Round Nine. Assen Netherlands. Cathedral of Speed.

It’s okay when you finally arrive at the Assen TT circuit. Crossing the border into Europe is less fun late in the evening when the immigration queues at Schiphol airport stretch into the distance…. Apparently the ferry terminals were a bit more obliging!

The first of the three championship ‘Showdown’ rounds takes place this year in the north of Holland at the iconic Assen circuit. Donington and Brands to follow and extra points awarded for top 15 finishes – 25 for a win, up from the main season’s 18. To keep things interesting, double points are awarded at Brands, three races worth 50 points each to the winner.

Back to the job in hand. Dutch weather would probably play its part. Torrential rain last year but looking a bit better going into the weekend.

Despite the hassle of getting to Assen, it’s a great circuit with a long history and the facilities are world class. 2.8 miles in length, the layout is very fast and flowing in style. The riders love it and we were confident our AJN Steelstock KB998 bimota Riminis would too.

Free practice testing

Naturally, the weather provided a bit of everything. Chilly, windy and damp! The track was drying from overnight rain and while some spray was still coming up, the grippy nature of the Assen tarmac made it possible to run slick tyres. Throughout the session, Max and Joe reused tyres that had completed limited mileage at the previous round at Cadwell Park.

Max ended up P7 after 14 laps running, a second slower than Ray who was half a second clear of the field. Joe just a tenth and a half slower in P9. Except for Ray, the main group of front runners was a second or so off lap record pace. With new tyres fitted for the 30-minute afternoon session and hopefully a fully dry track, we were expecting the times to drop further.

Overcast and still conditions for FP2. Once again, five or six laps on scrubbed tyres to start off the session. An opportunity to check out any changes made over the lunch break. Then, with 15 minutes or so to go, the first new tyres of the weekend went in so Joe and Max could get a feel for new rubber grip on a push lap.

Joe lucked in. Starting his first flying lap, his mate Kyle Ryde rolled out of pitlane a second or two ahead of Joe and also on new tyres. We knew Kyle had to get on with it to keep heat in his tyres, so Joe was happy to tuck in behind him for a highspeed tow – a target to aim at and judge braking points. It certainly worked as they came through, Joe P2, Kyle P4!

Max ran alone, away from all the traffic and soon popped up in P6, about a second from Ray’s best which turned out to be just inside the all-time lap record. Joe’s time was beaten a few times meaning he ended the session in P5, just ahead of Max. Great efforts from both the boys and perfect preparation for the pre-qualifying runs an hour or so later.

Pre-qualifying. Max P5 Joe P10

First competitive session of the weekend to determine the fastest 12 riders who go straight through to the second phase of qualifying. Everyone else goes in Q1 with the aim of securing a top three time and progress to join the Q2 runners. Grid positions aren’t quite as critical at Assen as they are at circuits like Cadwell. But with times so tight, you really do want to be on the front two rows to get away with the leaders.

Max got out early for a four lap run on his new Pirelli slicks and on his second flying lap posted a time in the 1.35 bracket, inside the lap record. Joe was on track at the same time and on his first flying lap he just missed out on a time in the 1.35s but he too was on lap record pace. Both then pitted, comfortably in the top 12. Final runs later in the session saw no improvements in times as the tyres were past their best.

At the flag, Max P5 and Joe P10 only a tenth of a second from Max’s time. The top 12 covered by just half a second over a 95 second lap – it really was that close. Eight riders under the lap record! Nothing other than a perfect lap would do in the Saturday lunchtime qualifying session.  

Qualifying. Max P10 Joe P15

Quick 10 minutes wet morning warm up. Both Joe and Max flying in the conditions and showcasing how the bimota chassis provides the feedback and confidence for them to push on in sketchy conditions.

In the event, things didn’t quite go to plan in the qualifying period. A few minutes into the Q1 session a light drizzle started to fall. Enough to catch out those who hadn’t posted an early lap time on a dry track. What to do for our Q2 runs? The drizzle got heavier, so it was intermediate tyres front and rear for Max and Joe but like the rest of the runners, no time to put in wet settings. Joe was soon back in for wet tyres but Max persevered for a couple of laps and was classified P5. Those who got an early lap in on inters or wets posted times that wouldn’t be beaten as conditions deteriorated. Joe’s wets didn’t hook up and he ended the session last of the 15 runners. Max made a very late change to wets but with time only for one flying lap he couldn’t better his earlier time. With others getting their tyre gambles and timings closer to the ideal, Max dropped back to P10.

10 minutes later and the track was bone dry! All very frustrating especially as we couldn’t replicate our full wet weather speed from the morning. Lots of overtaking to be done in race one then….    

Feature race one. Max P8 Joe DNF

Cracking launch by Joe, all the way from P15 to P9. Catching Skinner on lap three with Max next up in the leading group. Lap four and really close behind Skinner approaching the fast left at turn nine, de Bult, he lost the front and departed through the gravel at highspeed, the bike breaking into two pieces in the process. Rider okay but late night ahead for the crew.

Max was steady away making up a couple of spots and then passed Skinner for P7. Clearing Kent and O’Halloran a couple of laps later, Max held on to P5 for four laps until he started to lose a bit of front end grip. For the last six laps he modified his corner entry to help get the bike turned but which was costing him time coming out of the corners. This let the recovering Ray pass easily, then Skinner and Mikhalchik on the fast BMW took advantage and Max crossed the line P8. Bit of a disappointment but Max was happy he’d made the best of it in the circumstances.

Sprint race. Max P5 Joe DNF

Max sat out the wet morning warm up. Nothing to be gained. Joe ran to check out his rebuilt bike which was pretty much brand new due to the extensive damage suffered in the previous day’s crash.

Big delay to the race start after Skinner’s bike blew up on the green flag formation lap. Once the tracked was cleaned up the riders were given a couple of sighting laps to see where the oil had gone down. Reduced distance 10 lap sprint.

Two good starts. Joe gained a place from his P6 starting position while Max moved up from P9 to P6, hard on Joe’s heels. O’Halloran sneaked past Max as he was lining up Joe which pushed him back to P7 and lost him time to the leaders. Lap four and into the fast right, left at Ruskenhoek, hard on the heels of Vickers, Joe dropped his bike again. Another fast crash. Rider okay, bike not so good.

Max carried on, repassing O’Halloran and benefitting from Joe’s demise promoted him to P5. Three laps later with drops of rain intensifying the red flag was shown on safety grounds and the result declared after seven laps. Strong result from Max and spanners out again to try and fix Joe’s bike in time for the next race

Feature race two.  Max P5 Joe DNF

Four mechanics, both sides of the garage, working flat out for two and a half hours to rebuild Joe’s bike in time for race three. Done – with four minutes to spare!

Grid positions based on race two lap times – Max P4, Joe P7. Joe briefly heard a noise on the way to the grid but as it cleared immediately, we were confident his bike was good to go, even if the chassis set up might not be spot on after the rushed rebuild.

Max held position and went away with the leaders but dropped a place to P5 as Redding passed him into the chicane at the end of the opening lap. Joe was understandably tentative but settled into P7 with a train of riders behind him as he got comfortable. By Lap four Haslam was through and Joe dropped backed to P10 before relaxing into the job and repassing Andrew Irwin for P9. Then the camera showed him slowing at trackside to retire the bike. After everything that had happened, a stone had got caught in the chain and rear sprocket. In a split second a tooth on the sprocket was damaged and the domino effect on the other teeth caused the chain to leave the sprocket completely after just six laps. We’ll never know if the noise going to the grid was the stone being picked up but either way, a disappointing end to a tough weekend for Joe.  

Max was briefly headed by Mikhalchik. It took a couple of laps to get back past BMW by which time Max has lost a couple of seconds to the leaders. There was no catching them, so Max had a lonely race bringing home his bimota in P5 with Haslam some five seconds behind him.

Championship standings

Max has consolidated his P6 in the standings. He’s now mathematically out of contention for the championship and we are all ruing the missed chances due to a couple of technical issues and the impact of crashes and injuries. Joe is P14 but only 15 points behind Kent in P8. Again, lost opportunities, but as we always say; ‘that’s racing’.

The AJN Steelstock bimota team still occupies P6 just a couple of point behind Haslam’s Moto Rapido team.

Next time

Part two of the Showdown triumvirate at Donington Park. Another opportunity for Max to score some big points having achieved three podium finishes there earlier in the season at round two. Joe has come on in leaps and bounds since then and has become a regular front runner. He’ll want to show that his Assen crashes were just the result of a bad day at the office.

Can’t wait! Hope to see you there.

Regards, Nigel Team Principal