The Assen round represents an unknown not so much for the values on the field, but for the weather which always presents unforeseen events and exciting moments. The Dutch Superbike Friday did not disappoint expectations in this sense: in the morning session, the rain was the protagonist, to make room for a timid sun (albeit with very low temperatures) in the afternoon. However, the rain came back to mess up plans in the last few minutes.
In complicated conditions, also seasoned by the strong wind which tore away a protection on the edge of the track, forcing the red flag to be displayed for a few minutes, Alvaro Bautista came out on top. The reigning world champion appears reinvigorated after the victory in Barcelona and starts again in Assen commanding the top of the combined standings. Second in the morning session, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider uses his experience in the afternoon and, in treacherous conditions, takes first place, ending Friday with the best time.
The benchmark for the day is that of the Spaniard in 135″473 (set in FP2), two tenths better than Toprak Razgatlioglu, second in the combined. The Turk dominates FP1 with a time that allows him to place immediately behind Bautista despite the fact that he did not improve his time in the second free practice session. Friday in Assen gives us three different brands in the top three positions: behind the Ducati-BMW duo we find Remy Gardner, who on board the GRT team's Yamaha takes the third fastest time, 354 thousandths off the top.
In particular conditions there is no shortage of surprises and today it bears the name of Michael Ruben Rinaldi. The rider from Romagna, who began his Motocorsa adventure quietly, made an excellent performance and heads into Saturday's qualifying session with the fourth fastest time. The driver from Sant'Arcangelo di Romagna is the best of the independents and precedes an equally surprising Jonathan Rea. The Briton, who is having a difficult start to the season with Yamaha, seems to feel more comfortable in Assen and finishes in fifth position. His teammate Andrea Locatelli is in more difficulty and doesn't go beyond the 18th time.
Rea precedes championship leader Nicolò Bulega, who arrives in Holland fresh from arm pump surgery. Compartment syndrome forced the rookie to undergo surgery immediately after the Barcelona round and, although he has no problems returning, he is still not 100% and does not take risks, collecting 468 thousandths from the leader of the day and teammate.
Bulega precedes the Lowes brothers, with Alex in seventh position and best of the Kawasaki riders, while Sam is eighth on the Marc VDS team Ducati. The other Kawasaki rider, Axel Bassani, was less incisive and did not go beyond 19th position, 1.7 seconds from the top. On his home track, Michael van der Mark is the second BMW rider and takes ninth position in the combined standings, while the other Yamaha GRT of Dominique Aegerter closes the top 10.
In a particularly treacherous Assen, not even Andrea Iannone took any risks, showing himself to be very competitive in a bit of dry weather, but missed out on the top 10 by 33 thousandths and stopped in 11th position. Garrett Gerloff follows, 12th with the BMW of the Bonovo team, while Scott Redding is the last of the German company's drivers and is only 14th. Philipp Oettl fits in between the two, 13th with the Yamaha GMT94.
Once again the Hondas are struggling: Xavi Vierge is the best in 16th position, ahead of teammate Iker Lecuona, 17th. The other two Hondas from the MIE team close the group, with Tarran Mackenzie ahead of Adam Norrodin. The two rookie they remain behind Nicholas Spinelli, who makes his Superbike debut this weekend aboard the Barni team's Ducati. The Italian replaces Danilo Petrucci, forced to be a spectator in Holland due to the bad accident that occurred during motocross training.
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