WSBK: Netherlands Preview – Now Or Never For Kawasaki

The fourth round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship sets up shop at the TT Assen Circuit, in the north-east of the Netherlands.

The Dutch round is expected to present Alvaro Bautista and the Aruba.it Ducati team with their sternest test of the season so far. With a lack of any long straights, and the layout comprised of numerous high speed corners, the expectation is that the field will be closely compact throughout the weekend.

That being said Bautista is in the form of his life and has already defied the conventional belief that Ducati struggle without kilometre long straights, having blitzed the field comprehensively at Phillip Island back in February. The Spanish rider has emerged victorious in all 9 of the completed races, and so far nobody has come close to challenging him over a full race distance.

However, another clean sweep is certainly not a foregone conclusion here this weekend. Assen has been a fortress for the Kawasaki Racing Team. The Japanese manufacturer has crushed the competition at the circuit in recent years, claiming a monopoly of victories since race 2 in 2014. Jonathan Rea has been triumphant here 8 times, and he was only denied last year when his then team-mate Tom Sykes took the spoils in Sunday’s race. Rea has been victorious around the circuit since 2010 during his days with Ten-Kate Racing. Rea is as synonymous with Assen as Joey Dunlop was with the Isle of Man.

For Rea, he simply must record a win this weekend to stop Bautista from completely running away with the championship. As things stand, the Northern Irishman is 39 points adrift of his rival, but if current form continues the deficit will be 52 by the weekend’s conclusion. It is early days still in the season, but the fight for the championship could well hinge on what happens between now and Sunday night.

Whilst Bautista is very much the man to beat, there are a host of other riders eager remind the world of their pedigree. As we’re in the Netherlands, all eyes will be trained on local hero Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha). The 26-year old has been in the shadow of his teammate, Alex Lowes, so far this season, but the Dutchman will be expecting to change that at the place he knows best of all. He has picked up 5 podium finishes at Assen since his WorldSBK debut with Honda in 2015.

Lowes has moved to the next level as far as performances go, as he has been the near equal to Rea during the first three rounds. Had it not been for tyre trouble late on during SBK Race 2 on Sunday at Aragon, he would have ended Rea’s run of consecutive second places.

The 2013 BSB champion has to contend with a new podium threat now that Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati) has put his old injury woes behind him. The Welshman made a serious step forward last time out and returned to the podium with two third place finishes in the main races (his first rostrum since the 2018 French Round). Having taken time to adapt and adjust his riding style to suit the new V4 powered Ducati, we can expect to see Davies feature regularly in the battle of podiums and victories this year.

There is a feeling of optimism ahead of the Dutch round from the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team. Tom Sykes made a welcome return to the front row in qualifying last time out, and with the Assen circuit playing to the bike’s cornering strength, the former world champion will be hoping to battle for the top five throughout the weekend.

Finally, Hector Barbera will make his WorldSBK debut this weekend for the Orelac Racing team, as he stands in for the injured Argentine rider Leandro Mercado. The former 125cc and 250cc world championship runner-up had been racing in World Supersports this year for Team Toth. Having missed out on racing at his home round last week due to a series of bizarre and conflicting set of circumstances the veteran Spaniard has severed ties with the team, allowing him to compete in the top class this weekend.

SBK Race 1 – Saturday, 13.00

Superpole Race – Sunday, 10.00

SBK Race 2 – Sunday, 13.00

All times BST.