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Formed at the start of the year from two previous WSBK Ducati privateer squads, the Pata B&G Racing team has a lot of combined experience, enough to see Jakub Smrz on the front row at Assen, second only to the all-conquering Jonathan Rea in Superpole.

Two seventh places at Assen were his 2010 season personal bests, and he was in the mix from the very first practice session to raceday last weekend, only losing out in the latter part of each race. In race one he experienced a problem with his gearbox quick-shifter system, while a sudden loss of position halfway through race two put him tenth, leading to a determined fightback.

"I gave it my all, but we didn't have any luck," said Smrz, disappointed but still happy to show his pace at one of his favourite tracks. "I believe I could've battled for the victory in race one, unfortunately the shifter issue caused me to go wide a few times. In race two, after losing a couple of seconds halfway into the race, I gained a few positions back, but I couldn't pass the factory bikes that were in front of me."