Stepan Zuda (Freudenberg RORA PALIGO Racing) remains the rider to beat in the EURO MOTO Sportbike class at Assen as well. The current championship leader secured pole position for the first race on Saturday afternoon. His time from the first qualifying session on Friday was enough, as the difficult conditions on Saturday morning prevented any further improvements.
Zuda had already shown during free practice that the 4.555-kilometer TT Circuit Assen suited him well. At the end of the practice day, the Czech rider topped the timesheets with a lap time of 1:45.673 minutes. Guest rider Jeffrey Buis followed just nine thousandths of a second behind.
On Friday afternoon, with temperatures soaring to around 33 degrees, Zuda set out once again to chase fast lap times. His second fast lap was already on point. With a time of 1:45.704 minutes, he took the lead in the first qualifying session and, ultimately, in the combined standings as well.
“I’m doing really well here in Assen, and I like the warm temperatures, too. The team is doing a great job, and the bike handles really well. Let’s see what the weather’s like for the first race. Here in Assen, the weather can always change quickly,” said Zuda.
Right next to him, Tobias Kitzbichler (ViVa by Peuker & Streeb) will start. The Austrian also needed only a few laps to set his best time on Friday. With a time of 1:45.840 minutes, he was just 0.136 seconds off pole position. “Everything’s going very well for me so far,” said Kitzbichler, sounding satisfied.
Ruben Bijman (Freudenberg RORA PALIGO Racing) rounds out the front row. The Dutch driver clocked a time of 1:45.883 minutes, just 0.179 seconds behind his teammate Zuda. On his home track, Bijman is still waiting for his first win of the season. At least in terms of speed, he’s not far off. The gap between the top three drivers is just 0.179 seconds.
Rain Turns Q2 Into a Lottery
Things looked very different on Saturday morning. After a hot Friday, it had rained in Assen. By the start of the second qualifying session, the track was already drying out again, but that was precisely what made the conditions difficult. The riders had to decide when the right moment to head out onto the track was and which tires were the best choice for that.
As a result, the field remained relatively small. Only eight drivers took to the track at all. Luis Rammerstorfer (Freudenberg RORA PALIGO Racing) handled the conditions best and set the fastest time of the second qualifying session at 1:57.424 minutes. However, Friday’s times remained unbeatable.
This means Kiyano Veijer (Dutch Talent Racing) will start from fourth place. Next to him, in fifth place, is Jakob Rosenthaler (RT Motosports). For the rider currently in second place in the championship, it hadn’t been an easy weekend up to that point. Rosenthaler had already crashed twice during Friday’s practice sessions. Fortunately, both crashes resulted in no serious consequences. His time of 1:46.280 minutes from Q1 ultimately secured him a spot on the second row of the grid. Julian van Kalkeren (SRTD Pearle Gebben) rounds out the second row in sixth place.
Behind them are Mika Siebdrath (Freudenberg RORA PALIGO Racing), Rick Kooistra (SRTD Pearle Gebben), and Luis Rammerstorfer in seventh through ninth place. Tom Kuil (RT Motorsports) rounds out the top ten.
For guest rider Jeffrey Buis (Track & Trades Wixx Racing), however, the plan didn’t work out. The Dutchman had skipped Friday’s first qualifying session entirely. Buis is using the EURO MOTO weekend at his home track primarily as a training opportunity during the long summer break in the Sportbike World Championship. He had already feared on Friday that Saturday’s change in weather could become a problem.
That’s exactly how it turned out. Buis had to set a time in the second qualifying session under difficult conditions and clocked 2:01.192 minutes. This left him well above the 110 percent mark of 1:56.389 minutes required for the combined standings, and he was initially ineligible for the races.
But the World Championship driver won’t have to sit this one out. His team requested permission to start from Race Control. Buis was granted this permission based on his fast lap times from the two free practice sessions. He had been among the front-runners in both sessions and finished second in the combined practice standings, just nine thousandths of a second behind Zuda. This means the Dutch driver is allowed to start in both races, though from last place.
The riders won't have much time after qualifying. The next championship points are already up for grabs on Saturday afternoon. The first EURO MOTO Sportbike race starts at 3:30 p.m. and can be watched live on the EURO MOTO stream.
EURO MOTO Sportbike, Qualifying Results
- Stepan ZUDA (#23/CZE), Triumph Daytona 660
- Tobias KITZBICHLER (#38/AUT), Aprilia RS660
- Ruben BIJMAN (#17/NLD), Triumph Daytona 660
- Kiyano VEIJER (#53/NLD), Triumph Daytona 660
- Jakob ROSENTHALER (#78/AUT), Triumph Daytona 660
- Julian VAN KALKEREN (#34/NLD), Triumph Daytona 660
- Mika SIEBDRATH (#98/GER), Triumph Daytona 660
- Rick KOOISTRA (#20/NLD), Triumph Daytona 660
- Luis RAMMERSTORFER (#13/AUT), Triumph Daytona 660
- Tom KUIL (#55/NLD), Triumph Daytona 660
- Maksymilian PALMOWSKI (#95/POL), Aprilia RS660
- Ty HENRIKSEN (#46/DNK), Aprilia RS660
- Alexander WEIZEL (#22/GER), Aprilia RS660
- Jay Jay DEN HOED (#44/NLD), Yamaha YZF R7
- Magnus KRISTOFFERSEN (#30/DNK), Aprilia RS660
- Lucas SØRENSEN (#18/DNK), Aprilia RS660
- Jeffrey BUIS (#G6/NLD), Suzuki GSX 8R