Reigning World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea goes into this weekend’s Assen round with a new base setup for his works Kawasaki but believes that a bit of hard riding can make the difference if it isn’t spot on.

The Isle of Man, er, man has taken four wins at the Dutch track in the last four years - a double in 2015 - and a setup the team tried at Aragon last time out has boosted Rea’s expectations.

“Assen is a good circuit for me and our bike works quite well there. We learned many things in Motorland Aragon during round three, mostly that the base setup we found with the previous bike worked quite well with the new bike,” said Rea.

“Hopefully the weather can be consistent throughout the weekend at Assen so we can build a rhythm and some consistency in our package - and with my riding as well. We did a good job in Motorland but we need to start getting back to winning ways again.

“We could be in for a great season especially as we are entering Assen, a track I enjoy racing at. I have no idea why I go so well there but I really enjoy the place. It is a real riders’ track that - when your bike set-up is not working just perfectly - you can still make a difference.

“There are a lot of corners there that require different techniques than just the finding the brake point, apex and exit. There is quite a lot of technique to Assen. I also think it is just experience of the track.”

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