The fourth round of the Superbike World Championship heads to Assen this weekend where the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team will ride a home race for their fans at the Dutch TT Circuit.
Andrew Pitt, Honda CBR600RRPitt secured a second place in the Supersport race at Assen last year as a third rider for the team following his good performance as a replacement rider for Charpentier in the Valencia race. After a win at Phillip Island and a DNF in Valencia, Pitt is eager to show his best at the team’s home round:
“We’ll have to bounce back and try and put what happened in the last race behind us.”
“So far I’ve missed 2 races this year and will have to make up the loss of those valuable points. I try not to let it effect me too much, but there is a fair bit of pressure, I simply cannot afford to make any more mistakes for the rest of the season. “
”The team has been very busy behind the scenes to solve the problem with the front of the bike.”
“It’s a tough one, when you are missing races you have to come back and try and win in order to make up for it and take more risk where you probably should be taking less risk. We’ll have to qualify well and need to win the race or at least be on the podium.”
Jonathan Rea, Honda CBR600RRThe World Supersport Championship brings Jonathan Rea to another new European track. Although he is still learning to understand the Pirelli tyres, Jonathan is positive about his chances on the Dutch track:
“I have never been to Assen before and have been watching the DVD’s supplied by the team to get an impression of the track.”
’The team have gathered lots of data information from the track and the set up for the bike, which should help me a lot. I am very optimistic about riding the home race for the team in front of their fans and hope we can give them some good racing and bring both riders to the podium.”
”My performance in the last 3 races has only been satisfactory for me. They haven’t been good races and I haven had the best of luck but my feeling with the tyres is coming better and I am starting to understand. I want to be riding where I belong and claim the top spot of the podium.”
Carlos Checa, Honda CBR1000RRCarlos Checa came close to his first ever WSB win at Valencia. Upbeat about the progression in the development of the new CBR1000RR, Checa, currently split - 3rd in the championship, is eager to exploit the pace of the bike on the fast track of Assen.
“I am looking forward to the race this weekend. I like the track a lot and the atmosphere in Assen is always great. If we can continue the progression we have shown in the last races I am confident we can achieve some good results.”
’I don’t know what the Ducati’s will do in Assen but I expect them to be riding up front. Haga can be strong at Assen and Biaggi will have recovered fully. I expect the Suzuki’s to be competitive again as well, so there will be many rivals around.”
“For the race in Assen we will mainly concentrate on further developing the chassis and clear the problems we experience with the rear-end chattering.”
’There will be some pressure on the team to perform well on their home track, but if we continue the improvement we achieved in the last races we can fight for a win. It will not be easy, but after the Valencia race I have plenty of confidence we can be there.”
Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda CBR1000RR
Ryuichi Kiyonari showed that he has the pace to run at the front and eager to secure his first WSB podium. He has shown constant progression and claimed a well earned fourth place at Valencia.
“For the team’s home race I would like to step on the podium after coming so close to it in Valencia. I really have developed the taste for it and my confidence with the bike is growing every time out. My lap times have continuously improved over the last races, but I still need to work on my starts and increase my corner speed. I lose too much valuable time in the first laps of the race and then find it hard to close the gap with the frontrunners after the tyres have gone.”
”Assen is a complete new track to me, but with all the data information and the experience of the team I am confident I can quickly familiarise with the track”
“If I can qualify well on Saturday and have a good start, I am confident I can compete for a place on the podium.”
Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda CBR1000RRKenan Sofuoglu has some good memories of his ‘home’ track of Assen where he brought the team a top place on the podium in last year’s Supersport race. So far his performance on the Superbike hasn’t been satisfactory for the young Turk and Sofuoglu had to set his goals more realistically.
“I have been waiting for the race in Assen. After completing 3 difficult first races in the Superbike competition I now want to put my experience into practice on one of my favourite circuits. It could be the chance for me to jump into the top 10. Its strange for me to be saying that after finishing every race into the top 3 last season. It’s a steep learning curve I’m going through.”
“Over the last 5 years I have done well in Assen and achieved a podium in every race so far.”
“The positive results of the past give me a good feeling and boost my confidence. Its my goal to catch up with my team mates Checa and Kiyonari and follow them into the top 5.”
