Quartet off the mark at Assen

Four more riders come away from Assen with points on the board after Karl Muggeridge, Brendan Roberts, Matteo Baiocco and Luca Scassa made their first top 15 appearances in 2009.

The race marked a particularly significant turnaround for the Muggeridge and the Celani Race team, who arrived at Assen having been able to conduct their first test away from the WSBK stage at Monza, with the Australian rider proving considerably more competitive from the off.

Muggeridge, Dutch WSBK 2009
Muggeridge, Dutch WSBK 2009
© Gold and Goose

Four more riders come away from Assen with points on the board after Karl Muggeridge, Brendan Roberts, Matteo Baiocco and Luca Scassa made their first top 15 appearances in 2009.

The race marked a particularly significant turnaround for the Muggeridge and the Celani Race team, who arrived at Assen having been able to conduct their first test away from the WSBK stage at Monza, with the Australian rider proving considerably more competitive from the off.

Setting top ten times in practice and qualifying 13th on the grid, Muggeridge ran on the cusp of the top ten in the first race before eventually settling for 12th, his best result of the year. He couldn't repeat his feat in the second, though, after crashing out early on.

For the other three riders, Roberts, Baiocco and Scassa, Assen marked the first time they have ever scored points on the World Superbikes stage after they took advantage of the high attrition rate in race two to finish 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.

Although overshadowed by Guandalini Ducati team-mate Jakub Smrz's podium in the same race, reigning Superstock 1000 Champion Roberts finally had something to smile about after a tough start to the year. Reaching Superpole for the second time this season at Assen, Roberts finished 16th in the first race before scoring three points in the second.

Baiocco, meanwhile, rewarded PSG-1 Corse's decision to entrust their single Kawasaki to him by claiming 14th in the race, the Italian even prevailing in a lengthy fight with countryman Scassa.

First points of the year for both PSG-1 and Scassa's Pedercini team, the reigning Italian CIV Superbike champion was delighted to get off the mark.

"In race two I set a very good pace through the race and I felt I could have had something in reserve at the end to catch Hill and Roberts," said Scassa. "But a few laps from the end I felt some problems coming from my bike's engine and I was forced to slow in the final few minutes of the race.

"I lost one position reaching the fifteenth place and my first point for my Superbike championship standing. I want to dedicate my first point in Superbike world championship to Alessio Perilli who had died here in Assen in 2003."

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