Having been amongst the pace setters in practice, second place qualifier Jakub Smrz admits he was slightly disappointed to miss out on a run for pole position.
Jakub Smrz was disappointed to miss out on pole position for the third round of the World Superbike Championship at Assen having been no lower than second during any of the free practice and provisional qualifying sessions.
The Czech rider went into Superpole as a favourite for pole position, but struggled for consistency with the tyres over the course of the three phases.
Indeed, Smrz almost found himself knocked out of Q1 when he ended up in 12th position, but a charge in SP2 and SP3 lifted the Effenbert-Liberty man up to an eventual second place, three tenths off pole winner Carlos Checa.
“I wanted the pole today but I had some trouble with the tyres,” said Smrz, who claimed a career-best second place finish last time out at
Donington Park. “The bike was good, but Carlos was very fast today. It's good to be on the front row, the team and everyone did good work.
“I learnt that I was only 12th after Superpole 1 because I didn't see the lap times, so I was lucky in the first one. Then I started pushing in the second session, but here it's always very close and it's never easy.”
