Assen WorldSBK Race Day Guide

Assen WorldSBK Race Day Guide

Tissot-Superpole -Tom Sykes

 25th career pole, only one shy of the second all-time spot, held by Troy Bayliss (record: 43, Troy Corser);

 first pole of the season for Sykes, who started at least once from the pole position in the last six seasons. He is the fourth rider to score poles in six different years, like Noriyuki Haga, Frankie Chili and Troy Bayliss. In WSBK history only Troy Corser did better: no less than 12, spanning from 1995 to 2010;

 third pole position at TT Circuit Assen after 2012 and 2013, equalling the track record held by Troy Corser (1995, 1999, 2006) and Frankie Chili (1998, 2003, 2004);

 Kawasaki is the first manufacturer to set pole in Assen in four consecutive years since Ducati managed to do it in the first five editions of the Dutch event (1992-1996);

 despite starting from the first position on the grid in the last six races here, Kawasaki has only scored one win, with Sykes two years ago (race 1);

 Tom starts from pole with 22 wins under his belt: with 23 he would reach the 8th all-time spot, currently occupied by Raymond Roche;

 since his last win in Laguna Seca/2 last year, his best race result is a third place, obtained five times out of six weekend races.

2nd -Jonathan Rea

 for the third time in his last four qualifying runs here he is second on the grid at Assen behind Tom Sykes, after 2012 and 2013;

 can become the second most successful rider in Assen WSBK history. He will line up as a five-time winner, one shy of Troy Bayliss. Carl Fogarty won here 12 times;

 claimed at least one podium here from 2010 onwards, for a total of eight: with a double podium finish he will reach the two riders who claimed at least ten Assen podiums. Those are Carl Fogarty (15) and Noriyuki Haga (10);

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 he is running his best string of races on the podium: seven after Aragon;

 this year he was either the race winner (4 times) or second at the flag (2 times);

 counts 19 wins: only ten riders scored 20 or more wins in the history of the Championship. His next target is Max Biaggi, on 21 wins;

 counts 48 podiums, at 49 he will find Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri (12th all-time);

 there was only another occurrence since the start of the 2013 season with a team locking the first two grid spots: that was Aragon last year and the team was always Kawasaki, with Tom Sykes on pole and Loris Baz in second.

3rd -Leon Haslam

 equalled his best grid spot in Assen, obtained in 2009, when he finished on the podium twice, in third and in second (his best weekend here). The following year he scored his last podium finish in Assen to date with a second in race two;

 improved his record: for the first time in his career started from the top-3 in 4 straight race weekends. It’s the second time in his career he has taken part in four successive qualifying rounds with a front-row grid spot after the first four races of 2010;

 this year he has been always on the front row and finished on the podium five times out of six: he missed out only in Aragon race one, when he was fourth at the flag;

 counts 29 straight race finishes in the points after Aragon;

 with one more podium finish he will reach Ruben Xaus and Michel Fabrizio at the 21st all-time spot (35).

4th -Chaz Davies

 for the first time he qualified on the top10 in Assen, improving from the eleventh in grid he recorded here in 2011;

 after being on the podium in both Aragon races, he is looking for his first string of three podiums since 2012, when he was third in Moscow/2 and third and winner in the two Nürburging races. A string of four would be a first in his WSBK career;

 this year he was always on the podium but for the two Buriram races, where he fell twice;

 counts 18 career podiums at the moment, with two more he will enter the club of 31 riders who scored at least 20 podiums in WSBK history.

 This year Michael van der Mark was always the best Honda rider in grid. In Assen he posted his second-best grid spot in 5th (he was fourth in Phillip Island at his debut);

 a similar record for Alex Lowes, 6th in grid and always the best Suzuki in grid this season;

 Javier Fores is 7th in grid: he was fourth from that same spot in the 2009 Superstock 1000 race;

British domination continues

In every qualifying round this year there was a British front row lockout and for the third straight race there were four British riders in the first four grid spots: the first four are, albeit not in the same order, the first four of the Aragon grid.

So far this season, all the six podiums featured only British riders, with the podium count as follows: Jonathan Rea, 6; Leon Haslam, 5; Chaz Davies, 4; Tom Sykes, 2; Alex Lowes, 1.

This is reflected also in the races led: the only non-British rider to lead this season was Michael van der Mark, for five laps, in the second Phillip Island race.

Statistics by Michele Merlino