Friday WorldWCR
The weather co-operated kindly with all the WorldSBK classes on day one at Dutch round, allowing Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) to take the Superpole Qualifying ‘win’.
Her closest rival proved to be Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha), with already proven race winner, Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) third.
Third-year WorldWCR rider Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) was fourth, and the last rider inside the same second as pole rider Herrera.
French rider Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94 Yamaha) placed fifth, for a second row start, with another regular riders, Sara Sanchez (Hadden Racing Team) sixth.
Italian rider Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) was seventh, Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team) eighth, Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha) ninth and Astrid Madrigal (Pons Italika Racing FIMLA) tenth.
2026 Dutch WorldSBK Results—Friday WorldWCR
| 1 | Maria Herrera | (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) | 1:47.031s |
| 2 | Beatriz Neila | (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) | +0.281s |
| 3 | Paola Ramos | (Klint Racing Team) | +0.758s |
| 4 | Tayla Relph | (Full Throttle Racing) | +0.782s |
| 5 | Lucie Boudesseul | (GMT94 Yamaha) | +1.127s |
Friday WorldSPB
The WorldSSP300 replacement category, World Sportbike (WorldSPB), got off to a close start at Portimao a few weeks ago, and it carried on in the same fashion at Assen at the beginning of round two.
In Friday’s SUperpole Qualifying session two proven Dutch stars of the 300 class, Loris Veneman and Jeffrey Buis (Kawasaki and Suzuki, respectively) led the rest home at their home round, with two-time 300 champion Buis just 0.006 seconds from his countryman’s best lap time.
Xavi Artigas was third fastest, 0.217 from Veneman.
Kas Beekmans, David Salvador and Ferre Fleerackers completed a top six that saw a Kawasaki, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Suzuki order lead the rest of the field. The first non-Japanese bike was the Triumph Daytona 660 of British rider, Fenton Seabright, in seventh place.
2026 Dutch WorldSBK Results—Friday WorldSPB
| 1 | Loris Veneman | (MTM Kawasaki) | 1:42.499s |
| 2 | Jeffrey Buis | (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) | +0.006s |
| 3 | Xavi Artigas | (MTM Kawasaki) | +0.217s |
| 4 | Kas Beekmans | (VLR Racing Team Suzuki) | +0.266s |
| 5 | David Salvador | (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) | +0.354s |
Friday WorldSSP
Old WorldSSP stager and proven World Champion Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) took a very closely-contested pole position at Assen, in readiness for the two races on Saturday and Sunday.
The French rider was just 0.071 seconds ahead of double race winner at Portimao, Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) and just 0.082 seconds up on third place rider, Albert Arenas (AS Racing Yamaha).
Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph Factory Racing) was a fine fourth, after going through some tough periods at the start of 2026.
A true contender last season, Can Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) was fifth in Superpole, with Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) sixth, Mattia Casadei (D34G WorldSSP Racing Team) seventh and Philipp Öttl GER (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team Ducati) eight.
All these riders were within 0.177 seconds of each other.
A Ducati running flush saw championship front runner Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) ninth and Simon Jespersen (EAB Racing Team) tenth – making it five Panigale V2 riders clumped together from sixth to tenth.
Returning former double WorldSSP Champion, Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) showed an improved pace compared to the opening two rounds with 11th in Superpole, becoming the first Kawasaki rider on the Assen grid in the process. The QJMOTOR effort overcame its recent homologation woes to come back into race action, with Marco Ramirez the best placed rider in 13th – just 0.735 seconds from Mahias.
All 34 WorldSSP riders qualified, with the top 28 all within two seconds of the best Friday time.
2026 Dutch WorldSBK Results—Friday WorldSSP
| 1 | Lucas Mahias | (GMT94 Yamaha) | 1:36.490s |
| 2 | Valentin Debise | (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) | +0.071s |
| 3 | Albert Arenas | (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) | +0.082s |
| 4 | Tom Booth-Amos | (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) | +0.110s |
| 5 | Can Oncu | (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) | +0.138s |
Friday WorldSBK
A dry opening day at Assen saw the old track in the north of Europe largely dominated by V4 machines from the south of Europe, until a late blast to overall fourth place from Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) broke up the desmo party.
After two Free Practice sessions championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) was 0.276 seconds faster than Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven Ducati), after the Independent Rider’s late run saw him squeeze ahead of Iker Lecuona (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati).
With Petrucci fourth, a late jump up the order from Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) placed him fifth, displacing Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati) to sixth.
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) was top bimota rider, in seventh position, with the Barni Spark Ducati duo, Alvaro Bautista and Yari Montella, eighth and ninth overall.
Just to put a seventh Ducati inside the top ten places, Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing Ducati) had a strong showing in tenth place.
Portimao triple podium runner, Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), was 11th.
2026 Dutch WorldSBK Results—Friday WorldSBK
| 1 | Nicolo Bulega | (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) | 1:33.687s |
| 2 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | (Team GoEleven) | +0.276s |
| 3 | Iker Lecuona | (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) | +0.330s |
| 4 | Danilo Petrucci | (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) | +0.405s |
| 5 | Xavi Vierge | (Pata Maxus Yamaha) | +0.410s |
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