Crutchlow and Toseland take ninth and tenth on the grid at Assen for raceday

  Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland made it through the first Superpole heat this afternoon to secure ninth and tenth place on the third row of the grid for tomorrow's two World Superbike races at the Assen TT circuit. Both riders had spent the previous qualifying sessions working on their set ups for the afternoon's Superpole heats and had headed in to the Superbike shootout with confidence.

They both made it through the first heat comfortably on race tyres, then switched to qualifiers midway through the second session. Crutchlow struggled to improve on his time in the second session leaving him just outside the top eight at the end. Team mate Toseland was on form and had nearly completed a hot lap which would have taken him through to the final eight when a violent wheelie three corners from the end at high speed disrupted his time.
 

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (9th, 1'36.027)

"I struggled with my qualifier tyre in the second Superpole heat, and couldn't make it through to the third. Both James and I are still working on some stability issues which could be seen on track as well. We need to work hard in tomorrow morning's session to see what we can change in the set up to make another step forward. We're all working really hard, and on the positive side the electronics issues we've had in the past are now working very well for us."
 

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (10th, 1'36.061)

"Frustrated is the word! It was a real surprise for the bike to do that in a place where I've never had that before, it kicked up and wheelied at over 180mph in fifth gear, it was a bit touch and go there but luckily I was able to save it. The lap was good up to that point, I only had two corners left to go and would have been through to the top eight and the third session. We've had so much work to do to get where we are, the team has done a great job trying to get the bike to work here.

Tenth on the grid is not ideal and we're not sure about tyre life, depending on temperature tomorrow we might not be able to use the softer race tyre, everyone is waiting to see how warm it will be. I'm not too worried about race pace, it's all about what happens in those first few laps. The new fast section has effectively deleted a passing place so I'll have to get off the line well and see how we go."

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager

"We still have one practice session left tomorrow morning, for sure we will never give up so we will spend the session working hard to make more improvements ahead of the two races. We will definitely find something to help us. James was very unlucky on his hot lap in the second Superpole session, it was good he managed to save it safely. He's got a good race pace so needs a good start tomorrow and we will see what he can do. Cal has shown this weekend that he also has a competitive pace, especially on worn tyres so we are confident both riders can perform tomorrow."



Circuit Length: 4555
Weather: Sunny
Lap Record: 2'04.685 (Chris Vermeulen, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'34.944 (Jonathan Rea, 25/04/2010)
Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga 
2010 WSB The Netherlands - Assen 24/04/2010


Superpole

1    Jonathan Rea    Honda    GBR    1'34.944
2    Jakub Smrz    Ducati    CZE    1'35.062
3    Troy Corser    BMW    AUS    1'35.306
4    Leon Haslam    Suzuki    GBR    1'35.330
5    Leon Camier    Aprilia    GBR    1'35.633
6    Carlos Checa    Ducati    ESP    1'35.892
7    Shane Byrne    Ducati    GBR    1'35.909
8    Michel Fabrizio    Ducati    ITA    1'36.405
9    Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR    1'36.027
10    James Toseland Yamaha GBR    1'36.061
11    Max Biaggi    Aprilia    ITA    1'36.069
12    Ruben Xaus    BMW    ESP    1'36.094
13    Sylvain Guintoli    Suzuki    FRA    1'36.327
14    Tom Sykes    Kawasaki    GBR    1'36.348
15    Noriyuki Haga    Ducati    JPN    1'36.574



Qualifying 2

1    Troy Corser    AUS    1'36.489    1'35.621
2    Jakub Smrz    CZE    1'36.041    1'35.939
3    Jonathan Rea    GBR    1'36.339    1'36.211
4    Carlos Checa    ESP    1'36.805    1'36.447
5    Leon Camier    GBR    1'37.064    1'36.588
6    Leon Haslam    GBR    1'36.618    1'36.891
7    Noriyuki Haga    JPN    1'37.462    1'36.644
8    Shane Byrne    GBR    1'37.081    1'36.655
9    Cal Crutchlow BR    1'36.752    1'36.685
10    Michel Fabrizio    ITA    1'37.165    1'36.689
11    Lorenzo Lanzi    ITA    1'37.344    1'36.774
12    Sylvain Guintoli    FRA    1'37.684    1'36.829
13    Max Neukirchner    GER    1'37.453    1'36.859
14    Ruben Xaus    ESP    1'37.685    1'36.872
15    Luca Scassa    ITA    1'37.506    1'36.898
17    James Toseland BR    1'37.166    1'37.084



Yamaha Racing -