Kawasaki's Tom Sykes had the pure pace to get within a fraction of a second of the first WorldSBK race podium in Assen but starting from row two, he had his work cut out from the start.

Being down in seventh place, and 2.1s from the lead on lap seven, meant he had to do all his catching up after an uncharacteristically lowly Superpole position of sixth.

With the tantalising possibility of becoming the all-time Superpole record holder on his own if he had been fastest pre-race at Assen, you can understand why Sykes is keen to get that 44th career Superpole win done and dusted.

He blamed Michael Ruben Rinaldi for his problem in setting his best possible fastest lap this time, and more importantly his final race position.

“The grid position was the problem, and I have Rinaldi to thank for that,” said Sykes on Saturday in Assen. “There was a massive confusion in qualifying in Superpole. It is very lucky that nobody is injured. I was on a fast lap, in fourth gear in the last fast left-hander, and he was touring. He was obviously undecided to try for one more lap or enter the pits. On the good lap you use all the road and go very close to pit entry before you dive back, make your braking and do the final chicane.

"He was like a trackday rider, no idea of what was going on around him, and in the last moment I thought OK, he is going to go for another lap, because Jonathan went to the pit entry. Then in the last moment, I went to the outside in fourth gear doing a minimum of 100 and more kph than him and in the last minute he decides to go in the pit entry and I missed him by this much. If I hit him there we both miss the weekend and maybe more.”

Sykes went to see his rival, and said, “I was angry and went to see him and said. “You’re stupid not to pay attention in this section of the track, you are stupid.” He tried to say to me “I did not see you…” it is bullshit. This is one of the first things in racing I understood. When you are not on a fast lap get out of the way.”

Sykes will start race two in Assen from Pole, and hopes that that will be enough to get him into some clean air, and use the full race pace he and his team had found for Saturday.