WorldSBK heads to Assen
Round 4 sees the eni FIM Superbike World Championship return to ‘The Cathedral’ of Assen for the Dutch Round. Present on the championship calendar since 1992, the Dutch track opened in 1926 which makes it one of the oldest in the world. 2015 marks the 24th staging of a WorldSBK event at the venue, which is second only to Australia’s Phillip Island as the circuit to have hosted most rounds in the series.
Located a stone’s throw from Assen itself, the track has been shortened over the years and in its current configuration measures 4.542 kilometres, with six left turns and 11 right-handers, featuring a distinctly tight start to the lap which can provide drama early on in races.
The rider on the grid with most success to his name at Assen is Jonathan Rea, who now returns to The Netherlands not on a Honda but with Kawasaki machinery at his disposal. The Northern Irishman has stepped atop the podium four times, including an impressive victory in last year’s second race. He now heads back there as a four-time race winner from the six encounters to have been witnessed so far this year. This added to a couple of second places means Rea has amassed a staggering 93% of the possible maximum 150 points to have been up for grabs thus far. The Kawasaki Racing Team man leads Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) by 26 points, while third different race winner of 2015 Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) sits third overall.
Aragon Race 2 saw things turn around in dramatic fashion for Tom Sykes, who spectacularly highsided out of action following a rostrum finish in Race 1. The 2013 World Champion is now looking to put this to the back of his mind, with positivity in Round 4.
If Haslam pulled off a successful damage limitation exercise in Spain last weekend and his team mate Jordi Torres continued to impress with two top-5 finishes, for Chaz Davies it was even better. The Ducati rider sealed the marque’s first victory since the 2012 season and the first for the Panigale model which debuted at the start of 2013. He will remain alongside eyebrow-raising Spaniard Xavi Fores, while Davide Giugliano is back up to his full training regime and is expected to return to action for the next round at Imola. Incidentally, Fores knows Assen well from his time in the German Superbike Championship.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – “Assen’s enjoyable to ride but it’s always a challenge to get the bike to work well around the entire track, with some quite different sections. I’ve never been able to make the best of it in Superbike, and my results have been fairly average, while in Supersport I took a win. My aim this weekend, and every weekend, is to be on the podium, and then we’ll try to pick up wins where we can. I feel that we’ve learned a lot over the last couple of weekends, even when things have not been going so well, and I think that this will be important this weekend; we know where we stand in terms the chassis and that is particularly relevant at Assen I think.”
Javier Forés (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #112) – “I’ve only raced a few times at Assen but last year we had an IDM round there and I won the race so I can say that I really like the track, I’ve always ridden well at Assen and have some good memories. After the Aragón races, my aim this weekend will be to continue to work in the same direction to be able to improve in the races and stick closer to the guys in front. Last season’s IDM race took place in dry conditions and that’s what I’d prefer this weekend too but I don’t think I’d have particular problems if it were wet. The weather’s always an unknown anyway, but we’ll see what we can do…”
Perhaps those most looking for a turnaround in fortunes are the riders of Pata Honda World Superbike Team. Michael van der Mark heads to his home circuit hoping for at least a podium finish, having won the World Supersport race en route to the title last season. For World Champion team-mate Sylvain Guintoli, he is also looking for positivity after his Aragon Race 2 crash brought an end to a record run of 43 consecutive points finishes.
Sylvain Guintoli – “There is no disguising the fact that results have not been what we wanted so far and we’ve had a difficult start to the season. But the whole team is working really hard and totally focused on improving the results. We seem to be able to get into good lap times quite quickly but then we find it more difficult to get those last few tenths that really matter. But the fact that this is the team’s home round will focus our efforts even more because it’s important to get good results and it’s always special to get to the podium in front of friends and family at a home race. Whatever happens, we’ll all be working hard to put on a good show.”
Michael van der Mark – “I’m feeling quite confident ahead of the home race for me and the team and I’m really looking forward to it. We know from results in previous years that, without a really long straight, Assen suits the CBR a little better than other circuits but we’re still going to have to work as hard as we can and do our very best to get the most out of the package. It would be so good to be able to challenge for the podium but we have to be realistic because I’m still learning in this class. Your home race is always really special and it’s going to be a very busy weekend. But it’s only once a year and I’ve got somewhere to go and chill when I need to!”
As for Voltcom Crescent Suzuki riders Alex Lowes and Randy de Puniet, plus MV Agusta Reparto Corse’s Leon Camier and Team Pedercini’s David Salom, all four riders will be continuing to set up their new electronics packages which first made appearances in Aragon, while Ayrton Badovini aims for more strong results following a ninth place last time out on what was his return to the World Championship with BMW Motorrad Italia. Althea Racing’s Nico Terol and Matteo Baiocco were locked together in the last race, while Niccolò Canepa picked up his first point for Team Hero EBR. He and team-mate Larry Pegram now hope for double top 15 finishes at Assen.
The very first Assen World Superbike race was won by Doug Polen in what remains the most dominant season on record. Can Rea’s opponents prevent a similar situation in 2015? With three different manufacturers having won the opening six races, recent history says they can…
2015 eni FIM Superbike World Championship (3 of 13 rounds completed)
1 – Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team – 140
2 – Leon Haslam Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils – 114
3 – Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team – 83
4 – Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing Team – 66
5 – Jordi Torres Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils – 63
Sofuoglu returns to Assen as World Supersport leader
Just five days after the Aragon race, World Supersport will be practicing for Round 4 of 2015 at Assen. Having returned to winning ways almost exactly a year after his last race victory, three-time World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) is now looking to extend the championship lead as newly-born son Hamza first attends a WorldSBK round. Sofuoglu has won twice at Assen, including his first ever World Supersport victory in 2006.
The closest rival to Sofuoglu in the standings also rides a Kawasaki ZX-6R, as the United States’ PJ Jacobsen picked up a second consecutive podium in Spain. The same could not be said for Jules Cluzel, as the MV Agusta rider again retired from a potentially race-winning situation. Having won the season-opener at Phillip Island, the more recently luckless Frenchman now finds himself only eighth in the championship and 30 points in arrears.
Buriram hero Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE’’ Motorsport Thailand Honda) also retired in Aragon, continuing a run that has seen the championship leader heading into each round failing to make the end of the race; he crashed at Turn 14 with Marco Faccani (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Lucas Mahias (Intermoto Pontexpres Kawasaki, team-mate to Jacobsen).
Enjoying a first ever podium finish, on the other hand, was Pata Honda World Supersport rider Kyle Smith as the Englishman overcame early weekend setup problems to finish third in what has been his home country since six years of age. Elsewhere, former MotoGP rider Luigi Morciano joins Roberto Rolfo at Team Lorini, as Alessandro Nocco remains injured.
Glenn Scott overcame some problems at Aragon to finish 18th and will be hopeful of making further progress towards the front this weekend.
Glenn Scott: “It was a great round for AARK Racing, Aragon would be one of the toughest circuits on the calendar and easily the hardest circuit I have ever ridden. I always knew this was going to be a tough round for me and the team but every session we worked hard and improved. Qualifying in 19th out of 25 and hitting the 56’s was a good achievement in such an experienced field at the Aragon circuit.
“I got off to a great start, finding myself fighting for 16th in the early stages of the race but unfortunately I came together with another rider causing to me to run off track and lose a massive eleven seconds and dropped back to 25th. From there it was a tough lonely race to bring back some positions we lost. To crawl back to 18th was a great achievement but of cause at the same time very disappointing as another solid top 14 finish was achievable.
“I am upset to not take away points this round but we again learnt so much here at Aragon. We have improved the bike massively from Thailand and my experience and confidence is only increasing every time I jump on the bike and with Assen this weekend coming, I am feeling in good form to carry this knowledge over and continue our hard work to the top.”
2015 FIM Supersport World Championship (3 of 12 rounds completed)
1 – Kenan Sofuoglu Kawasaki Puccetti Racing – 55
2 – PJ Jacobsen Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki – 42
3 – Ratthapark Wilairot CORE” Motorsport Thailand Honda – 36
Superstock 1000 straight back to business at The Cathedral
After an incident-filled opener in Aragon last weekend, the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup now rocks on into The Netherlands and Assen.
Roberto Tamburini clinched his first race victory in Spain, as the Team MotoxRacing BMW rider blasted into the class in style. He fought off 2014 championship runner-up Lorenzo Savadori of New M2 Racing Aprilia, with the latter having been overtaken at the last corner. Third on the Aragon rostrum was Scotland’s Kev Coghlan, signalling a strong start to the new campaign for the Team MRS Yamaha crew.
Last year’s Assen race was very much weather-oriented, with home rider Kevin Valk (MTM – Kawasaki HS) making the most of his track knowledge in the testing conditions. However, to do that again he will be required to fend off challenges from the likes of Raffaele de Rosa, Ondrej Jezek and Australia’s Bryan Staring who were all fighting for top five positions in Aragon.
Further back in the pack, riders will be looking to avoid drama after the Aragon race witnessed a multiple first corner collision which meant no less than nine failed to make the end of the first lap.
2015 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup (1 of 8 rounds completed)
1 – Roberto Tamburini Team MotoxRacing BMW – 25
2 – Lorenzo Savadori Nuova M2 Racing Aprillia – 20
3 – Kev Coghlan MRS Yamaha – 16
Superstock 600: More Turkish delight in The Netherlands?
An apparent phenomenon controlled Superstock 600 proceedings in Aragon, either running away from the pack or forcing his rivals into mistakes as they pushed too hard to keep up. Toprak Razgatlioglu has taken the series by storm, with his Magny-Cours 2014 win and Aragon 2015 double meaning he has won each of the three races he has entered to date.
Mentored by three-time World Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu, Razgatlioglu leads the way for the Puccetti Racing Kawasaki squad. The 18-year-old hails from Sakarya, overlooking the black sea and 150 kilometres from Istanbul. He now aims to return there with Dutch silverware, buoyed by the fact that he knows Assen from his experience last year in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.
Who is most likely to halt the Turkish march? One may look first to Federico Caricasulo (Pata Honda Junior Team), considering the Italian was the only other rider to collect two podiums in Aragon. The other pair of rostrum finishers were Belgium’s Gauthier Duwelz and Italy’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi, although the latter blew any chance of overhauling Razgatlioglu when he crashed out on the last lap of the second race. Incidentally, from Assen onwards Superstock 600 returns to its usual format of one race per weekend.
Last year’s Assen winner was Niki Tuuli, collecting his first and so far only victory. Two places behind, Marco Faccani finished third en route to the Superstock 600 crown.
Young Australian Lachlan Epis finished 30th in Aragon and will be looking to improve that ranking at Assen.
2015 FIM Europe European Superstock 600 Championship (2 of 8 rounds completed)
1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu Kawasaki Puccetti Racing – 50
2 – Federico Caricasulo Pata Honda Junior Team – 36
3 – Gauthier Duwelz MVR-Racing Yamaha – 29
