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The FIM Supersport World Championship field is digging in as they prepare for the Pirelli Dutch Round at the venerated TT Assen Circuit. Their trip to Assen will mark the third round of the 12-round season and nearing a quarter of the way through the campaign, several riders have begun to distinguish themselves atop the WorldSSP field. Mark your calendars for Friday, April 17^th, for the first salvo of the weekend, but first check out down below to get a lay of the land in World Supersport.

MASIA’S MASTERY: The Spaniard has been taking no prisoners in his sophomore season

Having kicked off 2026 on fire, Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) won the season’s first race, then more recently took a P2 double from Portimao. In his rookie season, he landed P4 and P5 in last year’s outing at Assen, and the standout Spaniard currently leads the Championship at this early juncture. Can the #5 take his first WorldSSP win at the Cathedral of Speed? Since joining the paddock this offseason, across his first two rounds, Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) has been up around the podium fight straight from the jump. After winning Race 2 of his debut round, Arenas closed Portimao with a podium. Arriving at Assen, where he has ridden before throughout his time in the MotoGP paddock, he’s expecting to be up around the fight for the race win once again. Fresh off a historic Portimao Round, Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) landed ZXMOTO’s first-ever win, then went back for more for a double at Portimao. It’s safe to say he arrives in Assen with the most momentum on his side.

OETTL CHASING GLORY: The German traded outright pace for consistency at Portimao, now he will look to combine the two

Back to 100% after nursing a nagging knee throughout 2025, Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) has found a step compared to how he started 202, fighting closer to the front and netting results like P2 in the season-opener and back-to-back P6’s at Portimao. He still hasn’t found that final gear to fight for the race win, but he will welcome more podium consistency, nonetheless. While Roberto Garcia's (GMT94 Yamaha) results may not show it, he’s been in the thick of the podium fight, and the young Spaniard at Assen will look for his first WorldSSP podium. Garcia’s veteran teammate, Lucas Mahias, has had a somewhat similar story so far, as he has been involved in the fight for race wins, though his results may not show it. Unlike Garcia, he’s stamped his name atop the podium, and after a much-improved performance at Portimao after an uphill Australian Round, he will hope for another step, as the best result at Assen across the last two seasons is a high of P9.

ONCU’S BLUES: Can the #61’s slip in form come to a close at Assen?

Can Oncu's (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 2026 season so far has been far from what it had seemed in the preseason buildup to the campaign. The Turkish star, who finished 2025 as the Riders’ Championship runner-up with six wins and 16 podiums, currently sits eighth in the standings, without a single podium to his name. Yamaha Motor Europe’s Road Racing Sporting Manager Nicolo Canepa stated after the round that it’s important that the Turk learns from these experiences and cuts down on his unforced errors. If he wants to fight for the Championship. The #61 will hope for a change in form at Assen; to do so, he will draw on positive experience from last season, when he took pole position on his way to P3 in Race 1 and a Race 2 win. Another good sign for Oncu is his Ten Kate Racing Team’s affinity for landing strong results at their home round at Assen. The team have featured on the rostrum 20 times and have topped the podium 10 of those times including back-to-back doubles in 2021 and 2022 with Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) who rode with them at the time.

GROWING IN GREEN: Alcoba shows signs of growth after an early-season sophomore slump while Aegerter continues to search for a feeling

Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) didn’t enjoy quite as much pace at Portimao as he showed at Phillip Island. Fortunately for him, he’s found his way onto the podium before at the ‘Cathedral of Speed, landing a P3 rostrum result back in 2021 during his MotoE days. Jeremy Alcoba has been the brighter of the two Kawasaki riders so far this season as Dominique Aegerter's (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) struggles to re-acclimate to the Championship continue. Alcoba has been consistently within the top 10 and will hope to maintain that at Assen. Rounding out the top ten on the standings, Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) is one of eight riders to have podiumed so far this season, the latter of the two Phillip Island results, which have kept him afloat after a poor performance at Portimao, where he took a sole point from Race 2 in P15.

WILDCARDS AND REPLACEMENTS: Geiger joins as the lone wildcard

German rider Dirk Geiger (Team Apreco) will ride as the round’s only wildcard rider. He brings experience from the German Supersport 600 and Supersport 300 categories. Most recently, he competed in the 600cc category, where he earned a runner-up finish in 2025. In terms of replacements, Irish rider Jack Kennedy is the only stand-in; he will ride in Corentin Perolari's (Honda Racing World Supersport) stead, as the Frenchman will be competing at the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans, the first round of the 2026 FIM Endurance World Championship.

Catch all the World Supersport action this weekend and much, much more as all four categories prepare for battle at Assen! Watch Live and OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass!