Twan Smits dominated the Superpole pre-practice session at his home track in Assen. The only Yamaha rider in the EURO MOTO Superbike class was 0.428 seconds faster than the rest. Where was Lukas Tulovic? The defending champion on the Ducati posted the fifth-fastest time. The Panigale V4R’s engine speed is limited.
Following Lukas Tulovic’s one-two finish in Oschersleben, Triple M Ducati Frankfurt team principal Matthias Moser received a notice. The content of the notice came as no surprise. After four dominant wins in a row, a reduction in the Panigale V4R’s engine speed was called for. This is clearly regulated by the Balance of Performance and has been known since the start of the season.
What other motorcycle manufacturers can accomplish with just a few mouse clicks on a computer seems impossible for Ducati; instead, it turns out to be a time-consuming and costly undertaking. According to Moser, the new V4R model uses Ducati’s in-house electronics, and the rev limit can only be set at the factory. This would result in the price exceeding the budget by a significant margin.
Until Wednesday, Tulo was worried he’d have to stay home over the weekend, but the team has traveled to Assen, and Tulo is trying to manually keep the RPMs low. This is possible using the shift light and dashboard indicators, and can even be verified via a data logger. Tulo always drives with one eye on the gauge to ensure he doesn’t exceed 15,600 RPM. Whether the method currently being used is successful will become clear in the next sessions.
Twan Smits (Team Apreco) stood out as a standout performer in the Superpole pre-practice session at the TT Circuit, despite a hand injury. After Leon Orgis (ORM Racing) was knocked off the top of the timesheets by Jan-Ole Jähnig (GERT56 by RS Speedbikes), the Dutch rider made short work of the field and surged to the front. Marcel Schrötter (GERT56 by RS Speedbikes) and Markus Reiterberger (Masteroil Alpha Van Zon BMW) had no chance of knocking the 22-year-old off the top spot.
Orgis crashed over a bump during the first free practice session this morning. The ORM crew got the Saxon’s BMW back in shape in time, but in the end, he—just like his brother Kevin—missed out on direct qualification for Superpole 2. Florian, too, has no choice but to go through Superpole 1 before he can hopefully continue. He finished seventh today. Note: The only Honda rider in the field isn’t racing with a red fairing this time—he’s racing in black. After the mass crash at Oschersleben, HRP team boss Jens Holzhauer had to quickly improvise using whatever parts were in stock.
Superpole Pre-Practice
1. Twan SMITS (NLD/Yamaha)
2. Marcel SCHRÖTTER (GER/BMW)
3. Markus REITERBERGER (GER/BMW)
4. Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (GER/BMW)
5. Lukas TULOVIC (GER/Ducati)
6. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER/BMW)
7. Florian ALT (GER/Honda)
8. Kevin ORGIS (GER/BMW)
9. Leon ORGIS (GER/BMW)
10. Lorenzo ZANETTI (ITA/Ducati)
11. Jan MOHR (AUT/BMW)
12. Milan MERCKELBAGH (NED/BMW)