Before the opening race of the third round the WorldSBK championship the riders faced a final free practice session and then Superpole Qualifying, which determines each rider’s final grid position. Garrett ended up 17th, but would improve on his starting place by the end of the 21 lap race.

Kawasaki’s sole rider on the Ninja ZX-10RR this season, Gerloff secured 13th place in the welcome but unseasonably warm ambient conditions experienced so far in the north of the Netherlands. He feels there is still progress to be made with his overall machine set-up, thus he and his crew will now look at the data from Race One to find improvements for the two remaining races at Assen.

A ten-lap Superpole Race and then a full distance Race Two will now be faced by Garrett and all his rivals on Sunday 13 April. After two relatively warm and sunny days of action, weather forecasts predict wet conditions for the final day of racing at Assen.

Garrett Gerloff, stated: “There were some positives from today. I did my best ever lap time in qualifying, by more than half a second. That was positive but it did not help me with my starting position. I tried my best in the opening race but still we need to improve. So, I am just going to have a good night’s sleep and see if we can find a solution for tomorrow because we need something. It may rain tomorrow and if it is raining, anything could happen.”