News

Rolling back in force on track are the FIM Sportbike World Championship’s talented host of riders as they set their grid on Friday in the Tissot Superpole session. The event marked the category’s first time competing at the historic TT Assen Circuit, and it was a firecracker debut for World Sportbike. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) rang in the weekend with his first WorldSPB pole, strong stuff from the Dutchman as he came out on top of his countryman Jeffrey Buis (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) and Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki), who will chase the #71from P2 and P3 in Race 1

HOME HEROICS: Three Dutch riders in the top four

Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) shone at home atop his Kawasaki ZX-6R 636, landing his first pole of the season thanks to his 1’42.499s time. The Dutch rider has looked very comfortable in the new class so far and will look to take his second win of the season at Assen. Just six thousandths behind his compatriot, Jeffrey Buis (Track & Trades Wixx Racing), is back at Assen, where he took a pair of wins in WorldSSP300 last season. This time around, he was sent to P2 on account of a 1’42.505s effort just a hair too slow to claim pole. Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) was determined in the Superpole session to qualify well for Saturday’s Race 1 after twice being the odd man out of the rostrum glory at Portimao despite fighting for the podium places. He took a P3 start for himself thanks to a 1’42.716s time.

BEEKMANS BACK IN ACTION: The Dutchman will look to pull back points on the leaders after an unfortunate pair of finishes at Portimao

Kas Beekmans (VLR Racing Team Suzuki) took a strong first step in Round 2 by landing a 1’42.765ss to take P4. He will look to make up for his lack of points from Portimao despite riding near the front for much of the weekend. David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) wasn’t quite able to outgun the other Kawasakis as he did to close last round, but did enough to clock in a 1’42.853s for P5. Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) was just nine thousandths slower than Salvador in front of him and will start behind the Spaniard in P6.

SEABRIGHT SHINES: The British rider takes P7 at Assen

Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) improved on his P9 Superpole performance to earn P7 at Assen with his 1’42.938s time. Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) meandered around the middle of the time sheet for most of the session, but he sent himself up to P8 as time expired in the session as he crossed the line with a pacey 1’42.970s time. Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) again took top Aprilia honours, but couldn’t replicate his polesitter pace from Portimao. The Italian will instead settle for P9 after a time of 1’42.994s. With his Kove manufacturer having overcome their homologation issues, Benat Fernandez (Kove Racing Team 109) made the most of his eligibility by landing a P15-earning 1’43.621s time, a healthy improvement from his P21 qualification at Portimao.

The top six from the WorldSPB Tissot Superpole session, full results here!

1. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) 1'42.499s
 2. Jeffrey Buis (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) +0.006s
 3. Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) +0.217s
 4. Kas Beekmans (VLR Racing Team Suzuki) +0.266s
 5. David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) +0.354s
 6. Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) +0.363s

Catch World Sportbike’s opening race at Assen tomorrow at 13:00 local time (UTC +2) Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass!