WorldSBK Assen, Friday

The GMT94 Yamaha had to deal with changing weather conditions on the first day at the Assen Circuit.

In Superbike Philipp Öttl took to the track at the start of two free practice sessions on Friday. The GMT94 Yamaha rider was able to work with his Yamaha YZF-R1, finding his rhythm in both wet and dry conditions. He finished the day with the 11th fastest time. This bodes well for Saturday’s race.

In Supersport, Lucas Mahias was confronted with more tricky conditions. Putting in a string of laps in a deluge of wind and rain during the free session, the number 94 was confident for qualifying. After the first laps on rain tyres on a dry track on part of the circuit, Lucas Mahias returned to the pits to wait and hope to put on slick tyres. It was during this change that his rivals were able to take advantage of an ideal window to set a lap time on a milder track. The French rider was quick to set off again to set his fastest time, but the rain quickly returned and decided otherwise. The 2017 World Champion finished 21st and did not qualify because his lap time (1’50.464) was not within 105% of the best time (1’45.203). Due to the special conditions, the race direction decided to re-pick the unqualified riders, and the warm-up will determine the rest of the grid (21st to 34th position).