WSBK Assen Friday: Yamaha WSBK

The Yamaha World Superbike Team got down to business as usual on the first day of qualifying in Assen today with star rider Ben Spies proving yet again that a lack of track knowledge wasn’t going to stop him being fastest man in the paddock. The American hotshot ended both the free practice and the qualifying session top of the time-sheets, laying down consistently fast laps from the word go.

Team-mate Tom Sykes was consistent in both sessions but was still working through some small issues with the team to be able to get up to his American counterpart’s pace. A small crash at the very end of the qualifying on a new set of tyres resulted in no injuries for the British rider.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st 1′38.747)
“It was a good session, we did half a race stint at the beginning on race tyres that already had ten laps on from free practice and were only a few tenths off the fastest time from the race last year over race distance so I was really happy. We then put some fresh race tyres on and the times just dropped dramatically and it seemed to come pretty easily. The bike’s working really well, there are a couple of things we still need to dial in but the track’s great and I’m having fun with it.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (15th 1′39.899)
“I’ve got a couple of little problems which I feel are restricting me. I really want to pull the trigger and go but until we get to the bottom of these it’s a little bit tricky. I had a couple of problems with the front, and not been able to push that last little bit to make the difference round every corner. At the end I went into turn one, and thought I was doing everything right but just went down. It wasn’t a big one though, so looking forward to tomorrow. We’ve gathered a lot of information today so hopefully we can put it to good use in the morning.

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“It was a great day, neither of the riders knew the circuit but it seems this is not a problem for them. Ben led the first free practice and he’s also led the second qualifying practice which is great and the bike is working well for him. Tom fell at the end of the qualifying practice when he went out on a fresh set of tyres, looking for a good lap for the end of the session. I think his pace is good so let’s wait until tomorrow, we’ll check some data tonight and in the morning we’ll do something to improve.”

Circuit Length: 4555
Lap Record: 2′04.685 (Chris Vermeulen, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′38.428 (Troy Bayliss, 27/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Troy Bayliss
2009 WSB The Netherlands - Assen 24/04/2009
Qualifying 1
Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time
1     Ben Spies     Yamaha     USA     1′38.747
2     Jakub Smrz     Ducati     CZE     1′39.055
3     Yukio Kagayama     Suzuki     JPN     1′39.128
4     Carlos Checa     Honda     ESP     1′39.141
5     Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     1′39.238
6     Regis Laconi     Ducati     FRA     1′39.246
7     Max Neukirchner     Suzuki     GER     1′39.265
8     Jonathan Rea     Honda     GBR     1′39.359
9     Ryuichi Kiyonari     Honda     JPN     1′39.506
10     Leon Haslam     Honda     GBR     1′39.585
11     Troy Corser     BMW     AUS     1′39.597
12     Noriyuki Haga     Ducati     JPN     1′39.621
13     Shane Byrne     Ducati     GBR     1′39.784
14     Karl Muggeridge     Suzuki     AUS     1′39.897
15     Tom Sykes     Yamaha     GBR     1′39.899
27     David Checa     Yamaha     ESP     1′41.823

FREE PRACTICE REPORT     24/04/2009
Crutchlow on the pace again in Assen
Cal Crutchlow picked up where he left off in Valencia today at the Dutch circuit in Assen. Using the Friday free practice session to learn the track properly the British rider was rarely out of the top spot for most of the time, and finished the session just two tenths of a second behind the lead in second place.

Team-mate Fabien Foret spent the time working through the session to find the right set-up in advance of tomorrow’s qualifying heat. He finished free practice in 11th position, 0.8 of a second behind his team-mate.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (11th 1′42.688)
“It was good enough for me today. Not having ridden the circuit on our race bike before and up against guys who have been riding here for three or four years it was good again to be up there and challenging. Our lap times are good and consistent and I think we were one of the few not to change tyres in the session so to go that fast at the end on old rubber is good. All the boys on the team are working really hard to keep me up there and I’m working hard as well so we’ll keep pushing and hopefully we’ll still be leading the world championship at the end of the weekend.”

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd 1′41.869)
“it was ok today, we worked on the set-up of the bike. I had one or two issues with the brakes but I think we have a solution for tomorrow so it’s ok. It’s nice to be back in Assen, and I’m loving the sunshine, let’s hope it stays this way for the weekend.”

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
“Today was another good start to the race weekend for us. Cal has adapted to the new track really quickly so we’re confident we’re going to be up there in qualifying tomorrow for a good grid starting position. Fabien rode a lot of laps to find a good rhythm, his shoulder injury is improving every week and he’s consistently improving every race weekend this season.”

Circuit Length: 4555
Lap Record: 2′08.865 (Katsuaki Fujiwara, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′40.895 (Broc Parkes, 27/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Andrew Pitt
2009 WSS The Netherlands - Assen 24/04/2009

Free Practice
1     Joan Lascorz     Kawasaki     ESP     1′41.650
2     Cal Crutchlow     Yamaha     GBR     1′41.869
3     Michele Pirro     Yamaha     ITA     1′42.081
4     Eugene Laverty     Honda     GBR     1′42.164
5     Garry McCoy     Triumph     AUS     1′42.168
6     Anthony West     Honda     AUS     1′42.427
7     Kenan Sofuoglu     Honda     TUR     1′42.428
8     Barry Veneman     Suzuki     NED     1′42.490
9     Andrew Pitt     Honda     AUS     1′42.655
10     Mark Aitchison     Honda     AUS     1′42.659
11     Fabien Foret     Yamaha     FRA     1′42.688
12     Matthieu Lagrive     Honda     FRA     1′42.738
13     Gianluca Nannelli     Triumph     ITA     1′43.021
14     Miguel Praia     Honda     POR     1′43.032
15     Robbin Harms     Honda     DNK     1′43.090
27     Kevin Bos     Yamaha     NED     1′45.830
29     Doni Tata Pradita     Yamaha     IDN     1′46.010
30     Yannick Guerra     Yamaha     ESP     1′46.280