The pre-eminent Honda rider in Superbike at present, Vermeulen will be out for nothing less than win number two and three of his 2005 season, the first having been taken at another fast, flat and flowing circuit - Monza. As the first race winner at Assen last year, Vermeulen knows exactly what it takes to triumph at this classic circuit.
Vermeulen’s team-mate,
Karl Muggeridge, is a rookie to Superbike in 2005 and will be looking to add consistency of raceday performance to his undoubted speed in qualifying. His personal best of fourth (in the same Monza race won by Vermeulen) may be aced at such a flowing circuit as Assen, but for all the riders, Assen 2005 will present something an unknown challenge in parts, after winter alterations to the Circuit van Drenthe layout.
Defending champions Ducati Xerox have seen their riders,
Regis Laconi and
James Toseland, reverse roles from the 2004 season, with Laconi the man scoring more points and making a more consistent charge on the overall championship table. But this tough year for the factory Ducati twins, despite Laconi taking three wins to Toseland’s single, sees the desmo riders in only third and sixth places respectively.
At Assen, a happy hunting ground for V-twins in many previous years, each rider will be looking to topple the flood of four-cylinder machines from the east, in wet or dry conditions. Toseland took a win at Assen in 2004, on his way to securing the championship itself and a repeat is badly needed to secure a top ride for 2006.
Noriyuki Haga, a genuine 2004 season championship challenger with Renegade Ducati Noriyuki, has found his 2005 Yamaha Italian R1 something of an enigma for the first half of the year - but since his breakthrough podium place at
Silverstone, and two subsequent race wins, he has been the match of even the Corser/Suzuki combination.
