Tom Sykes got off to a blazing start in this weekend’s third round of the World Superbike championship at a cloudy, cold and rainy Assen.
The Kawasaki rider blasted out a 1′58.
947 in the first free practice – that was characterized by numerous crashes – that remained virtually untouchable for the rest of the field, and he was only rider to break the 1.
59 barrier despite late attempts by Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli and BMW Goldbet’s Marco Melandri who up to the final minutes of the session weren’t even able to get out of the two minute mark.
Guintoli was able to post a hot lap in 1.
59.
438, while a still suffering Melandri was a little more than two tenths adrift from the current standings leader and they were the only two to ride in the 1.
59s.
Aragon’s double winner Chaz Davies was fourth and he was more than 1.
781 seconds from Sykes and he was followed Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam who was already in the 2.
01s, but suffered a crash and had to be taken to the medical center with a suspected fracture.
Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Jules Cluzel was sixth.
Ayrton Badovini put his Panigale into seventh just ahead of Leon Camier who got the green light to ride in today’s first session following his surgery two weeks ago and managed to get in nine laps in the treacherous conditions.
Carlos Checa was ninth with the second Panigale while Ivan Clementi made a suprise visit into the top ten with his HTM Racing branded BMW 1000RR thanks to the wet track, while Eugene Laverty was 11th and four seconds of pace.
Jonathan Rea did not complete any of the three laps he tried on his team’s home track which left him off the timesheets.
Other crashers included last weekend’s Bol d’Or winner Loris Baz, Davide Giugliano, and Alexander Lundh.
2013 WSBK Assen FP1 results:01- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – 1’58.
947 02- Sylvain Guintoli – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
491 03- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team – BMW S1000RR – + 0.
749 04- Chaz Davies – BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
781 05- Leon Haslam – Pata Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.
165 06- Jules Cluzel – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 2.
783 07- Ayrton Badovini – Team Ducati Alstare – Ducati 1199 Panigale R – + 3.
650 08- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 3.
691 09- Carlos Checa – Team Ducati Alstare – Ducati 1199 Panigale R – + 3.
862 10- Ivan Clementi – HTM Racing – BMW S1000RR – + 3.
996 11- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 4.
090 12- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 4.
415 13- Max Neukirchner – MR Racing – Ducati 1199 Panigale R – + 4.
586 14- Michel Fabrizio – Red Devils Roma – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 5.
186 15- Mark Aitchison – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1098R – + 5.
375 16- Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 5.
427 17- Vittorio Iannuzzo – Grillini Dentalmatic SBK – BMW S1000RR – + 6.
531 18- Alexander Lundh – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 8.
327 19- Federico Sandi – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 16.
966