Chapter three of the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season is about to take place at the legendary TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. Countless classics at this track and also in recent rounds mean that 2024’s Pirelli Dutch Round is destined to be one for the ages; we caught up with the main stars on Thursday during WorldSBK’s media day.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I have a dream this year to win the Championship”

Two wins last time out at a track he and BMW had never won at, Assen has also been a place where Toprak Razgatlioglu and BMW haven’t mounted the top step: “I’ve never won here at Assen in the Superbike class; I hope I can this weekend. It looks a little strange as the weather can always change easily. It’s cold but I’m ready to race in both wet and dry races. I have a dream this year to win this Championship; I can’t say before the end of the season. My dream looks possible. I am happy with Michael as a teammate and the atmosphere in the garage is very good and we work well together. If BMW ask me, it’s easy to say Michael, he’s a good teammate, a good guy and respectful; we work together in the race and Superpole. Maybe at this track, he’ll help me as he knows it better than me –in the wet, he’ll show me the best line!”

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I’m not in a hurry to make a decision”

With silly season in full flow, Alvaro Bautista’s future could hold the key to many for 2025: “To win a race is always very important, but especially after coming from a difficult winter for me with my injury and also the feeling I started with the bike in testing that was not the best. It was very important to recover the good feeling during the Barcelona weekend. I think the win was the consequence of this feeling and from my physical condition. It gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the Championship. Honestly, I don’t have anything on my mind about my future. It’s been very tough for me. In Barcelona, I recovered the good feeling. I always say I keep racing because I’m having a lot of fun riding my bike and with a good feeling. It’s important to have a good feeling on my bike and try to always improve. With this crazy grid, you have to be an even better rider than before! I try to always be a better rider. I’m just focused on this and trying to be better and better. I’m not in a hurry to make a decision.”

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “This could be the most difficult race for me”

Back after arm-pump surgery, Nicolo Bulega says this could be his most difficult round yet: “I had some problems during the races so I decided to have the surgery before Assen as this track is a bit difficult physically, with the change of direction. With the Superbike, it can be hard. I decided to do it before this race and I’m still not at 100% but I am recovering day by day and I can ride well. I always push at 100% when I’m on the bike; this could be the most difficult race for me because we’ve had the test before the other races. I also come here after the surgery, without a test, so perhaps Friday will be more difficult for me. I’m happy because it’s a track I like a lot and I’ll try to do my best.”

Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “We want to be on the podium!”

After a strong Barcelona, the rostrum is the aim for home-hero Michael van der Mark: “It’s always nice to arrive at your home track when you’ve had some decent results before. In Australia and especially Barcelona, we had some really good results. We come here with confidence and knowing the base we have is really good. We want to be on the podium, and we’ve had a good start to the season. We have a good base and we’re fast. It would be nice to be on the podium. It’s a nice confirmation knowing you have a bike that can fight for the podium and victories. It takes a little bit of pressure away. We know the package is there, we just have to finetune it and focus on riding. Honestly, the only thing I can do is deliver results. I’ve been unlucky the last two years. I’m fit, I’m feeling good on the bike and all I can do now is deliver results.”

Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha): “We have to walk before we can run”

17 wins and 25 podiums: will Assen’s most successful rider, Jonathan Rea, get his season off to a proper start after six races where he’s struggled: “I’m really excited to be back at Assen, I like the layout of the track and also my fans bring some good energy here. It’s just a case of trying to find some form and performance both from myself and the R1. I think Catalunya Race 2 was my first normal race with no issue, so I banked some points. What I realised was starting from P13 is that it’s so difficult to reach that front group, so it was a race I started making progress. It’s not the positions we want to fight for, but we have to start somewhere after a lot of disappointments. Looking forward to seeing if Assen can bring us some more fortune. Looking back at previous years, it’s a track that suits not just me but the Yamaha R1. It’s a place we can make that step, but it’s a step by progress. We have to walk before we can run.”

Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven): “My target is to be in a factory team… I felt interest from many manufacturers”

Back at Assen and looking to his future, Andrea Iannone made a bold claim for 2025: “I’m a little bit excited because it’s really good to be back here. I won in the past in my first year in Moto2™ and also, I’ve had really good races more or less every year at this track. It’s the first race we don’t have a test before the round and I’m a little bit worried because I don’t know what happens, but I hope we immediately start in a good way. I don’t know about my future. I’m happy I’m being spoken about, but I don’t know at the moment. I want to continue to live this moment and I’m focused on riding well because I know if I’m on top, I have many chances. My target is to be in a factory team, but we will see. After a long time, I felt many things and I felt interest from many manufacturers. I’m honoured. I think after Assen, in Misano, we will know something more about this.”

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “Anything can happen when the weather’s a little bit inconsistent”

In the top three of the Championship, Alex Lowes is keen to show Kawasaki’s potential at Assen: “Conditions are always a little bit mixed here at Assen. I know the bike and track well, so I think if there’s minimal dry time, it could be good for us. We have to adapt well to the situation. Anything can happen when the weather’s a little bit inconsistent. We have to make sure we make the right decisions, put ourselves in a good position and I think, dry or wet conditions, we can be quite optimistic about the weekend. This weekend, if we can fight for the podium, be in the mix with the front guys fighting at the front, I think we can be happy and that’s the target. I don’t really know about the future, it’s very early. We’ve got a big break after the Assen round with so long until the next round, so maybe there’ll be some more news in the break. From my side, I don’t know yet. I started the year really strong with Kawasaki, I’ve changed some of the working environment inside the team so it would be nice to keep this progression.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha): “Let’s push and see what we can do”

With a first win still to be had, can happy memories from previous Assen outings spur Andrea Locatelli on: “I have good memories form Assen; I got my first WorldSBK podium here in 2021 and I’ve had a podium every season with Yamaha here, so why not try to repeat it this year? It won’t be easy and probably this weekend, we’ll ride in different conditions with the forecast will be tricky. I feel comfortable though and OK with the bike, so let’s push and see what we can do. We have a really good feeling and it’s a flowing track, so it’s another good track to show our potential and speed. We’ll push for the maximum and see what we have. Toprak was a big surprise for everyone as we didn’t think it could happen immediately but they’re working well during testing and they found a good solution for the race. I’m happy for him because, firstly, he’s my friend and I have a good relationship with him. He’s a big talent; I sent a message to him because I missed him after the race. I want to try and fight again this weekend.”

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One of the big moves for the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season was Jonathan Rea’s bombshell transfer to the Pata Prometeon Yamaha squad after nine seasons racing for Kawasaki. The #65, however, didn’t take former Crew Chief Pere Riba with him to Yamaha, with Rea working with former teammate Andrew Pitt moving across the box to be his new Crew Chief. Ahead of the Pirelli Dutch Round, Rea spoke about the challenges of adapting to a new team without Riba by his side and how there is a period of adjustment when switching teams.

Rea first joined Kawasaki for the 2015 season, winning six titles between then and 2020 before a few difficult seasons in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Following those challenging campaigns, the Ulsterman opted to move to Yamaha with a seat available following Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) move to BMW. Speaking at the TT Circuit Assen, Rea expanded on one of the challenges of moving teams and manufacturers other than having to adapt to a new machine.

“It’s hard to answer,” he began when speaking in his media debrief. “Just getting familiar with a completely new crew, understanding how they work and them understanding how I work. It’s step by step. I really believe in everyone inside Yamaha. They’re great people, intelligent people. I had a relationship with my previous crew chief that spanned nine years. There were growing pains in that relationship as well. There were times it wasn’t great but generally, for example, if you said ‘left’, with that kind of relationship, they telepathically knew how far left.

“With a completely new crew that’s worked with different riders, it’s very hard for them to understand me without words. In the previous rounds, I spent a long time in the pit box trying to explain my feelings clearly. That’s also new for me, and that can also be a big problem; a rider talking too much as you can create more and more problems from a technical point of view. It’s just step by step. I think that situation couple with a few issues we’ve faced, and difficulties, the challenges of Phillip Island and crashes, it’s been tough to put everything together, but I do feel like it’s going to come.

One key aspect will be how crew chiefs work, with everyone having their own style to achieve the best possible result. At Kawasaki, Rea exclusively worked with Riba as his Crew Chief, leading to unprecedented success with more than 100 wins for the Japanese manufacturer and six titles. Following his move to Yamaha, the 37-year-old now has Pitt as his Crew Chief. The pair raced together but now have a different relationship as they look for success.

Expanding on the differences between the two, where Rea made sure to praise both, the #65 said: “They’re more similar than you can imagine, to be honest. Both are very clever. I was going to say Andrew’s worth ethic is incredible and he’s so busy and ruthlessly competitive, always trying to find something, and he’s pushing all the crew to do their best. Andrew’s pushing the electronics department, the chassis department, to improve, but Pere was the same.

“The biggest difference is I worked with Pere for nine seasons and sometimes I didn’t have to speak. When you look at the rider market, for example, Toprak went the other way but took his crew chief, but they then have to learn another bike. Would it have been an advantage to have Pere by my side now? Not sure. Maybe from communication and understanding me, but he doesn’t understand the R1. There’s pros and cons to everything. The relationship with Andrew is really good. I trust him and trust in Yamaha that it’s going to come good. Been a difficult start, to be honest. We have to have some faith. Keep my head up and hopefully we can get back to some normality here.”

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The second round of the freshly renamed FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup will take place this weekend, April 19-21^st, at the classic TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, and the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s youngest competitors are eager to get back on track after a record-breaking Round 1 last month.

The opening event of the season in Barcelona saw Spanish rookie and 2023 R3 SuperFinale winner Gonzalo Sanchez take victory in dominant style in Race 1, setting a record for the biggest winning margin in class history at 11.101 seconds. The 15-year-old repeated the feat in Race 2, this time gapping his rivals by 8.744 seconds. Behind the speedy Spaniard the battle for the remaining places was hotly contested with plenty of overtakes and great skill demonstrated by the field of 19 riders. Poland’s Dawid Nowak and Czechia’s Nikolas Zanin achieved their first R3 podiums over the Barcelona weekend, while class stalwarts Spain’s Marc Vich and Brazil’s Eduardo Burr proved they mean business again this year by returning to the rostrum.

Barcelona also played host to the first ever live stream of the R3 World Cup races, something which will continue this weekend in Assen and throughout the 2024 season to allow audiences all over the world to follow the progress of the future Superbike stars.

Assen will be the home race for Dutch rider Indi Schunselaar, the youngster rider in the series at just 14 years old. Barcelona was a steep learning curve for the rookie, but he will be aiming high in front of his Yamaha Benelux supporters at a track he knows well.

Race 1 and Race 2 will take place on Saturday April 20^th  and Sunday April 21^st at 11:50 CET. Last year the incredible layout of the TT Circuit provided all-out action among the sport’s hungry youngsters so be sure to follow along LIVE via Yamaha Racing’s YouTube channel and stay up to date on yamaha-racing.com

Source: WorldSBK.com

Through the cloud and cold, the TT Circuit Assen welcomes the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for the third round of the season. The legendary Dutch venue has been a round of excitement, drama and passion throughout WorldSBK’s history and records often fall on this hallowed turf. Impress those around you with some World Superbike knowledge below.

2023 race winners:

• Alvaro Bautista (Ducati: Race 1, Tissot Superpole Race Race 2)

Last three pole-sitters at Assen:

• 2023: Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) 1’33.542
• 2022: Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) 1’32.934
• 2021: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 1’33.842

Manufacturer podium places (and wins) accumulated from all races at Assen:

• Ducati: 84 (31)
• Honda: 39 (15)
• Kawasaki: 32 (15)
• Yamaha: 26 (2)
• Aprilia: 9 (2)
• Suzuki: 5

Key gaps from Assen 2023:

• Front row covered by: 0.119s
• 1 second in Superpole covered… the top 16: 0.946s
• Closest race gap between 1st and 2nd: 0.916s (Bautista 1st, Rea 2nd, Superpole Race)
• Closest race podium: 1.757s (Bautista 1st, Rea 2nd, Razgatlioglu 3rd, Superpole Race)
• Closest Assen podium of all-time: 0.070s (Fogarty 1st, Corser 2nd, Kocinski 3rd, Race 2 1996)

Manufacturer top speeds at Assen, 2023:

• BMW: Garrett Gerloff – 300.0kph, Superpole Race
• Ducati: Alvaro Bautista – 297.5kph, FP1
• Honda: Xavi Vierge – 297.5kph, Superpole Race
• Kawasaki: Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes and – 292.6 kph, FP1
• Yamaha: Remy Gardner – 291.1kph, Superpole Race

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Two rounds into the 2024 WorldSBK season and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has stolen all the headlines. Never mind that we have a rookie leading the Championship, Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) back on podium pace after four years on the side-lines or a six-time World Champion struggling to find his feet with a new bike. Toprak is the headline maker and the attention grabber. It was expected that we’d see Razgatlioglu winning races aboard the BMW M 1000 RR. It was a surprise to see him win in Catalunya in just his fourth race for his new team. The resources being ploughed into the BMW project from Munich meant that the tide would turn in their favour but doing in Montmelo was a surprise even to the team. 

BMW BRILLIANCE: Toprak’s ability and van der Mark’s return to the fore

It was a pleasant surprise for Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director, who was caught in Parc Ferme saying “I’ve never been so happy to spend money!” when it was mentioned that there was a lot of bonus money to be paid out in Barcelona! It won’t be the only bonuses that Toprak receives this year. The form of Razgatlioglu has impressed everyone but surprised nobody. He’s the best pound-for-pound rider in WorldSBK at the moment and his racing instinct came to the fore for both wins. Managing the tyres in Race 1 to take the lead with half a lap to go or pouncing on Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) at the last corner to win the Tissot Superpole Race showed his razor-sharp mind. To see teammate Michael van der Mark so competitive too will give a lot of reason for hope at BMW.

It’s one thing for your lead rider to perform like Razgatlioglu but it’s quite another to see van der Mark back on the pace. Qualifying on the second row and being in the lead group throughout Sunday’s races was impressive. Finishing fourth in Race 2 has given the Dutchman a big lift ahead of his home round. Assen is always special and he can sprinkle something into the air this weekend too. He’s had a torrid two years with three serious injuries but when he was fully fit last year, he was the BMW rider to beat. He knows that to keep his seat alongside Razgatlioglu, he has to make sure that his Catalan performances are the norm rather than the exception. This is a rider that has finished third in the World Championship in the past and won races on Yamaha and BMW machinery along with a pole position and podiums on the Honda. The 2014 WorldSSP Champion is still competitive and wants to ensure he stays within BMW.

SILLY SEASON STARTS SOON: round four in 2023, perhaps earlier in 2024?

Last year, there were rumours about which rider BMW would keep. Would it be van der Mark or Scott Redding. Through two rounds, there’s little doubt within the paddock that the right decision was made. To see Razgatlioglu and van der Mark working together during the Superpole session proved the right decision had been made. Team harmony is critical to success in racing and it’s hard to see how a Redding and Razgatlioglu pairing would have been anything beyond civil. 

At his best Redding is one of the most talented riders in the world and a race winner on any given day but if he is to stay in the World Championship he needs to outperform van der Mark and Garrett Gerloff. Consistency will be key for that but if he struggles to match their speed it’s difficult to see where Redding lands on the WorldSBK grid. 

LOOKING TO 2025: “BMW is now an attractive prospect for a host of riders on the grid”

Adding to the challenge is that BMW is now an attractive prospect for a host of riders on the grid. Toprak showed you can win on the bike and he’s sure to challenge for wins this weekend. There are plenty of Independent riders waiting for factory contracts. Suddenly, the BMW one is as attractive as any. The rider market spins slower in WorldSBK than MotoGP™ but with GP seats starting to fill the momentum will shift to the WorldSBK paddock. Who will be available from MotoGP™? What seats could they fill? The next two rounds could be critical for van der Mark and Redding. Assen is the self-proclaimed ‘Cathedral of Speed’ so don’t be surprised to see some riders praying for good results.

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The 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is nearing the completion of its first quarter as the TT Circuit Assen awaits and the Pirelli Dutch Round. The Cathedral of Speed has often led to being the home of dreams and this year, the Pata Prometeon Yamaha team of Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli will be hoping to be fast from the start. It’s been a tricky start to 2024 for Rea, with just eight points from six races whereas teammate Locatelli has been on the podium and fighting for race wins, even if Barcelona was a round where he struggled more. You can enjoy a full in-depth chat with Paul Denning here, before getting the team boss’ thoughts ahead of round three below.

Assen is a circuit where Yamaha have been competitive at in the past but not won at in 15 years; Ben Spies was the last winner there in 2009’s epic Race 1, whereas Noriyuki Haga gave Yamaha their first and only other win in 2000’s hair-raising Race 2. Recent years have seen Toprak Razgatlioglu on the podium, as well as Andrea Locatelli – who has taken a rostrum there in the last three years, including his first in 2021. However, this year is different and with Jonathan Rea aiming to breakthrough onto the rostrum, where better to do it than at the track where he’s won 17 times and been on the podium at 25 times.

“WE DON’T EXPECT TO GO FROM ZERO TO HERO” – can Rea mount a rostrum charge?

Looking ahead to Assen, Denning previewed the Pata Prometeon Yamaha hopes: “As a neutral, the start of the Championship has just been awesome. I fully expect more very exciting racing and great action. From our perspective, particularly on JR’s side, we need to roll out in FP1 with a package that immediately gives him confidence and build the weekend from there. He’s won 17 races at Assen, it’s ridiculous! It’s a track that he’s always given his best level at and there have been seasons where perhaps it’s been more of a struggle with the Kawasaki but he’s still been on for a competitive result there. It’s a great place; we don’t expect to go from zero to hero but it’s a great track for him to take a significant step and build the rest of the season from. On Locatelli’s side, he’s riding full of confidence, chipping away very intelligently at the programme and I don’t see why he can’t be ultra-competitive at Assen.”

A LOCATELLI WIN AT ASSEN? “It’s a good opportunity for ‘Loka’ to make that next step”

Talking more about Locatelli’s start to the season, Denning was impressed with the #55 despite misfortune: “There are still frustrations on Loka’s side in that the unfortunate last lap problem at Phillip Island where – in the very worst case – he’d have finished third if he’d have given up on the job but it looked like he was going to finish second or first, cost us a chunk of points. Then, avoiding an accident on the first lap in Barcelona meant that he could only come back and grab a couple points at the end of the race. If you take off his first lap time, his pace was more than good enough for a finish in the top four so he should be P2 or at worst P3 in the standings. It’d be a nice confirmation of the potential but it’s clearly there and he’s riding better than ever.”

Summarising overall, will Assen be the place where ‘Loka’ mounts the top step? “We’re in a position right now as a team, rider and manufacturer where you can’t get away with any compromises or mistakes; everything has to be on point to have a chance at challenging for victory. If we can get everything on point at Assen, then I think it’s a good opportunity for ‘Loka’ to make that next step.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

A barn-storming Barcelona kickstarted the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship and round two from Assen promises to bring more awesome action their way. Each year, the TT Circuit Assen brings some of the most frantic racing we get to enjoy in World Supersport 300 and 2024 will be no exception; home-hero Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-PALIGO Racing) will be sure to put on a special home display but he’ll have to fight off a huge opposition, as well as in-form Championship leader Inigo Iglesias (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki).

IGLESIAS VS BUIS: a fight to behold this weekend, Mahendra, Svoboda and Di Sora contenders

Inigo Iglesias crossed the line first in Race 1 in Barcelona but lost his win due to a penalty for irresponsible riding but the Basque rider wasn’t going to take it lying down, with redemption in Race 2. He therefore is joint-Championship leader alongside Aldi Mahendra (Team BrCorse) with 28 points each. Jeffrey Buis however is the other winner so far in 2024, inheriting Barcelona’s first outing after Iglesias’ penalty, although he didn’t score any points in Race 2. Three points split all three riders heading to Assen, a circuit where Buis has just one podium, Iglesias was a winner at in the IDM300 series last year and where Mahendra has never raced. In fact, there’s only one rider in WorldSSP300 who has multiple wins at the track in the class: Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki), who won both 2023 races. He’s fourth overall, just ahead of Barcelona podium finisher Samuel Di Sora (ARCO SASH MotoR University Team), who has three Assen rostrums but no win.

FOUR MANUFACTURERS IN CONTENTION: Kove shining as big names look to improve

Sixth overall and flying the flag for Chinese manufacturer Kove, Julio Garcia (KOVE Racing Team) took a hard-fought podium in Race 2 last time out and had pole too, showcasing the strength and potential of the 321RR. He scored points at Assen last year but it was a circuit he struggled at, whilst Bruno Ieraci (Team ProDina Kawasaki) is next up in P7 and has a best of seventh at Assen from 2019. Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki), Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kawasaki) and Ruben Bijman (Team Flembbo-PL Performances) complete the top ten. Gennai disappointed on his debut with Kawasaki in Barcelona, whereas Mogeda just missed a rostrum in Race 2. For Bijman, he had good pace across the weekend, particularly in the races and his home round will be an opportunity to fight for a first WorldSSP300 podium. Four manufacturers on the podium in the first two races, Assen could be the most unpredictable Dutch Round yet – even with 20 different podium finishers before!

OUTSIDE THE TOP 10: Barcelona struggles to Assen amazement?

Perhaps not a struggle for Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) but a solid start in Barcelona is something to build on for round two, whereas it was a poor showing from Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki), who never really got going at the season-opener. With this being his home round, expect him to be back at the pointy end. It was a story of what could’ve been for Unai Calatayud (ARCO SASH MotoR University Team), after he was taken out in Race 1 but fought back for P6 in Race 2 after leading for much of the race. Galang Hendra Pratama ProGP NitiRacing) is always one to watch, as is Marc Garcia (KOVE Racing Team), whilst the likes of Elia Bartolini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 Team) and David Salvador (MS Racing) both seek improvements after getting their debuts bagged. As always, keep an eye out for Britain’s Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) who is always in the leading group and Jose Osuna (DEZA-BOX 77 Racing Team), who wants a first top ten of 2024.

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The 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship heads for Assen in the Netherlands for the third round of the season and it’s a track that has signed itself as a true classic on our calendar. With Yamaha looking to rebound this weekend with Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and teammate Andrea Locatelli, we take a trip down memory lane to rekindle the epic first-ever win that Yamaha achieved at Assen.

One of just two wins, Noriyuki Haga took on Ducati’s Troy Bayliss in a classic head-to-head, passing and re-passing numerous times throughout the race. Suzuki’s Pierfrancesco Chili was also in the battle until he suffered a big crash on the exit of the chicane, leaving it to the two hard-chargers of ‘Nitro Nori’ and ‘Baylisstic’ out front. Find out how the race finished with the full race at the top!

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Pirelli have announced their solutions for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visit to the TT Circuit Assen, with the available tyres largely similar to the 2023 round. Riders will have two front dry solutions to use and four at the rear, plus wet-weather tyres which could be utilised. One of the rear tyres is the development SCX C0900, which debuted last time out and returns to action for the Pirelli Dutch Round.

REAR TYRE CHOICES: lots to choose from, development SCX returns

After testing in Barcelona and then being available during the round, the SCX-A super soft, known as the C0900, is available to pick in the Netherlands. It’s joined by the standard SCX super soft, ensuring riders have a choice of familiarity or relatively new tyre when it comes to this compound. The other choices are the standard SC0 soft and the standard SCQ extra soft, which can only be used in free practice sessions, the Tissot Superpole session and the Tissot Superpole Race. In the event of rain, the standard intermediate INT tyre and standard wet SCR1 tyre will be available.

FRONT SOLUTIONS: two standard tyres

For the front tyre, Pirelli have brought two standard compounds. The SC1 medium is the softest of the two available and provides good feeling and confidence when entering corners and also at maximum lean angle. Riders can also choose the SC2 hard, which is generally selected by teams and riders at tracks which demand a lot from the front tyres. In terms of wet-weather tyres, there’s the standard intermediate INT solution and the standard wet SCR1 solution.

WorldSSP TYRES AVAILABLE: all standard solutions

In WorldSSP, Pirelli have opted to bring standard solutions for both the front and rear tyres. The front tyres are the SC1 soft, which debuted as the B1333 last season at Magny-Cours but is now in the standard range, and the SC2 medium, which has similar grip to the SC1 but offers more resistance to wear and more stability in warmer temperatures. For the rear, it’s the standard SCX super soft and the standard SC0 soft to choose from. In case it rains, there’s no intermediate tyre in WorldSSP, with the only rain tyre available the standard SCR1 wet compound.

PIRELLI SAYS: “We want to continue the work on the C0900”

Discussing the tyre solutions, Pirelli’s Motorcycle Racing Director, Giorgio Barbier, said: “The characteristics of the track as well as the climatic conditions usually found in Assen are very different from those of Montmelo where we raced last month, and this allows us to collect other useful data from a development perspective. Here we want to continue the work on the C0900, which in the last round gave good feedback in terms of grip and behaviour but given the aggressiveness of the Catalan asphalt, suffered a bit in terms of wear. On paper, Assen is a less abrasive and usually colder circuit; therefore, we expect to collect information that can give us a more complete picture of the potential of this solution. In past years the characteristics of the asphalt have allowed the use of fairly soft solutions despite the cold temperatures, consequently we think there is margin in the teams’ work to find the ideal set up to exploit the options provided. Assen also sees us busy on another front, that of the Northern Talent Cup which holds its first seasonal event here. From this year we are in fact sole suppliers not only of this, but of all those competitions for young talents which are part of the project Road to MotoGP™ promoted by Dorna, including the Asia Talent Cup which made its successful debut last month in Qatar.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com