IDM leader Ilya Mikhalchik (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) seems unstoppable in his quest for the title. While Bastien Mackels (Wilbers-BMW) still had a good chance of challenging the Ukrainian for the IDM lead at Assen during the rainy free practice session, things looked very different once the track dried out.
Unlike yesterday, the sun is shining over the TT Circuit today. That plays right into Mikhalchik’s hands. On top of that, the 22-year-old knows the track well. He has raced here seven times in his career, starting with the Junior Cup and continuing through the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup as part of the Superbike World Championship.
Bastien Mackels is in second place, 0.597 seconds behind Mikhalchik. Stefan Kerschbaumer (Yamaha/MPB Racing) is in third . He is followed by Julian Puffe (BMW), Lorenzo Lanzi (Yamaha), Pepijn Bijsterbosch (BMW), and Alessandro Polita (Honda).
Qualifying was interrupted by a red flag following a serious crash involving Manuel Schoewer (Yamaha) and Marc Neumann (BMW). Neumann had to be taken to the medical center for examination. He suffered a concussion.