some changes to the bike to improve the feeling. The guys have found some pretty positive developments back at base and I was able to try them out last week. The feeling with the throttle is much better now and that was the main area of concern. Assen is a great place, for a number of reasons, and I got my first podium with the team there last year. The circuit should suit the bike better than Valencia anyway, and we’re all in a really positive frame of mind, so I’m really looking forward to the weekend. Carlos Checa I wasn’t able to test the improvements to the bike but we have had some detailed discussions and I’m happy with the developments that the team has made. There are one or two other additions to the bike for this weekend and I’m confident that what we have planned should work well at Assen. Like a lot of other riders, I prefer the old layout of the circuit, but it’s still a nice track and I was on the podium twice last year, so it’s a great place to have the team’s home round. I was at the workshop for an open day last weekend and, if the weather is as good as it was then, it should be a great event. Ronald ten Kate team manager We’ve been working very hard since Valencia to find a good feeling for the riders when they open the throttle. I think we now have a much better connection we made a small test last week and Jonathan’s reaction was really positive, so we’ll take it to Assen with some confidence. To be honest, this is not a small step; it’s quite a considerable change to the bike, both mechanically and electronically. But we’re really positive that it will bring the results that seem to have eluded us so far this season. More, from another press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Hannspree Ten Kate Honda World Supersport riders, Andrew Pitt and Kenan Sofuoglu, will be at Assen in Holland this weekend (24-26 April) for round four of the 2009 championship. The Ten Kate team has won the World Supersport race at Assen since 2004 and is keen to continue the tradition at its home circuit, since the team’s base is just 50km to the south of the historic 4.5km track. 2007 World Supersport champion, Kenan Sofuoglu, is currently joint leader in this season’s points standings, having won the opening race in Australia and then taking third at Valencia last time out the team’s first outing with the 2009 Honda CBR600RR. With two solid second places in the opening rounds, reigning champion Pitt experienced some front end handling problems at Valencia, but is confident of being right back on the pace and moving up from fourth place on the current leader board. Kenan Sofuoglu We all went to the Ten Kate Pit Stop Day last Saturday, where it was great to meet a lot of fans who came to visit the workshop and the dealership. The weather has been fantastic, so I’m hoping it will stay for the race this weekend. In the end, we did OK at Valencia and showed what potential the new CBR has, and I’m confident that the team has found even more performance from the bike already. Assen is a great place and I’ll have a lot of friends at the team’s home race this weekend so I’ll be looking for another good result to keep the momentum going. Andrew Pitt Well, we did have a few problems last time out with the new bike, but we’ve been able to narrow it down to three small problems that all came together at the same time. It meant the front end didn’t really work properly during the race at Valencia but, now we’ve got the problems dialled out, I’m hoping for better things at Assen. I took second place in a wildcard ride for the team here in 2007 and won last year’s race; and the guys have made some other improvements to the bike, so I’m feeling confident that Assen can be good to me again. Ronald ten Kate team manager In spite of Kenan’s podium in Valencia, it was a difficult weekend for the team. Since then, we have taken the opportunity to develop a number of new parts for the new CBR600RR. We’ll do another dyno test at the workshop this week but we’re pretty sure we can give the riders a competitive machine for our home race. It’s one we always look forward to, but it’s always more enjoyable with good results. More, from another press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Ten Kate Honda Racing’s Ryuichi Kiyonari approaches round four of the World Superbike championship at Assen in Holland this weekend (24-26 April) with renewed confidence and seeking improved results. With a best result of fourth so far this season, the Japanese rider struggled with grip problems at the last round in Valencia, although his team has been working around the clock since then to resolve the issues. Indeed, some modifications were tested by fellow Ten Kate rider, Jonathan Rea, last week and both Kiyonari and his crew are confident of improved performance and results at the team’s home round. Ryuichi Kiyonari After the last race I went back to Japan for a week for the wedding of Mamoru Moriwaki’s daughter, so it was good to spend a short time relaxing with friends. I must admit it was a little bit frustrating to ride with the problems we had at Valencia. But the team has been working really hard to prepare for Assen and I am confident that they have found some improvements for me to try. Last year was not such a good result, but we know what the problem was there basically, rider too aggressive on throttle! I like the circuit at Assen, though, so I will try very hard this weekend to get some good results for the team. Ronald ten Kate team manager In spite of a fourth place in Qatar, it has been clear that our results so far this season have not been what we would have expected, so we have been looking very closely at how we can improve the feeling with the throttle on Kiyo-san’s CBR1000RR. We have made quite a big change to the bike and this is both mechanical and in the electronics. We were able to test the changes last week and now we go to Assen feeling much more positive that we can improve things at our home race.