In uncharacteristically hot weather conditions for a WorldSBK race meeting at the classic Assen circuit, KRT riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes secured fourth and sixth place respectively on the timesheets, after Friday’s three combined practice sessions. Both riders easily qualified for Superpole 2 on Saturday, which will determined the final grid positions for race one later that afternoon.

With the sun eventually raising ambient temperatures to 25°C and lifting track temperatures to 36°C the conditions that faced the official Kawasaki team were different from most previous Assen experiences. Despite this unusual but very welcome challenge Rea and Sykes proved fast from the start, and maintained their competitive pace throughout day one.

Rea completed two long runs to ensure he would have all the data he and his crew need to make final tyre and set-up choices for the first 21-lap race of the Assen weekend on Saturday.

Good work on track and in the pits ensured that Sykes would find a strong set-up across all three 40-minute long free practice sessions today, with the aim being a consistent performance in what are expected to be warm race conditions on Saturday.

Should Sykes win Superpole on Saturday morning it would make him the single most successful rider ever in this specialist pre-race discipline. He shares top spot in terms of career Superpole wins currently, but a 44th Superpole would take him to the very top of the rankings on his own. A race win for Tom tomorrow would be his first of 2018, but the 34th of his career.

If Rea wins race one on Saturday he will equal the current record of 12 race wins at Assen in WorldSBK, currently held by four-time champion Carl Fogarty.


Jonathan Rea, stated:

“We worked in FP1 just getting up to speed and understanding the bike. There are just a few areas where we need to improve, especially in turning. We made two different set-ups and did two long runs; in FP2 and FP3 with different tyre combinations, to add to our understanding, so we are well equipped with information for tomorrow. We understand the race tyre set-up but now we can improve the bike a little bit more with the knowledge we gained today.”

Tom Sykes, stated:

“I really enjoyed Friday and the progression has been really good. We improved in every session and finally we ended up very strong and consistent and I was happy with our overall race consistency. Our best lap and our 16th lap were very close and consistent and I am enjoying riding the Ninja ZX-10RR. The feedback today has been very nice. With the hotter conditions the front and rear tyres are working and moving quite a lot but they are giving me good feedback. I am able to respond and use this to the best potential.”