Three Superpoles in three rounds is a perfect record for Carlos Checa, but it all came down to the tires for the other riders.
Times were so close in the second stint that the majority of the riders had to use their two Pirelli qualifying rubber much sooner than they expected, expect for Checa and Haga who were able to save their last one available in Superpole 3.
Here’s what the riders had to say after today’s exciting Superpole session at Assen.
Carlos Checa – 1st“The result, to tell the truth, came as a surprise because we were struggling a little in the first phase of the Superpole and it is easy to find yourself knocked out for just a tenth of a second.
We risked going out but were luckily able to continue and the qualifying tyres in the second and third sessions really worked well for me.
In the final session I was able to make two very fast laps, one of which was very clean, without mistakes, and this way we took the fastest time.
I didn’t expect it because in the final minutes other riders were lapping very fast too but of course I am extremely happy with the result.
The third pole in three races, incredible! I must however remain realistic; tomorrow will not be easy because we’ve seen that times are closer than ever.
I’ll do my best to get a strong start and stick with the leaders and we’ll see what we can do.
” Jakub Smrz – 2nd“I wanted the pole today but I had some trouble with the tyres.
The bike was good, but Carlos was very fast today.
It’s good to be on the front row, the team and everyone did good work.
I learnt that I was only 12th after Superpole 1 because I didn’t see the lap times, so I was lucky in the first one.
Then I started pushing in the second session, but here it’s always very close and it’s never easy.
” Eugene Laverty – 3rd“That was certainly an eventful Superpole today.
We used our qualifying tyre early on in the session and then had to use a softer race tyre in the final round.
I surprised myself with the lap time I achieved.
I knew I could make it into the front row but it was a tough battle.
We have to concentrate on making the bike more stable for tomorrow’s race in order to be able to put in consistently fast laps throughout the race.
I’m aiming for a podium but a win would also be very nice indeed.
”Noriyuki Haga – 4th“I’d love to win tomorrow, even if it won’t be easy.
The aim is to obtain two great results to dedicate to all the Japanese supporters that are going through hard times.
So far we’ve been able to do everything at the best, we still have doubts about the setting that could let the tyre stays in good conditions until the end of the race and we’ll work during the warm up tomorrow to do the best choice.
” Jonathan Rea – 5thToday’s been much more positive and we made big improvements with our clutch set-up today which has allowed the bike to be a lot more stable under braking.
It’s been a big step forward that we’ve lacked so far this season.
Session two was good today and we got long runs on both options to try and sort the race tyre out, so we’ve covered our bases whether the temperature rises or falls tomorrow.
Unfortunately we had to use a Q in the first Superpole because the front tyre wasn’t quite right.
Superpole 2 was fantastic and we were third fastest with good pace but then we were out of Qs for Superpole 3.
I tried to recycle one, which wasn’t so good and went back out on a used race tyre.
We should probably have used a new one but with the available quantities that wasn’t an option.
We’re still evaluating whether to run to softer tyre tomorrow, so we needed to keep some back.
But I went quite quick on the used one so I’m happy with that.
The plan is still to aim for the podium in both races tomorrow.
Max Biaggi – 6th“Everything started with the crash in the last practice session, which forced me to use the bike which I’ve used the least for Superpole.
The inexplicable jerk which caused the crash came back in a lesser form on the second bike as well.
In the end we earned this sixth place which isn’t bad if we consider the circumstances, but I can’t say that I’m completely sorted for tomorrow.
Maybe we needed a little more time.
Now we’ll have to try and shave something off during the warm-up and give it our most during the two races.
” Tom Sykes – 7th“It has been quite good for us during practice and qualifying and ending up on the front two rows in Superpole is always our aim this season.
We have reached goal number one for the weekend so now we have to achieve the goals for tomorrow.
We are relatively happy but because things have been so close in lap times I had to use one of my qualifying tyres in Superpole 1, and we ended up with an unexpected problem with a wheel that meant I had to use a tyre choice that would not have preferred.
As we discovered it was not so good for just one or two laps of Superpole and Assen is a circuit that demands the right tyre.
On race times we are not very far away at all so I am looking forward to tomorrow and getting away from the startline cleanly.
I have done a couple of practice starts so hopefully we can make that count.
There is no reason why we cannot go with them.
Qualifying is unbelievably close, which shows how high the level of competition is in World Superbike this year.
”Marco Melandri – 8th“We experienced both ups and downs today.
Unfortunately I crashed in the final heat and lost out on the opportunity to be on the front row.
On the other hand we made progress on the bike set up in this morning’s qualifying and that’s a step in the right direction.
It’ll be a difficult two races tomorrow, Assen isn’t an easy track and a good start off the grid is necessary.
We’ll do our best and see what happens.
”Troy Corser – 10th“On race tyres the bike feels good.
We are able to run consistently good laps times and our race pace looks good for tomorrow.
Superpole today was disappointing for sure, we struggled to get the optimum performance from the qualifying tyres.
So tomorrow we will have to focus on getting a good start and try and push to run with the riders on the front row.
I am confident enough in my starts to hopefully achieve that.
”Joan Lascorz – 11th“That was quite a tough period of qualifying and the times are very close, so I can say we are not so bad, maybe somewhere in the middle.
For one tenth of a second I could have moved into the third and last Superpole session, but we just missed out.
With a race tyre I have a good feeling and the qualifying tyre was almost the same as the race tyre; maybe we gained one tenth of a second using it.
The tyres we will use tomorrow depend on the track temperature but we should have a good choice whatever the conditions.
Changing direction in the fast corners is the main issue for me now, partly because my shoulder is still not 100% recovered yet.
I am not sure what will be possible in the races tomorrow but we only work to finish in the top position, for the win!”Leon Haslam – 12th “It was a tough day today, we have good race pace and our times on race tyres are good.
We have worked on fine-tuning our set-up for the race this weekend and we are happy with the progress we made on that side.
Sadly when we put in the qualifying tyres the bike didn’t react well to the increased grip levels and we suffered from some issues that prevented me from going any quicker.
It’s a shame to finish up in 12th because my times on race tyres were good enough to get me through to Superpole 3.
The qualifying tyre just didn’t work for us today.
It’s frustrating for sure because this is the first time I have been off the front row.
Still we need to forget about this now and concentrate on the races tomorrow.
”Ruben Xaus – 14thWe’re getting better but it’s been a bit like Donington here – the morning warmer than the afternoon and then we lose grip.
Tyre quantity has also been an issue here, so we have been changing the set up to suit the tyres that we have available, so it has been difficult.
I was about one tenth from getting into Superpole 2 which was closer than Donington and Phillip Island.
Tomorrow I’ll try to make a good start and go for two more top ten placings, or better.
I hope from Monza onwards that the weather will be a little warmer and that might suit both me and the bike.
Chris Vermeulen – 18th “We had a bit of bad luck yesterday, and lost a lot of track time.
We basically had a bout 40 minutes out of the two hours, and it was not what we needed as I am still trying to get a better understanding of the bike.
Today we improved a lot and we were only a few tenths away from qualifying into Superpole, simply because the qualifying session was held in the morning.
In the afternoon free session we set a time that would have got us into Superpole.
I’m only a tenth or so off some of the other guys so it shows we are improving and getting used to the new bike.
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