With the WorldSBK racing now underway at the Assen TT Circuit, Team HRC and factory rider Xavi Vierge finished eleventh today after a contact by another rider forced the Spaniard off track during this afternoon’s first 21-lap Superbike race, while Iker Lecuona unfortunately suffered a crash while lying eighth and pushing hard to close the gap with the group fighting for the top five.

The riders faced a wet third free practice but nevertheless put it to good use, testing wet setups so as to be prepared for any rain during races. This final practice was followed by Superpole, which played out on a dry track. During the frantic 15-minute session, in which the top sixteen closed within just one second of each other, Lecuona was immediately able to set a 1’34.607, before pitting to put in the qualifying tyre. Improving on his initial time by half a second, a best of 1’34.199 saw Iker qualify in tenth, which became ninth after a penalty moved Axel Bassani three positions down the grid. Team-mate Vierge set an initial time of 1’34.513 before he too came into the pits to change his tyre. Straight back out, the Spaniard shaved a further three tenths off his time to qualify twelfth with a 1’34.260, just under one tenth from his teammate.

The first of the weekend’s races ran in the early afternoon in dry conditions, with the Team HRC duo lining up on the third and fourth row of the grid. While Xavi made immediately up three positions during lap one to place ninth, team-mate Iker lost ground off the line but fought back through the first corners and was lying fourteenth by the end of the first lap. On lap four a contact between Vierge and another rider forced him to run wide and consequently fall back to thirteenth, while Lecuona simultaneously moved up into eighth. Unfortunately, on the very next lap a crash for Iker ruled him out of the action. Eleventh on lap eight, Vierge ran a consistent second half, lapping with similar pace to those ahead and holding his position all the way to the line to score five championship points. Not the outcome that the Team HRC riders were looking for today, but both are highly motivated to fight back in tomorrow’s races.

Xavi Vierge 97

P11

“If we think about the work done and the speed we were able to achieve, we can say we’ve done a good job today. In qualifying I think we set some good times, around seven tenths behind the leaders which wasn’t bad, but of course with such a tight classification my starting position was again not a good one. I made a decent start and was able to move back up through the pack, but a contact with Rinaldi pushed me off track and caused me to lose a lot of positions. From that point, I essentially began another race because my pace was very similar to those immediately ahead, so it was impossible to close the gap, especially at the end when the front tyre suffered a drop in performance. Anyway, as I said, our pace was not so bad so we will try to improve our setup a little for tomorrow, when the target will be to try and gain some grid positions in the Superpole race ahead of race 2.”

Iker Lecuona 7

DNF

“I can’t say I’m happy with today’s race result obviously, but on the other hand I’m pleased with the improvement we’ve made in terms of the bike’s base setup. In qualifying I was able to improve my lap time with the second tyre, lapping alone with no references, and I felt good and comfortable, the bike allowing me to ride in my usual style. In the race I made a poor start from the third row and found myself in fourteen place so again that was a critical point for us. But I didn’t get too stressed to be honest because I knew I had the pace, so I tried to just overtake the riders in front of me. The good thing, and I must say a big surprise for me, was that right from those very first laps, I was able to pass many riders while maintaining lines that are normally impossible for us to use when overtaking. I felt strong and fast, clearly excessively so, because on lap six I went a little wide at turn one and lost the front. It was 100% my mistake and for this I want to apologise to the team because they did a really good job modifying the setup and giving me a bike that gave me this feeling today. The positive thing is that we have two more chances tomorrow to try and score a much better result.”

WorldSBK 2023
Race Round 03   Netherlands

Results Tissot Superpole

Dry
Humidity
70%
Track Temp
21°C
Air Temp
16°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'33.569 0.027
2 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'33.661 0.119
3 Lowes Alex 22 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'33.741 0.199
4 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'33.542 (penalized)
5 Redding Scott 45 GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'33.754 0.212
6 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'33.799 0.257
7 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'33.956 0.414
8 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 1'34.139 0.597
9 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'34.199 0.657
10 Gardner Remy 87 AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'34.203 0.661
11 Bassani Axel 47 ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati 1'33.985 0.443 (penalized)
12 Vierge Xavi 97 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'34.260 0.718
13 Baz Loris 76 FRA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'34.310 0.768
14 Öttl Philipp 5 GER Team GOELEVEN Ducati 1'34.391 0.849
15 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'34.402 0.860
16 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'34.488 0.946
17 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'34.690 1.148
18 Ray Bradley 28 GBR Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'34.795 1.253
19 Baldassarri Lorenzo 34 ITA GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha 1'34.919 1.377
20 Sykes Tom 66 GBR Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 1'35.152 1.610
21 Granado Eric 51 BRA PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'35.598 2.056
22 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 1'35.977 2.435
23 Ruiu Gabriele 16 ITA B-Max Racing Team BMW 1'36.043 2.501
24 Syahrin Hafizh 35 MAL PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'36.078 2.536
25 Konig Oliver 52 CZE ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 1'36.480 2.938
WorldSBK 2023
Race Round 03   Netherlands

Results Race 1

Dry
Humidity
59%
Track Temp
28°C
Air Temp
19°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA 25 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 33'17.872
2 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR 20 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 3.148
3 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR 16 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 3.891
4 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA 13 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 10.105
5 Bassani Axel 47 ITA 11 Motocorsa Racing Ducati 10.498
6 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI 10 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 13.952
7 Lowes Alex 22 GBR 9 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 14.098
8 Gardner Remy 87 AUS 8 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 16.942
9 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA 7 BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 17.807
10 Redding Scott 45 GBR 6 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 18.066
11 Vierge Xavi 97 SPA 5 Team HRC Honda 22.002
12 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA 4 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 23.632
13 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL 3 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 23.819
14 Öttl Philipp 5 GER 2 Team GOELEVEN Ducati 25.088
15 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA 1 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 26.803
16 Baldassarri Lorenzo 34 ITA 0 GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha 34.593
17 Baz Loris 76 FRA 0 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 34.719
18 Ray Bradley 28 GBR 0 Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha 47.346
19 Syahrin Hafizh 35 MAL 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 50.486
20 Konig Oliver 52 CZE 0 ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 52.310
21 Granado Eric 51 BRA 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'00.902
22 Ruiu Gabriele 16 ITA 0 B-Max Racing Team BMW 1'01.202
23 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA 0 TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 1'14.042
24 Sykes Tom 66 GBR DNF Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 10 Laps
25 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA DNF Team HRC Honda 16 Laps
Location Information

“The Cathedral” of motorcycle racing as it is known colloquially, the TT Circuit Assen has been hosting WorldSBK races since 1992, and celebrated its 25thanniversary as a Superbike venue in 2016. TT Circuit Assen

Pole Position Left
Length 4.542 Km
Corners 18
Right Corners 12
Left Corners 6

Records

Pole Record 1'32.934 (175,944 Km/h) T.Razgatlioglu (Yamaha YZF R1, 2022)
Race Record 1'33.620 (174,65 Km/h) A. Bautista (Ducati V4, 2022 SPR)
All Time Record 1'32.934 (174,87 Km/h) T.Razgatlioglu (Yamaha YZF R1, 2022)
2023 Race 1 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4)
2023 Superpole Race Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4)
2023 Race 2 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4)