WSBK Superbike Assen Superpole: Stratospheric Toprak Razgatlioğlu!

De Paolo Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Toprak Razgatlioğlu confirms himself as the specialist for the best lap: second consecutive pole. Jonathan Rea grabs the front row, Álvaro Bautista only fifth

Soil Razgatlioğlu adapted perfectly to the new Pirelli 'extended qualification' tire. At Motorland, he had handed over Jonathan Rea in his place and here he gave a reminder, and with interest. The Turkish runner's time is astonishing: 1'32″934, six tenths under the record which has stood since 2017. On the first row at the start of race 1, Soil Razgatlioğlu will be flanked by the Kawasakis ofalex lowes as well as Jonathan Rhea, who is seven tenths behind. Ducati fails: Alvaro Bautista finds himself in fifth position and will have to be content with the second row, between the Yamahas ofAndrea Locatelli et Garrett gerloff. Judging by the simulations carried out during the last three sessions, Alvaro Bautista is the driver to beat over the 21-lap distance. This will be a difficult first challenge to overcome.

Comparison with MotoGP? No way.
Time to Soil Razgatlioğlu was so fast that it is natural to look at the MotoGP credentials at this circuit. Last year, Maverick Vinales took pole with the Yamaha M1 in 1'31″869, while the best time of the race was achieved by Fabio Quartararo, with the same bike, in 1'32″814. The Superbike benchmark is not as close as it seems. In MotoGP, Michelin does not have a qualifying tire, while Pirelli has just introduced the SCQ, the new "all or nothing" tire, which, unlike the previous version (the Q), is supposed to be capable of 4 -5 passages, instead of just one. But in reality, after a few passes, performance decreases.

The difference is considerable
« I found the yellow flag on the first attempt, on the second I no longer had optimal grip, but the important thing was the first row and I'm there ", commented Jonathan Rhea. The race pace will be 1'35" (with perhaps a few points just below), so here are the usual two seconds that can be found on tracks particularly favorable to factory derivatives. On fast tracks the difference is much greater.

Michael Rinaldi, scary accident
In the middle of the session, Michael Rinaldi suffered a frightening fall: as he entered the fast Turn 15, his Ducati wobbled unnaturally at the rear, forcing him to jump out to avoid more serious problems. The rider got up in pain, but then returned to the garage without going to the medical center. During FP3, he himself suffered an engine failure, with a lot of smoke.

Eugene Laverty throws in the towel
The Dutch weekend of Eugene Laverty ended prematurely. A violent crash in FP1 at turn 15, the quick left turn before the final chicane, left a functional problem in his right arm. The Irish driver was cautiously rested during FP2. The BMW Bonovo team will therefore be on track with only Loris Baz. The adventure of Michael van der Mark continues, after returning to the track in record time after having had surgery last month on his right leg, fractured in four places during mountain biking training.

Read the original article on Corsedimoto.com

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com