RIZLA SUZUKI ON THE LEARNING CURVE AT ASSEN
04 September 2005 - Rizla-Suzuki

JURGEN van den Goorbergh spent the first day of practice and qualification at the ninth round of the World Superbike Championship at Assen in Holland easing himself back into racing and learning about the performance of his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 race bike.

The 35-year-old Dutch ace is making his World Superbike debut racing at his home circuit as a wild-card entry. After a three-month break from motorcycle racing, he spent today getting to grips with the cut and thrust of World Championship level competition and how best to maximize performance given the control tyre regulations in the World Championship.

Jurgen lapped the 3.726-mile long Assen TT circuit less than three seconds shy of provisional pole position to record the 23rd fastest time of the day. He completed 32 laps during two hours of track time, spending a lot of time in the pit garage making changes to the Rizla Suzuki to suit his riding style.

Suzuki WSB regular Troy Corser ended the day second fastest with his team mate Yukio Kagayama in ninth place. Ducati''s James Toseland is on provisional pole position.

There is a one-hour qualifying session tomorrow morning followed by a practice session and then Superpole at 4pm (CET) for the 16 fastest riders to determine the grid for Sunday''s races. British Eurosport will broadcast all the action from Superpole and both races.

Robert Wicks, Rizla Suzuki Team Manager:
''It''s important to bear in mind that this is the team''s first event using the control tyres and we need to be realistic about how quickly we can make progress, particularly in terms of getting the complete package that Jurgen feels comfortable with. He''s also had only one brief opportunity to test the race bike at Silverstone.

''That said, Jurgen has been very complimentary about the Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 and every time we have made a change to the bike he has felt an improvement and set a faster lap time. We hope that trend continues tomorrow. Jurgen has a massive fan base here in the Netherlands and I''m certain he will do everything possible to secure a good result at his home circuit.''

Simon Green, Rizla Suzuki Team Co-ordinator:
''We changed the settings on the front forks and rear shock and Jurgen''s comment at the end of the day was the bike balance was good. The bike is performing well and the more he rides and learns about it and the control tyres, the quicker he is becoming.

''After a three month break from racing Jurgen has deliberately eased himself back into the saddle. He knows he can go quite a bit quicker than he has so far and is one of the few riders who has not yet tried a qualifying tyre - when he does, we expect it will improve his lap time quite considerably.

''Our target for tomorrow is to get into Superpole and then take our chance from there. It''s not going to be easy as the pace is very quick, but the team is in good spirits and enjoying being part of the World Superbike paddock, albeit as a one-off visit.''

First Qualifying Times: 1: J Toseland (Ducati) 2:04.742, 2: T Corser (Suzuki) 2:04.835, 3: K Muggeridge (Honda) 2:05.136, 4: C Vermeulen (Honda) 2:05.445, 5: L Lanzi (Ducati) 2:05.594, 6: S Martin (Petronas) 2:05.793, 7: M Neukirchner (Honda) 2:05.822, 8: A Pitt (Yamaha) 2:05.908, 9: Y Kagayama (Suzuki) 2:05.921, 10: G Vizziello (Yamaha) 2:05.968, 23: JURGEN VAN DEN GOORBERGH (RIZLA SUZUKI) 2:07.662.

www.rizla-suzuki.co.uk

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