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2019 WorldSBK
Round 4 – Assen

In cold, windy conditions the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship continued to put on a phenomenal show at the Motul Dutch Round during their Tissot Superpole session.

Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) sneaked pole position with a minute to go but big crashes involving Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) at Turn 15 brought the red flags out and a premature end to the session.

Championship leader Alvaro Bautista was back up the sharp end of proceedings on Saturday, having endured a difficult opening day by his own standards. The Spaniard was a persistent top three runner throughout the session and maintained his front row starting record, placing on pole position for a third consecutive round.

Teammate Chaz Davies, who has never had a pole position or win at the TT Circuit Assen, featured inside the top ten for the entirety of the session, completing it in seventh position and without setting a fast time on the Superpole tyre.

Michael van der Mark enjoyed a positive Superpole session, finishing second at the end. The Dutch rider will look to add to his win tally from the front row, with his first front row starting place after Superpole since his only pole position in Thailand, back in 2016!

It was a positive start to the session for Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) as he led the session for the most of the first half. Having suffered two big crashes on the opening day of action on Friday, it was a pleasant return to the front for the third-placed man in the championship. Lowes finished in fourth at the end of the session.

It was a fantastic session for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, as Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger continued their progress throughout the session. Before the red flag, Tom Sykes had been inside the top four but eventually slipped to sixth having not set a time with the Superpole tyre, whilst Markus Reiterberger bolted in a lap time for his best ever Superpole starting position of third – becoming the first German rider to start on the front row at Assen. It is BMW’s first front row at Assen since Troy Corser in third in 2010.

It was another difficult Tissot Superpole session for Kawasaki riders, as fifth was the best that Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) could manage. The British rider will be looking to mount the podium from the second row on his return to WorldSBK racing at TT Circuit Assen. His teammate Jonathan Rea was outside of the front row for the second consecutive round, with an eighth place – the red flag hindering his progress at the end. The reigning four-time WorldSBK Champion had beaten Bautista across all session leading up to Superpole, so expect a race charge from the Northern Irishman.

Once again there were two Independent team riders who made the top ten, with Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) achieving his second consecutive ninth place start after the Tissot Superpole session. The Spaniard will be looking to remain inside the top ten during the races. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) completes the top ten but the Turkish rider was taken to the medical centre after his Turn 15 crash that brought a red flag out to the session.

Other notable positions included Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) who was in 11th, whilst rookie Hector Barbera (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was 14th, and Alessandro Delbianco (Althea MIE Racing Team) secured a career-best 15th. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was a shock down the order in 17th.

Following a snowstorm hitting the TT Circuit Assen early in the afternoon during the WorldSBK grid, Race 1 start had been delayed twice before being rescheduled at 11:00 AM on Sunday morning, to guarantee riders’ safety.

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Pole position – Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – DUCATI)

“On Friday we struggled a bit because we tried a different setup but I didn’t feel good on the bike, so we decided to go back to our standard setting. I didn’t make a good lap time in the Tissot Superpole, compared to the past rounds, but thanks to the red flag I was able to finish on pole position. What happened this afternoon, I’ve never seen it before in my career! It was snowing, and with these conditions, it was just too dangerous to race. Tomorrow we will have Race 1 and Race 2, and hopefully, the weather will improve for then”.

P2 – Michael Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)

“I am quite happy about the second position in the Tissot Superpole. I think it is the best qualifying I have ever done with the Yamaha and it was special to do it at my home round, but I am a bit disappointed because I felt that I could improve my lap time, but then we had the red flag. This afternoon I was ready to race, and it was frustrating that in the end, we had to postpone it. It’s freezing, but still, many fans were here to support me. We really wanted to race but since it was snowing it was the safest option to wait and then postpone it. It has been a strange day today”.

P3 – Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)

“Since the start of the weekend I have been feeling good on the bike, and I want to thank all my team for their help. I am starting to getting comfortable on the bike, and I know Assen very well, and I like this track a lot. My qualifying lap was not that good, but in the end, I was lucky that the session was red flagged. Starting from the front row is really important for the race. Let’s see what we will be able to do tomorrow”.

Superpole
Pos	No.  Rider	Bike	Time
1	A. Bautista	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1’34.740
2	M. Van Der Mark	Yamaha YZF R1	1’34.822
3	M. Reiterberger	BMW S1000 RR	1’34.828
4	A. Lowes	Yamaha YZF R1	1’34.935
5	L.  Haslam	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1’35.086
6	T. Sykes	BMW S1000 RR	1’35.155
7	C. Davies	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1’35.288
8	J.  Rea	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1’35.530
9	T. Razgatlioglu	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1’35.844
10	L.  Camier	Honda CBR1000RR	1’35.920
11	J.  Torres	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1’36.076
12	S. Cortese	Yamaha YZF R1	1’36.175
13	E. Laverty	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1’36.222
14	A. Delbianco	Honda CBR1000RR	1’36.828
15	R. Kiyonari	Honda CBR1000RR	1’36.879
16	M. Melandri	Yamaha YZF R1	1’37.042
17	M. Rinaldi	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1’37.221
18	H. Barbera	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1’37.283

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WorldSSP

World Supersport took to the historic TT Circuit Assen for the fourth round of their championship season. It was yet another thrilling session for the class, with riders swapping back and forth throughout the session before Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) took pole position. However, with just under 11 minutes to go, Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) had an engine blow up which led to fluid being dropped between Turn 13 and 15, with a red flag needing to be brought out.

Randy Krummenacher put a solid lap time in before the red flag came out and the weather turned inclement, cementing his position at the top of the time-sheets. Krummenacher takes his second pole position at Assen, with his first WorldSSP pole coming at the Dutch venue back in 2016.

Federico Caricasulo (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) joined his teammate on the front row for his fourth consecutive front row, whilst Raffaele De Rosa (MV AGUSTA Reparto Corse) completed the front row, despite crashing on Mahias’ fluids down at Turn 15.

The second row will comprise of Estonian-ace Hannes Soomer (MPM WILSport Racedays), as the Honda-mounted rider took his best Tissot Superpole qualifying position, whilst also being Estonia’s best starting position in WorldSSP. Fifth position belonged to Hikari Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who also crashed on teammate Mahias’ spillage at Turn 15. Rounding out the second row is Jules Cluzel (GMT94 YAMAHA), who lies second in the championship.

Row three comprises of Aragon pole-sitter Thomas Gradinger (Kallio Racing), who was just over a second behind Krummenacher. Lucas Mahias, despite his problems, finished in eighth, whilst fellow Frenchman Corentin Perolari (GMT94 YAMAHA) was ninth. Completing the top ten was Spanish rider, Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing).

Pole position – Randy Krummenacher

“It was a really strange Superpole, and it was a pity because I couldn’t take full advantage of my bike. I was able to do just one flying lap, but it was enough to take the pole position. I am happy about it and I am really confident for tomorrow. My rivals are also very fast here and we don’t know which conditions we will find tomorrow. I will try to do a good race and just focus on my consistency”.

Pos	Rider	Rider	Time
1	R. Krummenacher	Yamaha YZF R6	1’38.010
2	F. Caricasulo	Yamaha YZF R6	1’38.115
3	R. De Rosa	MV Agusta F3 675	1’38.521
4	H. Soomer	Honda CBR600RR	1’38.664
5	H. Okubo	Kawasaki ZX-6R	1’38.724
6	J.  Cluzel	Yamaha YZF R6	1’38.771
7	T. Gradinger	Yamaha YZF R6	1’39.054
8	L.  Mahias	Kawasaki ZX-6R	1’39.264
9	C. Perolari	Yamaha YZF R6	1’39.295
10	I.  Vinales	Yamaha YZF R6	1’39.333
11	A. Badovini	Kawasaki ZX-6R	1’39.394
12	R. Hartog	Kawasaki ZX-6R	1’39.455
13	G. Van Straalen	Kawasaki ZX-6R	1’39.608
14	J.  Danilo	Honda CBR600RR	1’39.905
15	F. Fuligni	MV Agusta F3 675	1’39.939
16	K. Smith	Kawasaki ZX-6R	1’40.164
17	P. Sebestyen	Honda CBR600RR	1’40.470
18	L.  Cresson	Yamaha YZF R6	1’40.545
19	J.  Van Sikkelerus	Honda CBR600RR	1’40.710
20	W. Tessels	Yamaha YZF R6	1’40.752
21	D. Rubin	Yamaha YZF R6	1’41.117
22	C. Stange	Honda CBR600RR	1’41.281
23	A. Coppola	Honda CBR600RR	1’41.706
24	M. Herrera	Yamaha YZF R6	1’42.124
25	X. Navand	Yamaha YZF R6	1’42.943
Not Qualified
NQ	G. Matern	Kawasaki ZX-6R	1’45.426
NQ	N. Calero	Kawasaki ZX-6R	n/a
NQ	A. De Wintere	Yamaha YZF R6	n/a

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World Supersport 300

Galang Hendra Pratama took the pole position in a flurry of activity in the middle of the session, in the optimum weather conditions as rain came and went through the 25-minute stint. Joining him on the front row, Aragon race winner Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) was second, looking to launch his attack for a second career victory from a good starting position. Completing the front row is Mika Perez (Scuderia Maranga Racing).

Continuing to impress in the 2019 World Supersport 300 class was Hugo De Cancellis (Team Trasimeno), who was fourth. The Frenchman will be looking for another podium from the front of row two, whilst teammate Omar Bonoli vastly improved to fifth position on the grid, as the 17-year-old took his best qualifying position of the year. Completing the front row is the first rider from Group B, home-hero, Scott Deroue (Kawasaki MOTOPORT). He will be looking to put on a good show for his home fans.

Row three features Ukrainian rider Nick Kalinin from Group A (Nutec – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki), who finished ahead of Jan-Ole Jahnig (KTM Freudenberg Junior Team) in eighth and then Borja Sanchez (Scuderia Maranga Racing) in ninth. Rounding out the top then was reigning champion, Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300).

Due to the severe weather conditions in the afternoon, WorldSSP300 Last Race Chance was cancelled.

Pole Position – Galang Hendra Pratama

“I am really happy! It was difficult to manage the tyres and find the grip but my team did such a great job, and they were able to solve the problem before the Tissot Superpole. Step by step we were able to find a good setup for the bike! Thank all my team and my Indonesian fans, my sponsors and family that always support me. For tomorrow I will keep concentrate and try to do my best.

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time
1	G. Hendra Pratama	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’51.475
2	M. Gonzalez	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’51.811
3	M. Perez	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’51.879
4	H. De Cancellis	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’51.905
5	O. Bonoli	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’52.103
6	S. Deroue	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.113
7	N. Kalinin	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.121
8	J.  Jahnig	KTM RC 390 R	1’52.141
9	B. Sanchez	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.204
10	A. Carrasco	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.239
11	J.  Buis	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.365
12	F.  Gomez	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.442
13	R. Schotman	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.461
14	D. Iozzo	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.690
15	M. Bastianelli	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.727
16	J.  Hyde	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.743
17	M. Garcia	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.784
18	F.  Hernandez Moyano	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’52.821
19	M. Kappler	KTM RC 390 R	1’52.879
20	D. Otten	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’52.940
21	A. Verdoïa	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’53.245
22	D. Blin	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’53.404
23	M. Luna Bayen	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’53.439
24	K. Arduini	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’53.459
25	D. Loureiro	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’53.477
26	E. De La Vega	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’53.559
27	V. Steeman	KTM RC 390 R	1’53.566
28	T.  Edwards	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’53.616
29	B. Ieraci	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’53.670
30	O. König	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’53.904
31	K. Meuffels	KTM RC 390 R	1’53.953
32	T.  Bramich	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’54.445
33	T.  Kawakami	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’54.785
34	K. Hartmann	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’55.241
35	T.  Alonso	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’55.469
36	M. Pedeneau	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’55.949
37	J.  Foray	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’56.141
38	A. Quinet	Honda CBR500R	1’56.292
39	J.  Facco	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’56.550
40	F.  Rovelli	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’56.657
41	B. Sofuoglu	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’56.863
42	B. Neila	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’57.591
43	B. Molina	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’57.649
44	S. Naud	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’58.286
45	V. Schwarz	Kawasaki Ninja 400	1’58.406
46	R. Dore	Yamaha YZF-R3	1’59.574
47	A. Pelikanova	Kawasaki Ninja 400	2’01.525

Source: MCNews.com.au

2019 WorldSBK
Round 4 – Assen

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A freezing cold and windy Assen played host to a close session that saw the top five riders covered by just 0.031s, Tom Sykes taking the BMW to finish the opening day at the TT Circuit Assen on top!

Tom Sykes – P1

“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.”

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 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.

Jonathan Rea – P2

“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 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.

Leon Haslam – P3

“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.”

Markus Reiterberger 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.

Markus Reiterberger – P4

“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.”

In what was one of the closest sessions in recent WorldSBK memory, home-hero Michael van der Mark  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.

Michael van der Mark – P5

“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.”

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.

Álvaro Bautista – P6

“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 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.

Chaz Davies – P7

“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.”

Yamaha’s Alex Lowes suffered another crash in FP2 and finished his first day at Assen in tenth.

Alex Lowes – P10

“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.”

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.

Sandro Cortese – P8

“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.”

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.

Marco Melandri – P14

“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.”

In what was a phenomenally tight session, the leading 12 riders were covered by just 0.821s, with four Independent riders inside that gap.

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Source: MCNews.com.au