A 20-point lead sounds like a comfortable cushion. But series leader Angelo Licciardi knows he can’t afford to rest on his laurels with his Kawasaki in the final four races of the highly competitive IDM Supersport . “We’ll continue to fight for overall victories,” the 22-year-old Belgian announced in Assen. Qualifying showed that the Benjan Racing Team rider can’t afford to sit back. In the first session, he had to retire his Kawasaki after just six laps due to clutch failure. His Ninja 400 is prepared in cooperation with the Swiss team Weber-Motos.
His mechanics did a great job leading up to the second qualifying session. Licciardi was able to move up to fourth place with a time of 1:53.707 minutes. Thanks to the grid penalty imposed on Walid Khan, the Kawasaki rider from Genk will still be able to start from the front row alongside Yamaha riders Melvin van der Vaart and pole-sitter Rick Dunnik. Dunnik set his best time of 1:52.894 minutes during the first qualifying session on Friday.
With Licciardi and Dunnik, the IDM Supersport and his closest rival will start from the front row at Assen. In a surprise result, Melvin van der Voort secured a spot on the front row by finishing second. The 14-year-old rider from the SWPN Junior Team in Ede, Gelderland, made a strong statement in the junior class with his impressive performance. The talented rider from near Arnhem is considered one of the most promising young talents in Dutch motorcycle racing.
Van der Voort relegated last year’s champion, Toni Erhard on a KTM (Freudenberg World SSP Academy), to the second row, along with his compatriot Colin Velthuizen, the second-best Kawasaki rider on the starting grid. The 15-year-old rider for the NUTEC-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki team is currently in third place in theSupersport standings. He is already 35 points behind his teammate Licciardi. The young rider from Heerjansdam needs to score as many points as possible in the two races taking place on Sunday. That is the only way Velthuizen can keep his title hopes alive.