News

Ahead of Assen:

JR: “Going into Assen I´m really happy, I’ve won 3 of the last six races and Assen is a great track where I can try and build my Championship lead. They put me on the advertising this year but as you can see, behind Dutch sensation Mickey van der Mark…”

MvdM: “My favourite race from last year was Assen. I was close to the victory and they were my first podiums. The best corner at Assen is maybe the Ruskenhoek corner or Ramsheok. Fast corners!”

JB: “I love the Assen track. It’s the nature of the way the track flows and the on camber corners. It’s a track I’ve had some great races on. I don’t really have real likes or dislikes in terms of tracks but Assen is great.”

Rain:

JR: “I had a pretty good rain record last year. I mean, I don’t enjoy the rain…but when I wake up in the morning and I see the rain I don’t worry too much.”

MvdM: “Well I´m not slow at all in the rain, but I prefer to have a dry track so everyone can be faster and especially in Assen with the cold conditions, it’s better to have a dry track. You’re probably a bit more nervous riding in the rain than in the dry, you don’t know what to expect and you don’t know where the limit is.”

Bikes:

JR: “The ZX-10R is amazing and it’s a new bike this year, quite different to last year…so it’s taking some time to learn all the parameters. Step-by-step, the potential of this bike is going to be amazing: we just need to unharness the full potential. We’ve stood on some landmines but we’re going in the right direction and hopefully here at Assen we can start some good momentum.”

MvdM: “The bike has improved, and also me. I have a year more experience which makes me faster. I think together with the team we made a better bike, and added to my experience we are much faster.”

JB: “At the moment we’re just scratching the surface. I don’t really have the confidence yet to push, and get a result I think I´m capable of. Not only am I new to the bike, but the team is new to the paddock and new to the BMW so

The season and circuits ahead:

JR: “I´m really looking forward to Donington and can’t wait to go home and see all the home fans. I love Laguna, the track is amazing and I´m looking forward to the Sepang race, last year the crowd was incredible.”

MvdM: “Many people talk about the Corkscrew but I think my favourite corner at Laguna is Turn 1. It’s blind and you need to be brave…”

JB: “I´m happy that Phillip Island is going to be on the calendar for another 10 years! Australia deserves to hold a Round. And it’ll be my first time at Laguna this year so I´m looking forward to it. The Corkscrew looks pretty intense so I´m looking forward to having a crack at that.”

Last but not least, will the reigning Champion be moving over for van der Mark?

JR: “No. He’s going to have to work for it this weekend! He’s got the Dutch crowd on hand already… but he’s a super good guy and I was his teammate for many years. I enjoy racing with him and he has a lot of pressure this weekend but he can do a good job.”

Make sure to follow all the action from the legendary TT Circuit Assen as Race 1 sees lights out at 13:00 (GMT +2) on Saturday, with Race 2 24 hours later.