WorldSBK Press Office

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) signed out his home country return in style with the best lap of Friday, as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship warmed up for a thrilling weekend of racing at the legendary TT Assen Circuit.

The Dutch rider has repeated over the last two weeks that he is in Assen to win, and the Free Practice 3 was a good start to that promise. After a promising FP1, van der Mark didn’t improve on his best lap all through FP2 and best part of the third session. But with less than three minutes to go he recorded a scintillating run, a quarter of a second faster than Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who slowly progressed his positions throughout the day before finishing second.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) roared straight into his first Superpole 2 in only his second WorldSBK round, with the third best lap of the combined sessions. Rinaldi overcame a weaker first sector to record the then-best time of the day over Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who had previously dominated both early sessions and most of the third.

Rea, who rode more laps than anyone today on the Assen track, came in fourth, unable to improve on his best lap from FP2. His teammate Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), second in FP2, also had to settle for his time from the second session, ending the day in sixth. Between the two was Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK), in fifth.

Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) overcame his retirement in Aragon with a controlled final practice session, with the seventh best time overall. Just behind him was Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), out of the Superpole 2 positions for long stretches of FP3 but who ended up qualifying comfortably with the eighth fastest lap.

The fight for the final two positions in tomorrow’s Superpole 2 was fierce, with Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) making use of the Aprilia’s pace to creep in ninth, as the final rider under 1’36. The battle for tenth was won by Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), who, while unable to run faster in FP3, made good use of his FP2 time (fifth-best in that session), just ahead of Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).

Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), the sole Red Bull rider this weekend following Leon Camier’s (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) accident last week, did not make it out in FP3 after his FP2 crash, but was declared fit and should run in tomorrow’s Superpole 1.

WorldSSP

After a disappointing Sunday at MotorLand Aragon, Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) started his Assen weekend in style with the fastest time in both Free Practice sessions, as Round 4 of the FIM Supersport World Championship kicked off in the Netherlands.

The Swiss rider, 11th in the Pirelli Aragon Round, kept the lead throughout FP2 ahead of Aragon winner Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing), who came in second by just three hundredths of a second. Joining them at the top was Jules Cluzel (NRT), coming in third after his first podium-finish of the season last weekend.

Behind him, Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing) improved on his FP1 time to make it in in fourth position, followed by Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag) and Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team). Championship leader Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team), fifth in FP1, could only make it through in seventh after having his final lap deleted.

Hikari Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Rob Hartog (Team Hartog – Against Cancer) and Niki Tuuli (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) completed the top ten, qualifying directly for tomorrow’s Superpole 2. Anthony West (EAB antwest Racing) suffered an accident during FP1, and was declared unfit for the weekend after being examined at a local medical center.