Another factory rider with work to do to get back into the top ten places in
Yukio Kagayama for the Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra squad who is currently 14th overall after repeated injury and misfortune, one place up on Ducati rider Jakub Smrz riding the Caracchi SC Ducati.
Karl Muggeridge who is with Alto Evolution Honda will spend his weekend at Assen ensuring that he scores two good sets of points, to push himself back up the order after five no scores.
Kenan Sofuoglu in the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Supersport team has been in imperious form this year so far, having scored three wins and one second place, the net result of which is a massive 44 point lead over the chasing hordes of frequently fallen and injured riders.
Another astonishingly dramatic World Supersport race at the previous Valencia round saw Katsuaki Fujiwara on the Althea Honda, then second overall, knocked off by a crash involving two other riders and dropping behind Australian race winner Fabien Foret aboard the GIL Kawasaki in the rankings.
In fourth place currently, Robbin Harms riding for Stiggy Motorsports Honda was also a Valencia no-scorer, as was Kevin Curtain of the Yamaha SSP Racing team who now misses the Assen round after sustaining a long gash in his leg to go with an already broken collarbone. He will be replaced in the team by SBK regular Steve Martin, who now lines up alongside yet another Aussie rider, Yamaha SSP Racing regular Broc Parkes.
Sebastien Charpentier also riding for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda will be back into the mix again after his injury at
Donington, and the Ten Kate team will swell to three this weekend, with Andrew Pitt returning to help Sofuoglu, after placing second in the recent Spanish race.
