Christian Iddon failed to finish twice as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship took its annual visit to Assen in the Netherlands.
Looking forward to a track he’s enjoyed in the past, Iddon went strongly through free practice, and was on course for a good time in qualifying, setting pace under the lap record, only for a Q3 crash to leave him in eighth place on the grid.
Race one saw Iddon struggling with poor handling, and a crash on lap nine saw the former Supermoto champion out of the race, while his team had work to do getting his damaged bike ready for race two.
Starting from a lowly 15th place Iddon had work to do and by lap two he had claimed four places back, only for a technical problem to force him to retire, leaving him without a point and with a steep mountain to climb as the Series heads to its final two rounds of the 2019 campaign.
Iddon said: “It’s really difficult to get through to Q3 in Superbike qualifying.
“From the outset of race one I just wasn’t able to turn the bike. Front feel was almost non-existent, and after a few warnings, it ended up in a crash. It was frustrating, and a big repair, and the team did a great job to get me out for race two.”
Tyco BMW team manager, Philip Neill said: “It’s fair to say our trip to Assen certainly didn’t go to plan.
“There were some positives early on in the weekend with the lap times showing great potential with both riders under the previous lap record pace.
Unfortunately, however, we once again suffered an untimely crash for both riders causing a significant setback to our potential.
“I honestly don’t recall a more testing weekend in our 17 years in BSB, and is goes without saying that Donington Park can’t come quick enough.”
The British Superbike Championship next returns to Donington Park, in Leicestershire, over the weekend of the October 4-6, with two races on the circuit’s GP layout.
