MotoGP Assen Preview

[KUCIAR666]

Lorenzo extends championship lead with awesome Assen win

Jorge Lorenzo put in another textbook performance at Assen today, leaving his rivals trailing as he led from the front to win the 80th Dutch TT and take his fourth victory of the season. In doing so he becomes only the seventh rider in history to have won in three or more classes at the historic racetrack, with 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP wins to his name. Meanwhile Tech 3 Yamaha rider Ben Spies ensured that there were still two Yamahas in the top four, despite the absence of Valentino Rossi, with another brilliant performance to back up his maiden podium last week.

Mallorcan Lorenzo had looked the man to beat all weekend after topping both practice and qualifying and he got a great start from pole position and quickly pulled out a second's gap, but by lap five Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner were looming large behind him and for a few laps it looked as if a tense three-way battle was in the offing. However Lorenzo's choice of the harder Bridgestone tyre soon began to pay off and, with a lighter fuel load by mid-race distance, he was able to step things up a notch and gave himself an unassailable lead, crossing the line 2.935 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, with Stoner third and Spies fourth.

The Fiat Yamaha man's second win on the bounce sees him extend his championship lead to an impressive 47 points from Pedrosa, while Rossi remains fourth in the standings. The next round comes in just a week's time at Barcelona in Spain, when Wataru Yoshikawa will join the Fiat Yamaha Team to fill in until Rossi is back on board his M1.


Jorge Lorenzo - 1st, Time: 41'18.629
"This race was a bit more difficult than Silverstone because Dani was so fast with the softer tyre early on in the race and I had to really keep my concentration to stay in front of him at that point. I was confident that my harder Bridgestone tyre would help me later on and this was the case, so we made the right choice. It wasn't easy though and at the end I was sliding quite a lot, in fact I made a mistake at the chicane and nearly crashed so I was quite glad to finish! I am really happy that I have won here in all three classes because it's such a historic place and the football I had in Parc Ferme was to celebrate this 'hat-trick.' Thanks to all my Yamaha guys and also to Bridgestone for this win, we have a big lead in the championship so we can afford to stay calm and relaxed. Now we go to my home in Barcelona and I am excited about another chance to race in front of the Spanish fans."

Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager Jorge Lorenzo
"We knew before the start that Pedrosa and Stoner had chosen the softer tyre so we expected them to be fast at the beginning and in fact we were quite pleasantly surprised that Jorge was able to make a gap so early on. Then they came back to him but he is mentally very strong at the moment and he just kept his head and did very well to stay in front, because they were pushing him hard for a while. Once the laps went on and our fuel load was reduced, Jorge was able to use the harder tyre to his advantage and he succeeded brilliantly, we had no doubts about him. Well done to him and to all the team for this second win in a row on this special TT Anniversary"
Ben Spies scores a brilliant fourth at Sun-kissed Assen

Ben Spies produced another outstanding ride today in the 80th running of the historic Dutch TT, the Texan thrilling a crowd of nearly 100,000 fans with a stunning fourth place.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Spies made a blistering start from fourth on the grid to take up the tough challenge of fighting with dominant MotoGP world championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in the early stages. Opting to use the softer compound Bridgestone rear tyre, Spies kept Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner at bay with a hard charge in the opening laps before he slipped down to fourth on lap four. Unable to match the pace of the leading trio despite pushing his YZR-M1 machine to the limit, Spies became locked in a close dice with Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian looked at ease in fourth spot before Spies mounted a brilliant attack on lap 15 from fifth position. He started the lap over 0.7s adrift of Dovizioso but slashed the deficit to 0.103s at the end of lap 15.
Spies then produced a brilliantly executed overtake on Dovizioso at the final chicane on lap 16 and was able to use his superior speed to pull out a comfortable gap over the Repsol Honda rider. But Dovizioso wasn't finished and inspired by Randy de Puniet's attack, both began to hunt down Spies as the battle for fourth intensified. Spies responded with a masterful performance in the final four laps, the 25-year-old holding his nerve with some brilliantly aggressive riding to prevent de Puniet and Dovizioso from getting close to denying him fourth place. Spies took fourth by nearly two seconds at the conclusion of the 26-lap race to continue the excellent form he displayed when storming to a maiden podium at Silverstone last weekend. It is the second successive race that he has finished leading non-factory rider and he moved firmly into the battle for a top four championship placing.

Fellow American Colin Edwards extended his impressive record of scoring points in all six races so far this season with a solid ride to eighth place. Edwards continued to adapt to a new front-end geometry set-up he first tried this weekend and gained crucial information that he hopes will help him close the gap to the leading group in future races. The 21-points collected by Spies and Edwards today moved the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad into fourth place in the Team World Championship standings, the French squad once again the leading independent squad in the series.


Ben Spies - 4th, Time: +13.265
"I got a good start and was happy with that. I ran the soft rear tyre because it made the front load better for turning and the track temperature was hotter than all weekend. But it didn't work as well I'd hoped in the first ten laps and then when Dani and Casey came by I knew I was holding them up. But I was sticking with my game plan. I tried as hard as I could and 12 laps in Andrea passed me. But then his tyres dropped down to where I was with mine and I reeled him back in. The podium battle had gone away and then over the last three laps I heard Andrea and Randy putting the pressure on. I put my head down hard and managed to open a gap. I was sliding a lot but I managed to stretch away and I could cruise the last lap. I wanted at least fourth place today and I'm happy but I didn't have the pace for the podium like in Silverstone. I'm happy with the result and we go to Catalunya next week not knowing the track and I think we will be a little bit on the back foot again. But I'll do the same as the past two weeks and push as hard as I can."


Colin Edwards - 8th, Time: +28.991
"I can't be disappointed or upset with eighth place and wonder why I didn't get a better result when I rode my heart out. There was nothing else I could have done today but I know what we can improve. We've been experimenting with some different front-end settings and we've made it better, but I just lose a bit of time when I release the brakes and can't turn the bike how I want. And losing that little bit everywhere adds up by the end of the lap and makes it difficult. I know I rode harder than last year when I finished fourth, but I'm eighth. I guess that proves that those guys at the front are running an unbelievable pace. I was behind Nicky for a long time but I could never get close enough to put a pass on him. Looking at Ben it can be better and once again, I can't praise him enough. He's riding really good and I have to congratulate him because at the last two races he's been really impressive."

Herve Poncharal - Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team Manager
"I can't say enough good things about Ben. He made an incredible start and he almost took the lead. We knew Casey and Dani would push hard and in the first few laps I don't think Ben had a great feeling with the bike. But he dug deep and continued to push and I have to give him enormous credit for that. Dovizioso and de Puniet were pushing really hard at the end but Ben's strength is his pace on used tyres and he demonstrated this again. Being greedy we'd have liked to be on the podium again but fourth showed he is the best of the rest of the moment. His confidence is really high and he's proving a massive asset for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. Colin had a strong race and after Silverstone he found a direction with the bike, which we hope will work in the future. He was pushing hard and never gave up and the points he scored have helped us move back into fourth place in the Team Championship. That is very important for us. I said that in 2010 the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team had its strongest line-up ever in MotoGP and I think today again we proved that."

Circuit Length: 4555
Temp: 23
Crowd: 100000
Weather: Sunny
Lap Record: 1'36.411 (John Hopkins

, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'34.515 (Jorge Lorenzo

, 26/06/2010)
Last Years Winner: Valentino Rossi

2010 MotoGP Netherlands - Assen 26/06/2010
Race 1 - 26 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 41'18.629
2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'02.935
3 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'07.022
4 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'13.265
5 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'15.323
6 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'15.772
7 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'25.867
8 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'28.991
9 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0'35.658
10 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 0'35.837
11 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'56.769
12 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'56.890
13 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'00.615
14 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 1'08.074
15 Kousuke Akiyoshi Honda JPN -1Laps

Rider Standings 26/06/2010
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Jorge Lorenzo

Yamaha

ESP 140
2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 93
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 89
4. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 61
5. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 61
6. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 56
7. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 51
8. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 49
9. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 39
10. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 34
11. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 32
12. Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 28
13. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 28
14. Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 20
15. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 18

 

[KUCIAR666]

Dani Pedrosa second in race and championship

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) recorded the fastest lap of the race en route to a superb second place to race winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) to reclaim second in the MotoGP World Championship in front of a sun-drenched crowd of over 97,000 at the 80th Dutch TT.

The Spaniard moved into second on the third of 26 laps and stalked Lorenzo throughout, closing sharply on the fourth of 26 laps when Pedrosa set a new fastest lap on the slightly altered 4.542kms Circuit van Drenthe. Pedrosa was able to keep within a second of Lorenzo for the first half of the race, which he credited to the team. His Repsol Honda technicians had transformed the RC212V overnight and when he went out in Saturday morning warm-up the difference was impressive, he said.

Using that newfound braking stability and front-end feel, he was able to nearly match the pace of the leader. But in the second half of the race his medium compound rear tyre wasn?t the equal of Lorenzo?s harder choice, and Lorenzo was able to incrementally gain ground.

That left Pedrosa to concentrate on securing second place, and his third podium in six races, but it wasn?t easy. Pedrosa was under attack from Ducati rider Casey Stoner, but the Australian suffered from arm pump in the second half of the race and Pedrosa?s position was secure.

Pedrosa moved back into second in the championship, four points ahead of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who was a podium threat for more than half the race.

Dovizioso started the race in fifth before quickly moving to fourth on lap four. At that point he was behind Stoner and soon to discover that the pace was a bit too quick. The Italian wasn?t feeling confident in the front end, which tempered his aggression. He was also slowed by his tyre choice. Though the harder option worked well for Lorenzo, it didn?t work as well for Dovizioso.

The second half of the race provided an entertaining battle among Ben Spies (Yamaha), Dovizioso, and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda). The trio was nearly inseparable until the final three laps, when it was clear that de Puniet was suffering from a lack of grip. At that point Spies got away and, on the 25th of 26 laps, Dovizioso passed de Puniet in the fast section leading to the chicane. De Puniet immediately countered, coming past in the chicane, then it was Dovizioso getting a superior drive onto the straight. De Puniet edged ahead, only to run wide into the first turn to hand fifth back to Dovizioso on the final lap.

De Puniet was happy with his race pace until the final four laps. He?d chosen the softer front tyre and the extra heat on race day produced more wear than the team had seen all weekend. With no confidence in the front end, de Puniet relied on the rear end, which was visibly moving under acceleration. Still, he came away pleased that he?d battled for the podium and equalled his best finish of the season.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had one of his longer races as a MotoGP rookie, though he was still able to produce a top ten finish. The Italian noticed a lack of grip from the start of the race, which meant he was taking unnecessary risks from the outset. He settled into a battle with Aleix Espargaro (Ducati), who he passed on the 21st lap. Espargaro wasn?t going down without a fight, and battled Simoncelli to the line. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider prevailed by less than two-tenths of a second.

Simoncelli was the lone representative for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team in Assen. Team-mate Marco Melandri dislocated his left shoulder in a violent Friday morning crash. He considered racing, but realised on race day morning that it wasn?t possible. He expects to be back in the saddle at Barcelona next weekend.

Kousuke Akiyoshi (Interwetten Honda MotoGP), who was drafted onto the Interwetten Honda MotoGP team to replace Hiroshi Aoyama, finished with the final point. The Honda test rider was in Assen to test the bike and look for areas that could be strengthened for all Honda riders. Akiyoshi will also race Aoyama?s Honda RC212V at Barcelona. Aoyama broke his T12 vertebra in a high-side at last weekend?s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The paddock packed up on Saturday night to begin the drive south to Catalunya, north of Barcelona, for the third race in as many weekends, and the seventh race of the season.


HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 2nd
?Well, first of all I have to say I?m surprised by this result because, I tell you, in practice we had a lot of problems and we tried so many things that didn?t work, so I wasn?t expecting to get second today or to have this pace. For the warm-up we found something which gave us a better lap time and my rhythm improved a lot, which gave us the chance to fight in the race. I knew with the soft rear Bridgestone tyre that I would have more of an advantage in the first part of the race and so I pushed really hard from the start to catch up. But then I began losing a little bit of time in the first section of the circuit and lap-by-lap we lost touch. Anyway, this is a good result for us and I?d like to say thanks to my team because they never gave up. I?m back into second in the World Championship but actually I?m more pleased with second in this race. Now we go straight to Catalunya for my home GP and I hope we can have a good race there too.?

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): 5th
?We had higher expectations for today?s race and so I?m a little disappointed with how things went. I made a good start and moved up to fourth but I couldn?t ride the laps under 1m 35s that were needed to stay with the leaders. We weren?t at 100% with the front-end feeling which meant I couldn?t ride as aggressively as I wanted. Having said that, we could have finished in fourth today, but in the battle with Randy we lost time and Spies took advantage of our duel to get a gap. Considering how Dani?s and Casey?s soft tyres worked, our choice of the hard compound Bridgestone was perhaps not the perfect one today. Anyway, we have to learn from this and I?m looking forward to Barcelona - it?s a track that I really like. Today?s race was disappointing, but with only five days before we get back out on track we won?t have to wait long before we can make amends.?

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V): 6th
?It was a good race and I had fun but, like in Mugello, I finished behind the leading group. It?s a pity, but I feel satisfied anyway. I took a very good start from the front row and I could rely on my machine as we lapped consistently fast for the whole weekend. With four laps to go the front started to move too much because we raced on front soft tyre [which was the right choice] but probably today?s ground temperature was a bit higher compared to the rest of the weekend. We had a great race weekend and I am a big fan of this new circuit. The guys gave me an incredible machine here and we can be pleased about this result as we battled for the podium. In my opinion we moved a step forward in this week end and will do our best to keep the sixth position in the world classification.?

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 9th
?It has been a particularly difficult day today. After practice I was hoping for a different kind of race but it didn't go to plan. I knew something wasn't right from the start because the feeling wasn't as good as yesterday, the rear tyre didn't have the same grip and from the first lap I was taking risks. I decided to pull oars into the boat and get to the line in the best position possible. It is a top ten finish but we wanted more today. It is a shame but on the plus side we did a good job just to get the bike to the finish. Now we go to Barcelona and I hope we can build on the good qualifying practice we had yesterday.?

Kousuke Akiyoshi (Interwetten Honda MotoGP): 15th
?First of all I have to say that I wish all the best to Hiro (Aoyama) and I hope he will come back soon. In general this was a good weekend for me. I am here as a replacement and to test the bike and to help the team. The last time I was part of a race of the world championship was more than a year ago and once again I really enjoyed this experience. I am looking forward to the race in Barcelona.?

Pole position : 1m34.515s (173.001Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Fastest lap : Lap 4 - 1m34.525s (172.982Km/h) Dani Pedrosa, Honda
Circuit record lap : 1m34.525s (172.982Km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2010)
Circuit Best Lap : 1m34.515s (173.001Km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2010)
Event results - Round 6 - Race 1
1 Jorge Lorenzo 41m18.629s SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Dani Pedrosa +2.935s SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Casey Stoner +7.022s AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
4 Ben Spies +13.265s USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
5 Andrea Dovizioso +15.323s ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
6 Randy De Puniet +15.772s FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
7 Nicky Hayden +25.867s USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
8 Colin Edwards +28.991s USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
9 Marco Simoncelli +35.658s ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
10 Aleix Espargaro +35.837s SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
11 Mika Kallio +56.769s FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing
12 Hector Barbera +56.890s SPA DUCATI Aspar Ducati
13 Loris Capirossi +1m00.615s ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
14 Alvaro Bautista +1m08.074s SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
15 Kousuke Akiyoshi +1 Lap JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
Championship standings
1 Jorge Lorenzo 140 pts SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Dani Pedrosa 93 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Andrea Dovizioso 89 pts ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Valentino Rossi 61 pts ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
5 Nicky Hayden 61 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
6 Randy De Puniet 56 pts FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
7 Casey Stoner 51 pts AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
8 Ben Spies 49 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
9 Marco Simoncelli 39 pts ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
10 Colin Edwards 34 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
11 Marco Melandri 32 pts ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
12 Hector Barbera 28 pts SPA DUCATI Aspar Ducati
13 Aleix Espargaro 28 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
14 Mika Kallio 20 pts FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing
15 Hiroshi Aoyama 18 pts JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
16 Loris Capirossi 16 pts ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
17 Alvaro Bautista 14 pts SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
18 Kousuke Akiyoshi 1 pts JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP