WorldSBK Race Lap Record: 1:34.880, Jonathan Rea, 2017

WorldSBK Pole/Circuit Best Lap Record: 1:33.505, Jonathan Rea, 2017

Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands

April 12, 2019

Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Tom Sykes, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.414

2. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:35.417

3. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:35.427

4. Markus Reiterberger, Germany (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.442

5. Michael Van Der Mark, Netherlands (Yam YZF-R1), 1:35.445

6. Alvaro Bautista, Spain (Duc Panigale V4 R), 1:35.547

7. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Turkey (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:35.554

8. Sandro Cortese, Germany (Yam YZF-R1), 1:35.703

9. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale V4 R), 1:35.813, crash

10. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:36.183, crash

11. Eugene Laverty, Ireland (Duc Panigale V4 R), 1:36.197

12. Jordi Torres, Spain (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:36.235

13. Leon Camier, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:36.457

14. Marco Melandri, Italy (Yam YZF-R1), 1:36.765

15. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:37.262

16. Hector Barbera (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:37.395

17. Michael Rinaldi, Italy (Duc Panigale V4 R), 1:37.405

18. Alessandro Delbianco, Italy (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:37.901

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

Thrilling first day of action at TT Circuit Assen ends with Tom Sykes on top

BMW rider closes on top with 12 riders covered by just 0.821s

Day one at the Motul Dutch Round for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is complete for the WorldSBK class, at a freezing cold and windy Assen. In a stunningly close session that saw the top five riders covered by just 0.031s, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), taking the BMW to finish the opening day at the TT Circuit Assen on top!

2013 World Superbike champion Tom Sykes was once again a prominent front-running rider in FP2, as he concluded Friday on top! The all-new BMW S1000RR continued to show positive signs with progress being made in the aerodynamics at MotorLand Aragon, making for an exciting prospect to see the German manufacturer back at the sharp end. Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was one of the revelations on Friday, lapping multiple consistent times and eventually placing fourth overall. Reiterberger looking to improve on a best Superpole result of sixth, achieved in Sepang 2016.

Having led the session in FP1, Kawasaki’s were on form at the famed Dutch venue. It was the reigning four-time WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who consolidated a positive opening day with a second place as Friday concluded. The Ulsterman setting multiple fast times and eventually toppling his teammate. Rea will be hoping to continue his search for his first race win of the season. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), returned to the TT Circuit Assen in The Netherlands with a fine third place. The ‘Pocket Rocket’ will be hoping to return to the podium for the first time since Australia.

It wasn’t an all-conquering opening day for ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati team, who struggled throughout the session. Alvaro Bautista languished for the majority of FP2, in the pits with his crew hard at work, implementing the settings needed to challenge at the front. The championship leader finished the session in sixth, with a flurry of fast laps towards the end of FP2. Chaz Davies had a small crash at Turn 5, soon remounting but returning to the pits. The Welshman, who is looking to continue his search for a third podium of the season, finished the session in ninth position, ahead of his teammate for most of the session.

In what was one of the closest sessions in recent WorldSBK memory, home-hero Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) completed the session in fifth position, just 0.031s behind session leader Tom Sykes. The Dutchman was looking to put on a good show in front of a loyal home crowd and goes into Saturday full of confidence. Teammate Alex Lowes suffered another crash in FP2 and finished his first day at Assen in tenth.

Two Independent team riders once again squeezed into the top ten, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) in seventh, just 0.140s from the leading time by Sykes. One position behind the Turkish rider, Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was one of the biggest improvers and finished in eighth, as second Yamaha rider too.

In what was a phenomenally tight session, the leading 12 riders were covered by just 0.821s, with four Independent riders inside that gap. Tom Sykes is also the first rider to top a Free Practice session that has not been Bautista or Rea, making Assen look like it could host a thrilling, action-packed battle with various manufacturers and riders.

More, from a press release issued by Moriwaki Althea Honda Team:

The Moriwaki Althea Honda Team focuses on bike set-up at the Assen circuit

On a very cold day with maximum air and track temperatures of just 7°C and 12°C respectively, Leon Camier set the thirteenth fastest time in the combined Free Practice standings of this fourth round of the Superbike World Championship in Assen (The Netherlands).

In FP2 the British rider improved on his morning’s performance by roughly eight tenths of a second, setting a personal best of 1’36.457, just over a second from the front in what is a very tight classification.

Ryuichi Kiyonari also improved on his lap times over the two sessions, closing day one in fifteenth position with a fastest time of 1’37.262.

The Moriwaki Althea Honda Team pairing will be back on track tomorrow morning for the third and final practice at 9am, before the Superpole at 11:00am and the first 21-lap race at 2pm local time.

Leon Camier

13TH (COMBINED) 1’36.457

“It was quite cold out there today but the Pirelli tyres actually work pretty well. We probably didn’t choose the best front solution for our last run today but aside from that we’re fine in that regard. Having said that, we are mainly working to improve our overall bike set-up, especially in terms of the last sector where we are struggling a bit more. We are trying to improve bike handling when it comes to changes in direction and wheeling. We will see how the weather will be tomorrow and what we can do.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari

15TH (COMBINED) 1’37.262

“I’m not happy with my lap times or my position because I was expecting to be faster here at a track I like very much. Some corners are really demanding but that doesn’t bother me, I just push because I really enjoy riding here. My feeling with the bike is good and so I’m disappointed with my results today. I feel I can be faster than this so tomorrow I have to improve in all areas, starting with myself.”

More, from a press release issued by Barni Racing:

Rinaldi 17th in cold free practice sessions

Assen (NED), 12th April 2019. Assen has witnessed unexpected cold air temperatures since the start of the weekend on Friday morning, making the situation worse for Barni Racing Team rider Michael Rinaldi and their technical crews as they look for their optimum race settings.

With the maximum temperature reached 9°C Rinaldi was only seventeenth at the end of the first day of practice with a time of 1’37.405 and 1.9s far from the leader.

The team from Bergamo needs a great step forward to improve its lap time when the session will be decisive for defining the starting grid order.

Rinaldi struggled a lot in terms of stability. The Ducati Panigale V4 R moved around a lot and the crew is working hard on making the bike less twitchy for the race of tomorrow.

Marco Barnabo, Team Principal:

Definetely it wasn’t a good day. The few informations we have with the new bike, on this track penalize us more than elsewhere. We have to give back the rider confidence in the beginning of the corner. In a such challenging track it’s one of the most important aspect, and at the moment we are suffering. This evening we will work even harder than usual to get ready for tomorrow’s practice session.

Michael Rinaldi

P17 (1’37.405)

It was a more difficult day than expected. Neither the bike nor I are expressing our potential and we are trying to understand why. We are too far from the positions we ackoledge we can reach and we fail to fully understand the reason. Fortunately we are still at the beginning of the weekend and there is time to get out of this situation.

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Van Der Mark Matches P1 Pace on Bitterly Cold Opening Day in Assen

Free practice

Less than a second separated the top 12 riders on the timesheet after a bitterly cold opening day at the TT Circuit Assen. Michael van der Mark ended the day fifth fastest only 0.03 seconds from P1, while his Pata Yamaha WorldSBK teammate, Alex Lowes, finished 10th, despite crashes in both sessions due to the track temperature, which never exceeded 13 degrees Centigrade. GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK rider, Sandro Cortese, bounced back from a difficult FP1 to finish eighth in FP2, while Marco Melandri ended the day a disappointing 14th, after once again struggling to find a confidence inspiring set-up on his R1.

Van der Mark kept his home crowd entertained during FP1, as the only Dutch rider on the WorldSBK grid pushed to try and depose reigning world champion, Jonathan Rea, from the top of the timesheet. In the end the Pata Yamaha rider fell short by little more than a tenth of a second but was happy to close out the opening session in second place. Changes to the to his R1 for the second 50-minute session this afternoon didn’t bring significant improvements, but after further adjustments van der Mark was able to consistently improve his lap times to finish in fifth position, and just 0.031s from the top spot.

Both free practice sessions for Lowes were hampered by crashes, with the Pata Yamaha rider losing the front into turn nine this morning and then suffering the same fate at turn one this afternoon on a rapidly deteriorating front tyre. Despite the two crashes Lowes was satisfied with his consistency and is confident that he has the pace to improve on 10th position in FP3 tomorrow.

The cold conditions brought problems for WorldSBK rookie Cortese in FP1 this morning, with the reigning Supersport world champion unable to find a good feeling with his R1. Reverting back to the base set-up with which he secured solid results in the opening three rounds solved the issue, with Cortese bouncing back to finish FP2 eighth on the timesheet.

It was another difficult day for Melandri, with the GRT Yamaha rider again struggling to find a set-up on his R1 with which he was comfortable and that would allow him to rediscover the form that saw him finish on the podium at the opening round in Australia. Melandri and his crew will analyse the situation further overnight, in a bid to find an improvement ahead of FP3 tomorrow morning.

Michael van der Mark

Pata Yamaha WorldSBK – P5 – 1’35.445

“It’s not ideal to be riding in such cold conditions as we had here today, not just for us but also for the tyres. It means you have to be a bit careful the first few laps but, overall, I’m quite happy with today. This morning I felt good on the bike and, on the last run, I improved my lap time a lot and it was clear what we needed to improve for the second session this afternoon. We made some changes to the bike for FP2, but this didn’t bring the improvement we were expecting, so we reverted back to a set-up closer to the one we ran this morning and I immediately felt better. I was struggling a little on corner exit, as the bike wanted to wheelie out of the turns, so we’ll need to look at that during FP3 tomorrow. The times are very close and I was able to put together some consistent laps, so I’m happy enough with the first day here in Assen.”

Alex Lowes

Pata Yamaha WorldSBK – P10 – 1’36.183

“The track conditions today were really cold, which isn’t something we were expecting coming into this weekend, but it wasn’t too bad. This afternoon I stayed on the used tyres and did a long run, almost race distance, but then the front tyre wear towards the end was quite severe. I tried to keep going until the end, to give us more information but in hindsight, maybe I should have come in a lap earlier because I lost the front on the bump into turn one and crashed. If I’d have come in for new tyres then I felt like I’d have been quite strong at the end. Now we need to work out why we’re getting excessive tyre wear, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on tomorrow.”

Sandro Cortese

GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK – P8 – 1’35.813

“I’m a little bit more relaxed after FP2, because this morning was a bit of a disaster for me. When I started FP1 it was like I’d forgotten how to ride a bike in the one week since Aragon! For the first time ever, I didn’t have a feeling for the bike but, obviously it was very cold this morning. We made some big changes on the bike to try and improve and we continued with this in the afternoon, but then we made the decision to go back to the base set-up we’ve used over the last three races, with positive results. This is how we need to work, rather than looking at what the other Yamaha riders are doing, as they are so completely different. I’m happy that we remained calm, stayed focused and made some good progression this afternoon. Of course, we are still missing a bit but if we look at the gap this morning, which was almost 2.5 seconds, and then compare it to the 0.2 seconds we’re missing now, I think we can be happy with the job we did. Now we just need to continue in this way.”

Marco Melandri

GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK – P14 – 1’36.765

“It was one more difficult day for me here in Assen. I’m still struggling with the same issue I had on the first day with the R1; I am trying to adapt my riding style and move my position on the bike to try and improve things, but it just seems to get worse. It’s difficult because we can’t go the way I’d like to with the set-up and, in the cold conditions we experienced today, the problem is even worse. The biggest issue is that, right now, I have no confidence and that means I can’t push as hard as I need to.”

More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati riders Álvaro Bautista and Chaz Davies end first day of free practice at the Assen TT circuit in sixth and ninth place respectively

Day 1 of free practice for the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship at Assen saw Aruba.it Racing – Ducati riders Álvaro Bautista and Chaz Davies take sixth and ninth place respectively in the provisional standings. In wintry conditions, with a maximum air/track temperature of 7°/15° C, today’s two sessions were extremely hard-fought affairs, during which the Spanish rider and his British team-mate struggled more than expected in trying to reach a convincing set-up. At the end of FP1 and FP2 the top nine riders were separated by just four-tenths of a second.

Tomorrow the third and final free practice session will be held at 09:00 CET, followed two hours later at 11:00 by Superpole qualifying for the starting-grid line-up for Race 1, which gets underway at 14:00.

Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #19) – 6th – 1’35.547

“Today was a bit of an unusual day. The temperatures were very low and we used a slightly different setting from the last races to try and be quick right from the start. Maybe it was because the track was too cold, but I wasn’t able to improve the way I wanted during the first session. In the afternoon session, after a few laps, we decided to go back to the set-up used in the last races. The mechanics were very quick to carry out the modifications required and the feeling with the bike improved immediately. Basically in two practice sessions, we only lapped without any problems for the last ten minutes. These things happen sometimes, but luckily we were able to finish the day with a good feeling. The times are all close together, but I think we’ve found the right direction for the weekend.”

Chaz Davies ( Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 9th – 1’35.813

“It wasn’t so bad today and the lap times were really close. We are in ninth place but only 0.4s away from the top and I felt like there is more on the table. I had a really small crash, because I’m struggling to do what I want in Turn 5; it’s quite cold and I don’t have full confidence there. As soon as I went on the track this morning, my Panigale V4 R was working pretty good so I’m reasonably happy and at the end of the day we definitely found our base set-up. I have a lot more confidence with the front of the bike, which has probably gone up from 60 to 90%, and I’m much happier than what I was in the early rounds of the season.”

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Strong Friday For KRT At Assen

With official Kawasaki riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam setting second and third best lap times respectively at the end of the opening day in the Netherlands, it was a successful start at a very cold Assen Circuit in the north of the country.

Very low air and track temperatures, but thankfully dry weather, welcomed the KRT duo to the 4.542km long Assen as they experienced their opening two outings on the new Ninja ZX-10RR at this classic circuit

Rea looked on course to take the fastest time of all today but a late push from Tom Sykes saw Rea finish up just 0.003 seconds from the overnight lead. The times were incredibly tight in general, with Haslam a mere 0.013 seconds from the fastest, and the top five riders were covered by just 0.031 seconds after two 50-minute practice sessions.

Jonathan had started the day well, leading the first practice session by 0.165 seconds with Leon seventh at that point, before his move up to third after FP2. Finishing second and third respectively gives each rider a boost that there will be more to come on Saturday, first in Superpole qualifying and then in the opening race of the weekend.

A bizarre start to Friday for the WorldSBK riders saw a red flag being thrown to halt FP1 shortly after it had started. A wild hare on the circuit caused a possible hazard to the riders, before it was chased off to safety.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “A very positive day to be honest. We have changed the bike set-up a little bit and gone back in a different direction from what we had been in the winter tests and the first few rounds. I have gained a little bit of agility on the bike set-up and I am able to do things a little bit differently. The bike is turning better in the longer corners and I am able to make the difference, so the window is a little bit bigger. With such a big change, step-by-step, I need to adapt a little bit more. Of course it is a learning process and I feel quite good, but here the temperatures are so low that it is important for us to analyse both the SC0 and SC1 option rear tyres for tomorrow. We need to understand exactly where the crossover in performance is, if any. Then we can find our race set-up. I feel quite positive after the work we have done today and we understand where we need to improve for tomorrow.”

Leon Haslam, stated: “I am really happy because I did not expect to be third quickest. Our plan was to do this morning with a hard tyre and this afternoon with a soft tyre and we did over race distance in both sessions. So to just use two tyres over the whole day I am really happy. Always Assen is close, one tenth here, one tenth there, and the race is always a close battle. There are a few areas I want to improve in still but so far so good. The biggest thing is to keep the tyre temperature up. Normally in these conditions the SC0 would never last but the new bigger profile tyre is lasting just unbelievably.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) was seventh overall today and top independent rider of all. Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) placed his Ninja ZX-10RR 12th, but was still only 0.821 seconds from the fastest time. Replacing the injured Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) at this race was experienced MotoGP rider Hector Barbera, who was 16th in his first ever WorldSBK track sessions.

More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport:

BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team storm to the top at TT Assen Circuit.

Just one week on from Round 3 in Spain, the team were back on track at the TT Assen Circuit in Netherlands ahead of the Motul Dutch Round.

With weather and track temperatures extremely low in the opening Free Practice session of the day, both Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger had to work hard to find the perfect set up for the conditions. It would be the reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea who topped FP1 with a 1’35.598, Sykes in P3 +0.191 behind him and Markus Reiterberger in P6 +0.414 from the top.

The afternoons session didn’t see much of a rise in temperature as both BMW’s took to the track for the final session of the day. Markus Reiterberger was impressively setting high 1’35.00 laps and with his best being a 1’35.442 he would end the day in P4 on combined times – his best FP of the season so far.

Tom Sykes looked to improve on his P3 from FP1 and with some small changes to the bike he managed to do just that, setting a 1’35.414 he would be the fastest rider of the day on combined times, the first official P1 for the new BMW S 1000 RR in the World Superbike Championship.

Shaun Muir – Team Principal

“It’s been good positive day for us. FP1 and FP2 generally went in the right direction, we didn’t take any steps back which paid dividends by the end of FP2 as we got everything chalked off the board that we wanted to try out.

Both riders ran consistent lap times and in the cold conditions it suited both the bike and the riders, so it’s really pleasing to have both riders in the top 4 where confidence is high and the times are close.”

Tom Sykes (GBR)

“I am looking forward to this weekend especially if it’s going to stay dry, I feel if the rain comes there could be a lot of trouble with the temperatures and the rain tyre. Having said that the whole of the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team are working really well, we have done a lot with the BMW S 1000 RR and got off to a steady start doing a few things in this morning’s FP1 and FP2 sessions. We now feel we have a strong pace in these conditions.

Tomorrow we will look to refine our setting further, however we will keep an eye on the conditions during tomorrow’s 9am start… that being said I am looking forward to the races, I enjoy Assen and the layout of the track is fantastic so I hope we can convert this speed into some results.”

Markus Reiterberger (GER)

“First of all I have done many laps around Assen. My first impression of the bike was not the best and we put this down to the rear tyre, despite this feeling we were still able to put ourselves into the top 6 during FP1 so we have to be happy about that.

Going into the second session we didn’t expect too much with the results but we continued with some changes to the chassis and the electronics. I again struggled with the rear during the early stages of FP2 so we made a change of tyre to the SC1, this immediately changed the setting of the bike which was good step for me and I could consistently lap 1’35.00/1’36.00 times and finished the day in P4.

I am happy with the setting change we made from today’s second outing, I hope we can continue this into tomorrow’s qualifying and race.”