News 29 Apr 2017

Rea opens Assen WorldSBK weekend on top

Sofuoglu sets WorldSSP pace during Friday practice.

Source: Supplied.

Friday’s action at the Acerbis Dutch Round of the 2017 Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) saw Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) set a marker for his rivals.

Rea posted a 1m35.383s lap to top the FP2 time-sheets as he rode consistently quick around the TT Circuit Assen. He was joined by Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in the top three.

Rea has an excellent record at the Dutch venue having won nine WorldSBK races there and having taken double victories in the last two visits to the Netherlands. His Friday pace suggests he will be as strong as ever on Saturday and Sunday after his strong start to 2017 so far.

Behind the top three in FP2 were Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) and Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia), who both made the top five. Savadori improved significantly from FP1 having had technical problems which hampered him in the morning outing.

After his difficult start to 2017, a determined Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) stated his intentions on Friday at Assen by topping the World Supersport free practice time-sheets on the first day.

The Turkish rider’s 1m38.950s in FP2 put him at the head of the combined times, in front of PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team).

Of the Aussies, Anthony West (EAB West Racing Yamaha) was 21st, Aiden Wagner (Team Lorini Honda) 27th and Lachlan Epis (Response RE Racing Kawasaki) 28th.

The Superstock 1000 session saw Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha) fastest at 1m38.103s, while Mike Jones (Aruba.it Ducati) was ninth, 0.938s from the top. Glenn Scott (Agro On-Benjan Kawasaki) was P30.

Recent