Last Saturday (July 14th) Jaimie van Sikkelerus drove the 501 of Assen with Oosterveen's MPM OIL Racing. During the endurance race Van Sikkelerus was together with Manuel Wienen and Kirsi Kainulainen the fastest 600cc team for a long time. Unfortunately they had to stop their strong race with technical problems in the final phase. Despite the sour end, it was a beautiful day and event in Assen.

Jaimie van Sikkelerus rode last weekend during the 501 in Assen, an endurance race of 111 laps on the TT Circuit Assen where teams with two or three riders are at the start. Van Sikkelerus was part of Oosterveen's MPM OIL Racing and formed a team together with ONK SuperCup 600 drivers Manuel Wienen and Kirsi Kainulainen. On Friday Van Sikkelerus first drove five training sessions at the TT Circuit Assen. The start was difficult, because the 21-year old driver had demanded a little too much from his injured arm a week earlier in Misano. In the course of the day the pace increased and the lap times became more constant, which was important for Saturday's endurance race.

During qualifying practice on Saturday Van Sikkelerus managed to bring a fifth time on the clock. Oosterveen's MPM OIL Racing had three 600cc engines, while many teams were at the start with 1000cc engines. Van Sikkelerus was the fastest 600cc driver with his fifth time in the training. The race started with a Le Mans start, where the drivers had to run to their bikes. Van Sikkelerus did this on behalf of Oosterveen's MPM OIL Racing and was quick with his bike. When he started the race the engine held back for a while, causing Van Sikkelerus to lose places and was eleventh after the first sector. Then the Honda driver quickly worked himself up towards the top-five.

Then it was the turn of Kainulainen and Wienen. A few places were lost, but Van Sikkelerus managed to make up for them in his second stint. Wienen then took over again and was on his way home from fifth place. Unfortunately Wienen had a technical problem in the final phase and it was not possible to reach the pit lane with the engine. A hard end, because otherwise the team would have almost certainly crossed the finish line as fastest 600cc team.

Van Sikkelerus: "It was a beautiful day in Assen. We had very nice weather and I enjoyed the event. The Oosterveen team took care of everything and I would like to thank them for the great cooperation. We were on the right track and there was a nice fifth place, but it was hard that the race had to end like this. I was very satisfied with my pace in the race. I managed, despite the heavy traffic, to keep the lap times very constant."