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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rolls into the Netherlands for the Pirelli Dutch Round at the iconic TT Circuit Assen. Ahead of track action getting underway, riders gathered for debriefs and there were some big topics being spoken about; from silly season, this weekend and potential records being broken.

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) “I don’t care too much about beating Toprak’s consecutive race win record; if I can do it, nice, but if not, it’s not too dramatic”

Looking ahead to Assen, Bulega said: “I’m arriving here with an incredible feeling because I won all the races in the previous rounds. It's very important to stay focused and keep working with the team, because the rivals are strong and are getting stronger. At Portimao, I honestly didn’t have a 100% good feeling as I did in Australia. I hope to ride here more naturally with a better feeling. I don’t care too much about beating Toprak’s consecutive race win record; if I can do it, nice, but if not, it’s not too dramatic. The important thing is to win races and try to achieve the main goal of winning the Championship. Last year, I was very fast, some Yamahas as well. Iker will be fast, and we need to see about Oliveira. Honestly, at the moment, no news about my future. I’m very, very happy where I am in WorldSBK, but we are talking with some teams in MotoGP.”

Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) “We will try to maintain the position we’ve built for ourselves in the first two rounds”

Aiming for a rostrum return, Bassani said: “Portimao was quite difficult for us; my feeling on the bike wasn’t great, and I don’t feel like I worked in a really good way during the week. This weekend, we’re changing some things. We will try to stay focused on our work as much as possible and maintain the position we’ve built for ourselves in the first two rounds. I’m working on myself a lot, and with my team, I think we can do a good job here. Last year we had a positive weekend here, compared to Portimao, this is a better circuit for our bike. We’re always among the top packages on the grid, so I think we have all the cards to do a good job. I don’t see why we couldn’t be on the podium. In Australia, we did it twice; we will need to understand how, but we can do it. Bulega will have something more than the others, but Iker has grown a lot in the last round, Montella is really fast, if he is able to finish the race, he can fight for a good position, and Sam, with his pole last year here and a healthy hand now, I think we will all be strong.”

Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “The results at Portimao allowed us to demonstrate our potential on the new bike with this new team”

Aiming for more podiums and discussing his future, Lecuona said: “I’m arriving happy! Portimao was so good for us as a team. The target is to be calm, to keep working in the same way in the box. We will take the feeling on Friday at FP1 and work to be 100% ready run by run. The results at Portimao allowed us to demonstrate our potential on the new bike with this new team. The target is to keep working in the same way in the box and on the track. It’s a track that I like; I had my first WorldSBK podium here. Whether I finish on the podium or in P5, the goal is to stay calm. I have a one-year contract right now. The target is to sign again with Ducati, but it's still very early to talk about this.”

Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “Trying to analyse the past years with BMW, it looks like it is a difficult track…”

Aiming to continue his podium streak going, Oliveira said: “As I was leaving Portimao, I knew it was going to be a special weekend and one to remember because of all the support. We started off with third place in Race 1, already unlocking a new milestone for me in WorldSBK: my first podium. Trying to analyse the past years with BMW, it looks like it is a difficult track, but we’ll try to maximise our resources and strong points off the bike to be as close to the front as possible. It looks like some points are fast, flowing corners and I guess the turning wasn’t the best on those kinds of corners, and also the tyre wear was an issue here. We have a slight adjustment to that this year, especially with the rear tyre, which I guess will play out in everyone’s favour, but we’ll need to work on it to suffer as little as possible.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha): “I believe soon I can get a good feeling with the bike and return to being fast”

Discussing a tricky start to the year and his hopes of turning things around, Locatelli stated: “It’s already been a long time since my win, but this week before coming here I saw many videos and the race again. We know I love this type of track, I will give 100% from tomorrow so let’s see what happens. Considering everything, in the end I was really inconsistent. I was unable to repeat the lap time as I could always do. A bit of a strange feeling with the bike and harder to keep rhythm. The winter didn’t help us very much, maybe we took a wrong decision on setup on some stuff. We need to look at the positive things. I know the bike and I have experience and I believe soon I can get a good feeling with the bike and return to being fast. I hope this weekend can be the key.”

Jonathan Rea (Honda HRC): “Portimao was an opportunity to take different directions… we can channel this in with a lot more data from Portimao and testing last week”

Standing in for Jake Dixon once again, Rea said about the Dutch Round: “Assen brings back a lot of nice memories and it’s another opportunity to get more mileage on the bike. I’ve been testing last week. I’m feeling more comfortable and more prepared coming to Assen than I did at Portimao. We’ve been trying to find a bike I’m comfortable with and Portimao was an opportunity to take different directions and be more aggressive with setup ideas. This weekend, we can channel this in with a lot more data from Portimao and last week. It’s always nice to have a good result; you go home happier on Sunday! My biggest target is to get info. I saw that stat on Instagram, 17 wins is mega, especially at one track. When I was 20, I signed for the Ten Kate Honda team, and we did a lot of our testing in WorldSSP here, so I knew Assen quite well. It’s a track that always provides great racing, and there are a few tricks to the trade here. Over the 18-year period, everyone knows those tricks. I love the track and the atmosphere. As a rider, I don’t think there’s any better feeling than coming into the last chicane and seeing full grandstands.”

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team): “I feel more or less 100%, let’s say 90% or 99%. Not expecting any problems this weekend with the wrist”

Providing an update on his fitness, Sam Lowes said: “I feel good, the extra couple of weeks off since Portugal have been important for me. I feel more or less 100%, let’s say 90% or 99%. Not expecting any problems with the wrist this weekend. Assen’s a physical track, like Portimao, so it’ll be difficult as always but for everybody. Portimao was, for many reasons, a good weekend. We also learnt a lot about the bike. I think I’ve had pretty solid results so far, nothing spectacular. We’re hoping to make a little bit of a step now I’m feeling stronger to be closer to the front. Assen is a track I love, also in Moto2, so it was lovely to come here and get my first pole position. I think it’s the track where Alex had his first pole too, a nice thing for us. It suits my riding style. I come here with a lot of confidence and motivation to add some podiums to the tally and get my first one of the year.”

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) “We’ve had some good success in the past, so why not again?”

Two WorldSBK podiums for Gardner at Assen, who previewed the weekend: “It’s definitely a track that suits our bike; I always enjoy it. We’ve had some good success in the past, so why not again? It won’t be easy; everyone’s super-fast, all the manufacturers have improved, so we’ll have to work hard all weekend, but I’m pretty sure we can. In Australia, I struggled big time with the arm. At Portimao, I started to feel more like myself again; we just haven’t had enough laps with all the preseason rain. By the end of the weekend, I was sore, not just the arm, but I was feeling it physically. It was kind of waking the body up again. By Sunday, I was feeling better technically on the bike. Our bike works well here at Assen; it should be a little better here. The disadvantage is more pressure, but we can fight for better positions to springboard ourselves into the next rounds.”

Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team): “I used these two weeks to analyse, now I arrive ready to fight at Assen”

Aiming to fight at the front again, Montella said: “After Portimao, I needed a break to analyse my weekend, it was a bit up and down, we had the pace to fight for the podium, but we went back home with nothing in the end. I used these two weeks to analyse, and now I arrive here ready to fight at Assen. I have good vibes here from last year. We looked at the data, and we know the point where I lost the most time here. Last year’s crashes are a separate thing from this year’s ones. I crashed a lot last year because I couldn’t manage some moments of the race; now I know what I need to do. We are fast, but the two crashes at Portimao were particular cases. Assen is a mix of Portimao and Phillip Island, some fast corners, some heavy braking points, and I am focused fully on my job.”

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