Timing was everything on Saturday at the Motul TT Assen, the weather playing a deciding role in proceedings and especially Qualifying. Riders were slow to leave the pits as they waited for the track to dry, a few brave souls headed out early on slicks. Eventually conditions were dry enough and the entire field fitted slicks, Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) the only rider to drop into the 1’37s during the session. With 20 minutes of the day remaining, rain returned and ensured that Luthi’s 1’37.954 was good enough for pole position. His time was half a second slower than Johann Zarco's (Ajo Motorsport) best of the weekend, This is Luthi’s second time starting from first in 2016, his previous pole coming recently in Le Mans.
Thomas Luthi: “I went out with the rain tyres to check the situation. Already on the out lap I saw that we had to go with slicks. It wasn’t a wide ideal line which was dry, there were a lot of risks to take. In the end it was dry enough to go fast with slicks. The team had to do a quick job to change the tyres, and a great job they did so thanks to them. They’ve done a great job all weekend. In practice I went out and I could push quite well. There were some mistakes and it was hard to stay on the dry line but it was enough. This is the best position for the race and in Free Practice 3 I found a good rhythm. If the race is dry I think this will be the most important session for the race.”