WSBK Superbike Assen Superpole: Alvaro Bautista on pole despite Rea beaten by only 27 thousandths

We have now entered the moments that count in this WSBK meeting in Assen with this Superpole which will organize the starting grid. During the day on Friday, Alvaro Bautista dominated the proceedings, but during FP3 this morning, it was Remy Gardner who made the talk on his Yamaha. It was no longer raining but it was a wet track and very low temperatures of 11° that the Superbike World Championship riders found this morning in Assen for the 3-minute FP30. What will this Superpole have in store for us?  

First of all, it is a mainly dry track but with a few patches of humidity which will be used by the drivers. The sky is cloudy with sunny spells, giving no indication of rain. It's 15° in the air and the track is 19°. During the last free practice session, held on a wet track, Gardner set the benchmark ahead of the Ducati ofAlvaro Bautista of 711 thousandths. Toprak Razgatlioglu with the Yamaha was in third position while Sale saved himself by avoiding going out on the track... Here is the reminder of the classification:

For the record, this is what Assen represents for the category WSBK ...

Let's go for 15 short and intense minutes…

Sale, the first driver to take to the track with the Kawasaki. But it's his teammate Alex Lowes who gives him the politeness to establish the first reference in 1'33.741.The two Kawasakis are the only ones under the 1'34" wall while Toprak Razgatlioglu is sixth behind Locatelli. Then Baptist, which becomes third at 211 thousandths of the time of Lowes. agitated progresses by becoming fifth, bassani 8th, Rinaldi 13th. 18th Petrucci followed by Baldassarri. Then Sale takes the lead.

Here is the mid-session ranking:

The last assault is launched and entry Baptist refuses that bassani takes his wheel, which causes some uproar in the peloton. The last five minutes of qualifying have begun, the red helmets starting to arrive.

Impressive Baptist : 1'33"542, it's the momentary pole for the Spaniard Ducati. Redding, surprisingly rises to fourth position followed by Locatelli. Toprak also arrives: the Turk is second behind Alvaro at 119 thousandths.

Under the checkered flag, Baptist remains intractable. He is ahead Rea, Razgatlioglu, Lowes and Redding amazing with his BMW. agitated is seventh and first rookie, Petrucci ninth and Gardner eleventh behind the only Honda in the top 10, that of Lecuona. Baz is a deserving thirteenth.

Afterwards, Alvaro Bautista was penalized 3 places for having hindered Loris Baz: he will start his 4th!

Ranking of the Superbike Superpole at Assen: