While teams from the FIM Supersport World Championship headed to Spain for two days of testing, Ten Kate Racing Yamaha opted to complete two days of action earlier this week at the TT Circuit Assen with riders Stefano Manzi and Jorge Navarro. The Dutch team are preparing for their home round, where they have enjoyed so much success, and used Monday 3^rd April and Tuesday 4^th April to complete two days of testing.

It has been a strong start to the season for Ten Kate Racing Yamaha despite not yet winning a race with Manzi currently second in the Championship standings behind Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team). Manzi has two podiums from the first four races to his name so far in 2023 as he looks to claim his first WorldSSP title, while Navarro’s season has been impacted by the serious injury, he sustained in Moto2™ at Phillip Island in 2022.

The team did venture to Donington Park in March to join a British Superbike test but the weather severely limited their running due to wet and cold conditions. In early April, the team headed to Assen for two days of testing which were described as “positive” to prepare Manzi and Navarro for the team’s home round in the best possible way as well as testing new items on their Yamaha YZF R6 machines.

Looking back on the test, Manzi said: “After a month we could finally get back on the bike and I’m really happy with how this test went. We tested a lot of important things during the last two days and I am happy with the things that we found. Now we wait for the race weekend in Assen in just over two weeks’ time, and we need to see if track conditions will be different. I want to thank the team for their efforts and I’m looking forward to return to racing soon.”

Navarro added: “I am very happy with the test because I think it has been very productive. Every time I went out, I tried something different, that helped us to gather a lot of information and find the things that I like. It was also helpful to make longer runs, which I can do now because my fitness has improved. I am still in the recovery process, but I already feel better than during the first two rounds. We still have some weeks to prepare for the race weekend in Assen, I am looking forward to continue our work and start racing again.”

Ten Kate Racing Yamaha were not the only team to test at the TT Circuit Assen, with MTM Kawasaki out on track as well. Riders Jeffrey Buis, the 2020 WorldSSP300 Champion, and rookie Loris Veneman were preparing for their first race of the 2023 campaign with the WorldSSP300 season starting in the Netherlands. 

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