Rea roars to Assen pole

Added on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Brit Jonathan Rea won his first ever Superpole at Assen this afternoon, steering his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda to first ahead of tomorrow.

After setting a quickest time of 1:34.944, Rea was the only rider to set a time below the 1:35 mark, giving him the Superpole win by a clear margin.

Jakub Smrz followed Rea onto the front row of the grid, setting the second fastest time, while Troy Corser will start the first race tomorrow from third. Corser’s third place is the highest place start for a BMW in the World Superbike Championship.

Leon Haslam spent much of the session working on his race set-up, to ensure he holds onto his championship lead tomorrow. He eventually set the fourth fastest time for his Suzuki Alstare team. Putting in a strong performance, World Superbike new boy, Leon Camier followed his fellow Leon to fifth on the grid, while Carlos Checa will start sixth, Shane Byrne seventh and Michel Fabrizio eighth.

Meanwhile, British du Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland will line their Yamaha Sterilgarda machines up ninth and tenth, respectively tomorrow, with Max Biaggi just missing out in eleventh.

Chris Vermeulen, making his comeback this weekend at the newly modified circuit, suffered more difficulties when he crashed his Kawasaki Racing Team bike in the first Superpole session. Luckily he was uninjured, but was unable to take any further part on the outing.

Commenting on his first Superpole victory, Rea said: “I am happy and excited to have won Superpole. I can’t quite believe that this is my first ever world championship pole, so it is good to win it. On a serious note, tomorrow is raceday and there will be at least three or four guys who have good pace, so it will be 22 long laps in each race.”

WSB – Qualifying positions, Assen:

Pos Rider Nat Team Time

1     Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’34.944
2   Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’35.062
3    Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’35.306
4   Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’35.330
5   Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’35.633
6   Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’35.892
7   Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’35.909
8   Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.405
9 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.027
10 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’36.061
11 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’36.069
12 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.094
13 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.327
14 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’36.348
15 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’36.574
16 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.581
17 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.906
18 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’36.989
19 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.378
20 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’38.622
21 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.471
22 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’38.769