The TT Circuit Assen is one of the most historic and iconic tracks to feature on the WorldSBK calendar. The Kawasaki WorldSBK and WorldSSP Teams come to the Netherlands with different goals as they prepare to take on the third round of the season.
The Superbike team wants to continue on the path it has taken during the first two rounds, work that has seen the ongoing development of the Ninja ZX-10RR and that allowed Garrett Gerloff to fight for the top six in the Portimão races.
The Supersport team has resolved many of the problems that slowed Jeremy Alcoba and Dominique Aegerter in Australia and wants to exploit the Dutch round, unlocking the potential of their Ninja ZX-6R 636 machines and fighting for the podium.
Known as the “Cathedral of Speed”, the Dutch circuit was used for the first time a motorcycle road racing track in 1926. It was later remodelled as a permanent facility, maintaining the original layout only as far as the start/finish section. The circuit has been further refined over the years and the combination of fast turns and tight hairpins make Assen one of the most technical and challenging on the international landscape. It is 4.542 km long with eighteen corners, twelve of which right-hand and six left.
The full schedule for the round at the TT Circuit is available at:
Manuel Puccetti – Team Principal
“The Assen round has always been one of the most important for your team, with large crowds and many of our sponsors in attendance. We’ve had positive races in Superbike of late and are determined to continue in a similar vein, while in Supersport we hope to finally be able to express our potential with our riders and bikes.”
Garrett Gerloff
“I’m confident that we’ll be able to further important our bike during this Assen round and that’s why my goal is to fight in the top five or six, just as we did at Portimão. We need to continue on this path and work hard to score important results, for our team and for Kawasaki”.
Jeremy Alcoba
“I’m really pumped for this Assen round and want to use it to fight with the best bikes and best riders. It’s a track I like and where I got pole position while racing in Moto3. Last year we struggled a bit here, but we’ve worked hard over the first races to make our make competitive and so I’m confident I can score good results this weekend. We need to see what the weather’s like, but we’re ready for anything.”
Dominique Aegerter
“The Assen track is one of my favourites and I’ve achieved strong results here in the past. The weather is often variable and might be cold, but we’re ready for any conditions. I’ve trained hard since Portimao, both with the MX bike and with a Ninja ZX-6R 636 street bike. Up to now, we’ve not been able to fight for the positions we want, and to do so at Assen we’ll need to find a good setup already on Friday, in order to run a good qualifying and start the race from the front. I’m confident we can do it.”
