Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea didn’t have the chance to show his ‘potential’ in the World Superbike qualifying sessions at his team’s home track at Assen, as rain disrupted Superpole two which put a stop to Rea putting in a fast lap – and a shot for pole position.

It is not all bad as Rea does start from the second row after his best time of 1’35.361 was enough to place him fifth on the grid, and he only missed out on a front row position by one-five hundredths of a second. But the Isle of Man resident saw his best lap record that stood for four years obliterated by Kawasaki’s Loris Baz in Superpole two this afternoon. The Frenchman went six tenths of a second faster than Rea’s 1.34.944 time which is he set in 2010.

The Superpole two competitors, including both Rea and team-mate Leon Haslam, had just completed an initial flying lap on race rubber to get a good feeling for the TT circuit and had entered the pits to switch to Pirelli qualifying tyres. As they got up to speed, the rain effectively aborted the fast laps of both Rea and Haslam.

“Superpole was strange because, just as we changed for the qualifying tyre, the rain came and only two riders were able to complete their laps. We didn’t really get the chance to show our full potential but we did a lot of work this morning on our race set-up with the option tyres,” said Rea.

“We’re satisfied with our pace but we’ll just have to see what the weather brings because it’s forecasting changeable conditions. The bike is working really well and we’ve got on top of our engine braking issues. Our speed is fast, but we need to be a little more consistent when the tyre drops.

“Obviously it would be better for everyone if it stays dry tomorrow because all the set-up work has been done in the dry. But, if it’s wet, it’s the same for everyone. We have an OK wet set-up after we did some work in Jerez, but what will be will be. The aim to is to get a good start tomorrow and go with the front group and then to see what that brings us.”

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