Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes clocked the quickest time of 1’38.702 in the first MCE British Superbike free practice session at the Assen circuit. The Lincolnshire rider set his fastest time on lap seven but a few seconds later he fell unhurt at Ossebroeken.
No other rider was able to outpace Lowes - even fast laps from Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen and Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne. Rain overnight meant that the Assen circuit was damp, but dried up throughout the 45 minute free practice outing. The diminutive American looked as if he could take advantage of a crashing Lowes after he succumbed to the gravel with five minutes left of the session, but the New Yorker could not lap inside the 1’38 second barrier and ended the morning with a 1’39.202.
Reigning champ Byrne was only four one-hundredths of second behind the Suzuki lad and ended the session third quickest, in front of Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison. Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes was as high as second on the timesheets with less than twenty minutes remaining, but seemed to lose some of the pace during the dying seconds of the session and finished rounding off the top five with a 1’39.523.
Padgett’s Honda man Jakub Smrz crashed at Haarbocht with less than one minute left, he was not injured and still managed to hold onto a time inside the top ten - sixth with a 1’39.551 lap. Buildbase BMW team-mates James Westmoreland and Jon Kirkham were setting consistently similar times, but it was the shorter of the two who just had the edge this morning, finishing in seventh and eighth respectively.
British Superbike returnee Noriyuki Haga made his first appearance out on track today. He has never raced a Kawasaki before until he tested the ZX-10R at Snetterton earlier this week. He is Shane Byrne’s team-mate for the remaining rounds, as crocked Keith Farmer is still recovering from injuries sustained at Donington Park. The Samurai of Slide progressed throughout the session and was as high as fifth on the timing screens, but slipped back to ninth with a 1’40.106.
Milwaukee Yamaha newbie rider Tommy Bridewell, who jumped ship from his former team Halsall Racing, hit the gravel with eight minutes remaining of the session. He crashed st Stekkenwal while seventh quickest but even though he was declared OK at the track side he was taken to the medical centre, as he had skin taken off his little finger that he injured earlier in the season. The Devizes swearbox partners Ellison as a replacement for Aussie rider Josh Waters.
Samsung Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari was second quickest for the first half of the free practice session but fell right down the time-sheets and found himself outside the top ten in eleventh with a 1’40.677, five tenths of a second behind Bridewell.
The opening free practice session was red flagged with eighteen minutes to go, after Tsingtao WKbikes Performance rider Howie Mainwaring Smart crashed unhurt at De Bult. The lappery was halted for a short time as the marshals investigated for surface contamination. But just as the red flag appeared it was Lowes who was leading the way with his best lap of 1’39.377, with Brookes and Bridewell rounding off the top three quickest times.
It was also the return of Doodson Motorsport’s Robbin Harms. The Danish rider has been out since breaking his wrist in a crash at Snetterton, and even though he is still not fully fit he was able to get in some track time.
