Image: Supplied.

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) started out in his home country return in style with the best lap on Friday, as the Motul Superbike World Championship warms up for a thrilling weekend of racing at Assen.

The Dutch rider has made it clear that he is at Assen to win, and the FP3 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).

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.

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 four of the Supersport World Championship kicked off in the Netherlands.

The Swiss rider 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.

Australia’s Anthony West (EAB West Racing Kawasaki) suffered an accident during FP1 and was declared unfit for the weekend after being examined at a local medical centre for a right arm injury. Countryman Lachlan Epis (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) was 28th to complete Friday.

In World Supersport 300 it was Scott Derou who led the way on-board his Kawasaki, as Tom Edwards (Nutec Benjan Kawasaki) was P16 – the new Ninja 400s having their revs reduced by 1000rpm for this weekend after a dominant start to the season at Aragon.

Detailed results