Cal Crutchlow picked up where he left off in Valencia today at the Dutch circuit in Assen. Using the Friday free practice session to learn the track properly the British rider was rarely out of the top spot for most of the time, and finished the session just two tenths of a second behind the lead in second place.
Team-mate Fabien Foret spent the time working through the session to find the right set-up in advance of tomorrow’s qualifying heat. He finished free practice in 11th position, 0.8 of a second behind his team-mate.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (11th 1’42.688)
“It was good enough for me today. Not having ridden the circuit on our race bike before and up against guys who have been riding here for three or four years it was good again to be up there and challenging. Our lap times are good and consistent and I think we were one of the few not to change tyres in the session so to go that fast at the end on old rubber is good. All the boys on the team are working really hard to keep me up there and I’m working hard as well so we’ll keep pushing and hopefully we’ll still be leading the world championship at the end of the weekend.”
Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd 1’41.869)
“it was ok today, we worked on the set-up of the bike. I had one or two issues with the brakes but I think we have a solution for tomorrow so it’s ok. It’s nice to be back in Assen, and I’m loving the sunshine, let’s hope it stays this way for the weekend.”
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
“Today was another good start to the race weekend for us. Cal has adapted to the new track really quickly so we’re confident we’re going to be up there in qualifying tomorrow for a good grid starting position. Fabien rode a lot of laps to find a good rhythm, his shoulder injury is improving every week and he’s consistently improving every race weekend this season.”
Free Practice
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 1’41.650
2 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1’41.869
3 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 1’42.081
4 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 1’42.164
5 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 1’42.168
6 Anthony West Honda AUS 1’42.427
7 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1’42.428
8 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1’42.490
9 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 1’42.655
10 Mark Aitchison Honda AUS 1’42.659
11 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 1’42.688
12 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1’42.738
13 Gianluca Nannelli Triumph ITA 1’43.021
14 Miguel Praia Honda POR 1’43.032
15 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1’43.090
27 Kevin Bos Yamaha NED 1’45.830
29 Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha IDN 1’46.010
30 Yannick Guerra Yamaha ESP 1’46.280
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