The tension is palpable at the Pirelli Dutch Round’s TT Assen Circuit as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship took to the track for their Warm Up session on Sunday morning ahead of their final two races. It was Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) who topped the timesheets in their opening session, followed by Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team).

It was Yari Montella who claimed the top spot in Assen’s morning session, taking his Ducati Panigale V4R fastest of the bunch with a 1’33.554s time. After closing Saturday on top of the podium, Nicolo Bulega had a slower start to Sunday, finishing in P2 on the back of a 1’33.620s time. Sam Lowes is looking to make a return to the podium in Assen’s final day, and as such started off the running by going third fastest with a time of 1’33.647s.

Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) launched his KB998 Rimini into the heart of the action on Sunday, the quicker of the two Bimota bikes as his 1’33.819s time took him to P4, just ahead of his teammate Axel Bassani in P5, just over three quarters of a second behind. Just behind the Italian was Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team), who took P6 with a time of 1’34.078s.

Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) led the BMW contingent in the 10-minute session, placing P7 with his 1’34.139s time, clocking in just five thousandths of a second faster than Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) in P8. Rounding out the top ten, former teammates Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) takes P9 a tenth faster than his old partner in crime, and compatriot Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) lands P10 with a 1’34.262s time

The top six from the WorldSBK Warm Up session: Full results here!

1 Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 1’33.554s

2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +0.066s

3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.093s

4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.265s

5. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.423s

6. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0,524s

Tune in at 11:10 (Local time UTC +2) for the WorldSBK Superpole Race! Watch live with the WorldSBK VideoPass!