The third WorldSBK championship round drew to a close today at the TT Circuit Assen in The Netherlands.
Having completed Superpole and Race 1 on Saturday, riders Tito Rabat and Bahattin Sofuoglu were on track this morning for the Superpole Race, a ten-lap sprint. Early morning rain meant that the track was fully wet, which meant that the riders had to mount rain tyres. Rabat started well but was struck by another rider through turn one and crashed as a result. Young rider Sofuoglu, who is a category rookie, struggled to adapt to the wet setup and rain tyres that he’d never used in race before but was nevertheless able to complete the race in eighteenth place.
Race 2 ran in the afternoon on a dry track, with Sofuoglu putting in a strong performance. Ther young Yamaha rookie crossed the line fifteenth, scoring another championship point. After crashing in the morning, Rabat suffered a problem with his bike and also struggled with premature tyre wear, all of which meant he had to settle for twentieth position.
The next WorldSBK round will take place at the Cremona Circuit in Italy on 2-4 May.
"Bahattin scored a precious point and was able to truly show his character as well as significant reduce the gap to the front in terms of race time. A pity for Tito who, after crashing this morning, didn’t find the right feeling with his bike, also due to a tyre wear issue, and couldn’t do more than twentieth.”
“The weekend started well, but in today’s spring I was knocked out of the race at turn 1. Fortunately, I was unhurt. In Race 2 I immediately had a technical problem with the bike, perhaps due to the earlier crash. In addition, the drop in tyre performance came early and at that point I was just trying to finish the race. We turn the page and look ahead to the Cremona round, a home round for our team.”
“I’m pleased to have reached the points zone, which is our goal this season. After crashing in yesterday’s Race 1, I wanted a good result today and I got that. I started well but then tried to manage the tyres, which allowed me to maintain good pace even at the end, when I passed two riders to finish fifteenth. Thanks to the team, my manager and all our sponsors – I can’t wait to get back on my biker at Cremona!”
