Classic Assen The Next Venue For KRT
After three scintillating opening rounds the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship now heads to the long-established TT Circuit at Assen in the north of the Netherlands, with Kawasaki Racing Team riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes first and third in the championship fight respectively.
With a European-based sequence of races now underway, a run which started at the previous round at Motorland Aragon in Spain, Assen will offer up the next points scoring opportunities this coming weekend. Race one will take place on Saturday 29th April and race two on Sunday 30th.
A remarkable start to his latest title defence has seen Rea win five of the first six WorldSBK races – and finish second in the other. His points total of 145 is therefore only five points from perfection on the Ninja ZX-10RR. Jonathan is fully 50 points ahead of Chaz Davies in the championship, with Sykes third overall and only five points behind Davies at this early stage of the season.
Sykes, still fighting off the effects of an infection that has affected his digestive system, is looking to Assen for his first race winning opportunity in 2017 to add to his haul of 31 career WorldSBK victories. All of those wins have come on Kawasaki machinery. Despite his illness and time spent modifying some aspects of his riding style, to suit the latest technical rules in the class, Sykes has secured four podiums from the first six races.
The 4.542km long Circuit van Drenthe, located on the outskirts of the town of Assen itself, has been fertile ground for KRT in recent times. Rea has secured all four of the most recent Assen race victories since he joined Kawasaki in 2015. He has secured a total of nine race wins there through his career, which is the second highest number of race victories for a single rider at a single track in WorldSBK history. Sykes has also recorded a race win at the TT Circuit in Assen, in his championship-winning year of 2013, when he won the first race of the day.
Despite all the early success in 2017 with the ZX-10RR Kawasaki and the whole KRT team have continued to strive for more success with their latest WorldSBK developments in testing, both immediately after the Motorland Aragon race meeting and during a two day session at Portimao in Portugal last week.
The WorldSSP series, STK1000 and all-new WorldSSP300 category – in which a Kawasaki rider won first time out at Motorland – will again join the WorldSBK paddock at Assen.
After race weekend has been completed in the Netherlands Imola hosts the fifth round of the championship, with racedays on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th of May.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “I’m really excited to go to Assen as it’s a circuit that typically I’ve been very strong at in the past. I really enjoy the layout and nature of the track. Sunday at Assen will also mark my 200th career WorldSBK race start so that, in itself, is something I’m both proud and excited about. Since the Motorland Aragon race we had three days testing where we’ve worked hard to improve the set up of the ZX-10RR and also worked on some areas where we have been struggling, with positive results. The WorldSBK Assen weekend always falls around this time of the year and history has shown that the weather can play a part, so it’s important to be fast in both the wet and the dry. I’m excited for whatever condition arrives. It’s always a great feeling riding in front of the passionate Dutch fans, who always turn out in force.”
Tom Sykes, stated: “I am really looking forward to going back to Assen as I am very excited and motivated to race there again. I will just have to see how I feel, physically, after the problems I have been having. This has distracted me a little bit but I am ready to go back to the Netherlands to race. We have had a couple of tests since the last event. Even though I wasn’t at full capacity we definitely got some direction from those so I am looking forward to going back to the Assen layout. I really enjoy the place and I think every rider does. It was always an ambition to ride at Assen when I was young. We have some little set-up changes and developments that we tried in testing that we will be taking them to Assen.”
2017 KRT Rider Statistics
Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015 and 2016
2017: Races 6, Wins 5, Podiums 6, Superpoles 2
Career Race Wins: 43 (28 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 94 (52 For Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 10 (6 For Kawasaki)
Tom Sykes: World Champion 2013
2017: Races: 6, Wins 0, Podiums 4, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 31 (31 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 88 (87 For Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 38 (38 For Kawasaki)
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
4 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Sykes 2013, Rea 2015 & 2016), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
2 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016)
2 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015 & 2016)
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 96 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 317 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 65 – second overall