Glenn van Straalen (NIWA Racing) didn’t let the result of the first qualifying session in the IDM Supersport 600 sit on him for long. The Kawasaki rider from the Netherlands had finished third yesterday on his home track. Today, the man with start number “30” clocked a lap time of 1:41.156 min on the asphalt of the TT Circuit in Assen. In doing so, he knocked Patrick “Pax” Hobelsberger (Bonovo action by MGM Racing) out of the top spot. The Bavarian fell back to third place, even though he, too, had improved his fastest time. Max Enderlein (M32 Racing), however, had been even more successful with a time of 1:41.236 min and thus ranks second in practice, ahead of Hobelsberger on the starting grid.
The Dutch riders, who had been so strong the day before behind van Straalen, struggled today in the final qualifying session, with the exception of guest rider Sander Kroeze, who secured his fourth starting position. Rob Hartog (Füsport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) and Jeroen Hilster dropped back at least one starting row. And this despite the fact that a new fork had been installed in Hartog’s Ninja yesterday, which was actually supposed to help him move up the grid.
Thomas Gradinger made the biggest leap forward in the field; racing for Team Eder Racing, this is his second time this year competing in the IDM at Most. The Austrian moved up six spots in the second qualifying session and secured a spot on the second row of the grid. He has spent time training at the Pannoniaring in two practice sessions since his comeback at Most.
IDM Supersport ,600, Q1 + Q2:
1. Glenn VAN STRAALEN (NLD/Kawasaki)
2. Max ENDERLEIN (DEU/Yamaha)
3. Patrick HOBELSBERGER (DEU/Yamaha)
4. Sander KROEZE (NLD/Yamaha)
5. Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (DEU/Yamaha)
6. Thomas GRADINGER (AUT/Yamaha)
7. Kevin WAHR (GER/Yamaha)
8. Valentin DEBISE (FRA/Kawasaki)
9. Rob HARTOG (NLD/Kawasaki)
10. Jeroen HILSTER (NLD/Yamaha)
11. Andreas KOFLER (AUT/Kawasaki)
12. Dino IOZZO (ZAF/Kawasaki)
13. Joep OVERBEEKE (NLD/Kawasaki)
14. Jeffrey BUIS (NLD/Kawasaki)
15. Melvin VAN DER VOORT (NLD/Yamaha)