The Assen weekend proved tough for young rider Josh Elliott as he returned to Supersport racing following a hefty fall at the Salzburgring in July. Still suffering from lower back pain Josh persevered throughout the weekend to produce a brave ride for 19th and 21st positions. Josh's new team mate for this meeting, Glenn Irwin felt at home immediately on his first time out with the Honda CBR 600 and posted an impressive 5th fastest on race tyres in first qualifying. Glenn had been in 3rd for most of the session but was moved down the order when a number of local riders fitted qualifiers. The second session proved this to be have been a wise move by those riders as a rain shower meant there would be no improvement in positions. For race one Glenn got a great start and crucially for Assen was in with the leading group of 5 riders, however a crash lower down the field brought the red flags out and the race was restarted. Glenn again broke away with the leaders and was settling in for the race when local rider Sven Ahrendorp attempted to make a full second up on the pack on the entry to the fast 3rd gear chicane. Ahnendorp lost control and torpedoed Glenn in the middle of the corner taking both riders out of the race. Glenn was thankfully unhurt however his motorcycle was a total write off, with the result that he had to sit Race 2 out. Popular Honda pilot Sascha Hommel won both races extending his championship lead.

Jeremy McWilliams fared little better on his début for the KTM Akrapovic Superbike team. Starting strongly from the second row, race one saw him and 6 other riders, including both factory BMWs, fall on oil before the Marshalls eventually reacted and showed warning flags. For the second Superbike race Jeremy was involved in a classic race long Assen battle for 4th position. Unfortunately a lack of testing time with the newly formed team meant that set up was still not optimal, resulting in the rear tyre losing grip badly in the final laps and Jeremy slipping to the back of the tight group to finish 10th. Still a very impressive showing for the KTM Akrapovic teams' first IDM meeting.

The team head to the Hockenheim finale determined to help a now - fit Josh recover the amazing pace he showed before his injuries. At still only 15 years of age Josh has surpassed all his targets and the teams expectations already, and with a number of races in the Spanish CEV planned he still has a number of opportunities to repeat his earlier podium finishes.

< Prev		Next >