Team Ducati Alstare gear up for Round 3
The historic TT Circuit of Assen is the next scheduled stop for Team SBK Ducati Alstare, as riders Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini gear up for Round 3 of the 2013 eni FIM World Superbike Championship taking place on the Dutch track starting tomorrow. During Round 2, in Aragon, the Ducati Alstare team was able to limit the damage on one of the most challenging tracks for the Ducati 1199 Panigale. With the goal being to collate as much data as possible for future races, Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini also scored their first championship points, with a seventh, eighth and two tenth place finishes between them.
An Assen race winner in 2011, Checa has reached the podium on several other occasions in recent years, including last season when three Ducatis, including Checa's bike, occupied the rostrum in Race 1. Badovini has competed with a Superbike at the Dutch track on three previous occasions, his best result being a seventh place finish last year.
Carlos Checa:
Pata Honda targeting Dutch delight
The Pata Honda team is heading to The Netherlands for this weekend's third round World Superbike championship races at the TT Circuit Assen. It's only a short journey to the circuit for the Dutch team, which is based at the Ten Kate workshops in Nieuwleusen, just 60km to the south.
Both Pata Honda riders like the flowing Assen track and have enjoyed podium success there in recent years, with Jonathan Rea having taken at least one race win for the team in each of his last three visits to the historic 4.542km circuit.
Leon Haslam has enjoyed three World Superbike podiums of his own at Assen in recent years, including a double, with second and third-place finishes, in his last races on a Honda in 2009.
Jonathan Rea:
WSBK riders learn new tricks
The World Superbike riders are famous all over the world for their spectacular manoeuvres on track, but the challenge some of them had to face today went beyond their knowledge of riding on two wheels. World level bike trial rider Rick Koekoek, who lives in Hoogeveen, 40km from TT Assen Circuit, held a Master Class of the discipline to a selection of WSBK riders: Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) representing the eni FIM Superbike World Championship, Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki), home riders Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport) and wild-card Kevin van Leuven (United Gebben Racing) for the Supersport World Championship and Tony Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki) for the Superstock 600 European Championship.
At the SBK Paddock Show, Rick Koekoek first demonstrated his own bike trial skills and then taught the basics to his one-time students. The award for the best bike trial rookie went to Leon Haslam, the only one able to perform every increasingly-difficult task required by Rick Koekoek. All riders were on the stage afterwards for a quick interview session.
Source: WSBK riders learn new tricks
Assen TV Schedule -
Race 1 1500 hrs on ESPN
Race 2 1900 hrs - not telecast on TV
2012 Race 2 Highlights -



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