Jonathan Rea was pleased to secure second place on the grid for tomorrow's World Superbike races at Assen despite struggling with his Honda in Superpole. The Briton had chatter problems when he ran on the qualifying tyre and with that in mind, expects to be in much better shape in race trim.
“I'm really happy to be back on the front row! All weekend we've been fast in all sessions and in all conditions, which have been very changeable, and the guys have got me out to learn the bike each time. I was quite happy with my Superpole 1 – it seemed good, but the bike was transformed with a qualifying tyre in Superpole 2 and I wasn't able to push as hard because of some chatter from the front. But the good news is that we don't have to race with a qualifier and we can go tomorrow with a set-up that I think is OK to race. In the wet, I still want to try some more things, but in the dry we're ready to race, although the tyre decision will be critical again, like in Imola. It's nice to be near the front though, and it's a little gift to the guys back at the workshop, who are continuing to work as hard as they can on the bike to make the package better. So this one's for the guys”
Teammate Hiroshi Aoyama was another victim of the rain on Saturday morning which prevented him from getting into Superpole. The Japanese rider will start 21st tomorrow and is praying that the wet weather doesn't return on Sunday.
“We some problems finding rear grip today – in the wet session this morning and also in free practice later, when the track started to get dry. We couldn't find a way to improve things, so the best I can hope for is dry conditions tomorrow so that I can get some more time on the bike. It's been a difficult two days and starting from that far back is not a good place to be. But we'll try some things in warm-up tomorrow that we hope will allow me to fight for some positions in the races.”