2022 World Superbike Assen, Netherlands - Superpole Results

Pushing from the outset, Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes led a Kawasaki 1-2 after the opening flurry of laps, however, that soon changed…

WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu blasted to the top of the leaderboard by over three tenths. 

Moments later and a huge crash ensued for Michael Rinaldi. Following team-mate Alvaro Bautista closely, Rinaldi elected to jump off his Panigale V4 R after getting the penultimate corner all-wrong. 

Rinaldi carried too much speed into the left-hander as his bike headed straight towards the barrier. Luckily for the Italian he was unhurt from the fall.

More frustration was shown by Scott Redding as he ran off-track at turn eight. Similarly to Aragon the former MotoGP and BSB rider was seen shaking his head and hitting a sideboard in anger.

Subdued for much of the opening two rounds, Motorcorsa Ducati rider Axel Bassani began showing his true potential as he went fourth with two minutes remaining. 

While Rea looked set to go top, which he did momentarily, Razgatlioglu set an unbelievable time of 1:32.934s - seven tenths clear of Rea.

The reigning world champion’s effort was easily a new all-time lap record, while Rea was surprisingly pipped to second by Lowes.

Free Practice Three Recap

A potential preview to race one, reigning world champion Razgatlioglu was following Michael Rinaldi closely to begin FP3. 

The two were part of a fierce battle in Aragon, one which left the Ducati rider very upset by the aggressive nature of several overtakes.

After leading an all-Aruba.it Ducati 1-2 during the early stages, Bautista and Rinaldi were then separated by Razgatlioglu and Rea who managed to go second and third. 

Attempting to put his FP2 crash behind him, Redding solidified his decent start to the weekend by putting his M 1000 RR BMW in fifth. That soon became sixth when Alex Lowes bolted to the top of the leaderboard, only for team-mate Rea to bump him back down to P2.  

As grip continued to improve, championship leader Bautista reassured his position as the rider to beat by going -0.037s quicker than Rea. 

With most of his rivals in pit lane, Bautista remained out on-track as preparation for the race took shape. The Spaniard remained fastest on a time of 1:34.922s. 

Continuing his stunning weekend aboard the 2022 CBR1000RR-R, Iker Lecuona momentarily went second fastest - +0.008s down on Bautista, however, the Spaniard’s lap was deleted due to exceeding track limits. 

On his next effort the former MotoGP rider made up for his previous transgression by going fastest by nearly two tenths. 

One rider who wasn’t able to challenge for top spot was Rinaldi as a mechanical problem cut short his FP3. 

Eugene Laverty missed free practice two after a big highside during the opening Assen World Superbike practice left the Irishman with significant swelling to his right forearm. Update: After taking part in FP3, albeit in limited fashion, Laverty has been ruled out of the remainder of the weekend.

Assen World Superbike Records

Fastest lap - Alvaro Bautista SPA Ducati 1:34.564s (2019)

Most wins - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki (15)

2021 Winners 

Race One - Jonathan Rea 

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea 

Race Two - Jonathan Rea 

Round two of the 2022 World Superbike championship is taking place without Belgian rider Loris Cresson, as Pedercini Kawasaki announced an immediate split before the weekend due to a failure to fulfil financial agreements on Cresson’s side. 

Cresson, who was initially signed through to the end of 2022, was set for a second full season in Superbikes before the termination of his contract on Wednesday. 

It means BSB rider Leon Haslam, who was already scheduled to take part in four wildcard rounds with the team this season was drafted in for FP1 and thus, the remainder of the Assen event. Haslam and Pedercini have already agreed to increase his participation in the 2022 championship, but exactly how many rounds Haslam will do is yet to be confirmed. 

Following confirmation of the agreed deal for this weekend, Haslam said: "I have fond memories of Assen over the years and so when the opportunity arose to race with TPR Team Pedercini in one additional race it was easy to say yes. 

"I have ridden with the team before and achieved a top five result in Qatar and I know how they work. 

"It will be a tough ask coming straight into round two with no testing on the bike and the championship being so strong this year but knowing that we will also race together in four other races after this I am confident that we can gain a lot of valuable information and have a positive weekend together."

Updated 2022 Assen WorldSBK Weekend Schedule

Saturday 

13:00 - WorldSBK Race One

Sunday

08:00-08:15 - WorldSBK Warm-up

10:00 - WorldSBK Superpole Race

14:00 WorldSBK Race Two