SETUP REPORT - 23/06/2008

[KUCIAR666]

SETUP REPORT - 23/06/2008

No rest for Fiat Yamaha Team as title challenge heads to Assen

After a seventh podium in as many races for Valentino Rossi at Donington Park on Sunday, the Fiat Yamaha team take their title challenge straight to Assen this week for the second Grand Prix in just six days. For 78 years the Dutch TT has been held on the final Saturday in June and despite the quick turnaround this year the tradition will be upheld, as the MotoGP World Championship paddock packs up and races against the clock across the North Sea from England to Holland.

It is a demanding but pleasurable trip for Rossi, who travels from one of his favourite and most successful circuits to a legendary venue where he has celebrated victory on six occasions - including four of the last six races there in the premier-class. The Italian arrives at the ninth round of the season in great form, with an 11-point lead in the championship over Dani Pedrosa and having not missed the podium since the opening round of the season in Qatar and not finishing outside the top two since round three in Portugal.

Rossi's rookie Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo has dropped to fourth overall after a stressful run of races but the youngster remains in the championship hunt, 58 points off the summit and with conviction and courage back on his side after a confidence-inspiring ride to sixth place at Donington Park, having started from 17th on the grid. A crash-strewn few weeks are now a distant memory for the youngster, who was back to his best in Great Britain and still has ten rounds left to enjoy and entertain before the end of the season.

One of the most technically and physically demanding circuits on the calendar for the MotoGP riders, Assen has barely a straight piece of tarmac in sight. Handling is a major focal point due to high-speed chicanes and dramatic camber changes - the latter, in some places, resembling the profile of the public roads that the original circuit was based around - features that have traditionally favoured the nimble YZR-M1. Last year Rossi took a comfortable victory by 1.909 seconds over Casey Stoner in one of the highlights of his season after starting 11th, whilst Lorenzo also has a strong record there, having won the 250cc race for the past two seasons to add to a 125cc win in 2004.
Valentino Rossi - Aiming for the top step
"I'm really glad that we're going straight on to Assen, which is another of my favourite circuits. Donington was good and we took important points and extended our championship lead but it was still a bit disappointing not to be able to fight at the front with Stoner and I am happy that I only have to wait a few days to try to turn this around! Last year's race in Assen was magic, the best of the year, and I would like to repeat that victory again this year. Of course this time I would prefer to start from the front row instead of the fourth, even if making all those overtakes last year was great, great fun! I still miss the 'old' Assen but it's still a fantastic track and the atmosphere is very special, plus our M1 usually works very well there so I'm looking forward to another exciting weekend. Once again Donington showed how strong our rivals are, so we can't rest even for a moment and we have to be on our best form from Friday morning if we want to achieve our aim of getting back to the top of the podium."
Jorge Lorenzo - Hoping for some fun
"Thinking about Sunday's race is still giving me a lot of pleasure and it makes me feel much more confident about riding than I felt this time one week ago! I hope, after the good result in the UK, that the bad times of the recent weeks are now just a memory and in fact I won't be thinking about them at all anymore, only about the rest of the season. I had a lot of fun on Sunday, which I wasn't necessarily expecting, and this has helped me to move on and look forward to the next races. Assen is one of my favourite tracks, maybe my best of all. Last year I won there and I hope I can have another good result this year, although I know I still have to take things gently and not take too many risks. I'm really looking forward to riding a MotoGP bike there; I think it will be great fun!"
Davide Brivio - Half-way through
"So now we arrive at the half-way point of the championship in Assen, and I think we can be pleased with our performance so far. We're leading the championship and our motivation is very strong, but there is no time to rest at the moment. Our primary aim is to be on the podium every round and we did this again in Donington, where we took some important points and extended our lead over Pedrosa, but we really want to be fighting for the win and so we will be trying to make up for this in Assen. Our bike has traditionally been very good in Assen, both on the old and the new circuits, and we hope that we will be in the best shape from the start this week."
Daniele Romagnoli - Assen is a temple
"The aim at Donington was to get Jorge's feeling back with the bike and he did that, setting some very good laps towards the end of the race, so whilst there is still no pressure on him to get results I think we have a good chance of success at Assen. For sure he took practice much more carefully at Donington, putting long runs together and avoiding taking risks - especially in the early part of the session when the setting was not perfect. A big part of his job this year is to learn, but unfortunately some lessons are more painful than others! Despite the changes to the track in recent years Assen is still a temple for motorcycle racing and we always look forward to competing there. It is a good track for Jorge's riding style, as we have seen in the past, and it is also good for Yamaha so I think we can be very competitive."

Valentino Rossi : Information
Age: 29

Lives: Tavullia, Italy

Bike: Yamaha

GP victories: 91 (65 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)

First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)

First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)

GP starts: 200 (140 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)

Pole positions: 50

World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
Jorge Lorenzo: Information
Age: 21

Lives: London, UK

Bike: Yamaha

GP victories: 22 (1 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)

First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)

First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)

GP starts: 101 (7 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)

Pole positions: 29 (3 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)

World Championships: 2 x 250cc

Assen: Record Lap

N. Hayden (Honda) 2006, 1'37.106

Assen: Best Lap

J. Hopkins (Suzuki) 2006, 1'36.411

Grand Prix Results: Assen 2007
V.Rossi (Yamaha) 42'37.149
2. C.Stoner (Honda) +1.909

3. N.Hayden (Honda) +6.077

Jorge Lorenzo Result: Assen 2007

1. J. Lorenzo (SPA) Aprilia 40'25.904 (250cc)

 

[Oldbull]

When did Rossi move from London?

When Stoner moved in and beat him to the pub :-0)

 

[KUCIAR666]

When did Rossi move from London?

When he sorted out his problem with tax .....in beginning of new season 2008

Rossi in tax evasion probe

Posted Thu Aug 9, 2007 8:47am AEST

Former world motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi is being investigated by Italian tax inspectors for suspected tax evasion.

Italy's tax agency are examining the 28-year-old for possible undeclared revenues of 60 million euros ($96 million) between 2000 to 2004.

The probe is linked to Rossi's decision in 2000 to transfer his residence to Britain to take advantage of favourable tax conditions.

Rossi is currently sitting in second position in the MotoGP world championships behind Australian Casey Stoner.

and one more...

But that figure is substantially lower than the 112 million euros - based upon alleged undeclared earnings of 60 million euros from 2000 to 2004 - previously quoted by the Italian tax authorities.

"Yes, I think it is finally over," Rossi's lawyer Lucio Monaco told Quotidiano.net. "Valentino will pay 20 million. And then he'll return to laughing, winning and taking things as they come. And his home will be in Italy.

"Rossi has gone through too much during all this, more than people imagine. He is not a tax evader and the proof is his decision to pay. He did not want a war, just an agreement."

Advertisement [Go Advertisement Free]

Rossi's lawyer added that the deal was "no admission of tax evasion."

The seven-times world champion, who lists London as his official residence, intends to pay the 20 million through instalments.

A meeting to finalise the deal is expected to be held on February 12

.

 

[KUCIAR666]

Free practice 1
1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 36.087 sek
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1min 36.819 sek
3. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1min 36.931 sek
4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 37.012 sek
5. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 37.126 sek
6. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 37.137 sek
7. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1min 37.187 sek
8. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 37.251 sek
9. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 37.280 sek
10. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 37.282 sek

 

[KUCIAR666]

ROSSI SECOND BUT WITH WORK STILL TO DO IN ASSEN

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi returned to one of his favourite race tracks today, as the 60th Dutch TT got started in bright sunshine at Assen. Rossi won the race from 11th on the grid last year, arguably his best performance of 2007, and the Italian is keen to emulate his success with another win on Saturday. He started well today by finishing the first day of free practice in second place, although he was 0.732 seconds off Casey Stoner and will be looking to improve on this tomorrow.

This morning saw Rossi in sixth position but some set-up alterations for the afternoon session brought about a good improvement in his lap times and the Italian was one of only three riders to lap under the 1?37 mark, the others being Stoner and Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards. Rossi lapped consistently in the high 1?36s, already well under the circuit record, but he will be aiming to shave a few more tenths off tomorrow in order to narrow the gap to Stoner. Rossi?s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile finished the day 14th in the combined standings after a difficult day in which he struggled for front-end feeling.

Valentino Rossi
Position: 2nd Time: 1'36.819 Laps: 56

?Second place this afternoon is not bad at all, considering that this morning we had some problems. This afternoon we made some modifications and we started to improve quite a bit. We are still struggling in some points of the track however and this shows in the gap that we still have to Stoner. During this afternoon?s session we understood some interesting things, which we hope will help us tomorrow. Today, however, it seems like I am the leader of the ?other? championship!

Davide BrivioTeam Manager

?This afternoon we made a good improvement to our setting compared to this morning, and our pace got better accordingly. Compared to the majority of the field in fact our pace is very good, the problem is Casey! In order to fight with him it?s clear that we?re going to need to work even harder and improve even more, so this is what we will do. It seems that we now have a good base setting so now we will just try to make the next step. The weather today has been fantastic ? a nice change from recent races ? so we hope for more of the same tomorrow so we can keep on improving.?

Combined Free Practice Times

1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'36.087

2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'36.819

3. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'36.931

4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'37.012

5. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'37.126

6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'37.137

7. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'37.187

8. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'37.251

9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'37.280

10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'37.282

11. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'37.326

12. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'37.357

13. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'37.838

14. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'37.960

15. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'38.082

16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'38.413

17. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'38.656

18. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'39.020


Assen: Record Lap
N. Hayden (Honda) 2006, 1'37.106

Assen: Best Lap
J. Hopkins (Suzuki) 2006, 1'36.411

 

[KUCIAR666]

LORENZO LACKING CONFIDENCE AT ASSEN

Despite an impressive ride through the field to sixth from the back of the grid at Donington just four days ago, it seems that Jorge Lorenzo?s recent trials are not completely behind him and the Fiat Yamaha Team rookie underwent a difficult opening day at the Dutch TT. The Spaniard is struggling with front-end feeling but worst of all is lacking confidence and trust in his bike, and could only manage 14th in the combined standings today.

Lorenzo started off the day 11th in morning practice and hoped to improve further this afternoon. However this was not to be as he was only able to better his morning time by 0.027 seconds and slipped back through the order. With this being one of his favourite tracks he is doubly frustrated and is now hoping that a good night?s sleep can result in a clearer head and a more relaxed frame of mind tomorrow. His team-mate Valentino Rossi fared better today and finished second but a gap of 0.732 seconds to Casey Stoner, in first place, means that he too has work to do tomorrow.

Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 14th Time: 1'37.960 Laps: 54

?It was a bad session today and I was not expecting to be so slow here, at a track that I love. We need to do more laps in order to improve and try to find a way to change things; I am suffering a lot on the bike because I don?t have enough confidence in the front. I am losing time in all areas, we know the bike can be faster but I can?t find the way to ride it like this. I need to have more trust in the bike, but at the moment I think the problem is me and I am just not riding as I should be.?

Daniele Romagnoli
Team Manager

?Today was quite a difficult session for us. We struggled all day to find a good feeling with the front and at the moment we have too much understeer. At the same time the bike is unstable under acceleration. This afternoon we stayed on just one set of Michelin tyres for the whole session in order to just concentrate on the bike setting without worrying about the tyres. We have tried some different solutions but they didn?t work. It?s clear that Jorge still needs more time and more laps in order to get his confidence back and for sure tomorrow the team will do all they can to help him to enjoy riding again.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

First day of practice for Andrea Dovizioso and JiR Team Scot at Assen

Andrea DoviziosoThis weekend?s racing at the Dutch TT started well for Andrea Dovizioso, ending the first day in 11th position. He was in a group of ten riders all covered by just one second as they all fought for fourth position on the timesheets. During the morning, the JiR Team Scot rider started to find the right feeling with the circuit, which he admits from his time in 125 and 250cc categories isn?t one of his favourite circuits. In the morning he was in seventh position, then in the afternoon the whole programme of the team was focussed on finding the best set-up of the bike. For the qualifying day of tomorrow the team will aim to find an increased pace for the race. With Andrea only three-tenths of a second from fourth in the provisional classification, he?s confident that he can improve tomorrow.

Cirano Mularoni ? Team Manager JiR Team Scot
?The circuit of Assen is not one of Andrea?s favourites from his time on 125 and 250cc machines and also with the MotoGP bike he doesn?t feel so comfortable around here. The question is to keep on trying and he will gain in confidence as he did throughout the day. Today we did a huge amount of work to find the best balance of the bike and we tried many different solutions of tyres. We were not focussed on the ultimate lap time but instead finding the right pace for tomorrow and then the race. Assen is a demanding racetrack: you need stability in the fast sections, but also handling for the part of the track with corners and bends. We will work tomorrow to find the proper solutions.?

Andrea Dovizioso ? Rider JiR Team Scot MotoGP
HONDA RC212V ? 11th: 1?37?326
?The gap of three tenths to fourth is not important as many of us are all together within a second and I know that we can improve. We are working to improve the overall stability of the bike, which in braking and in the corners doesn?t give me the confidence I?m looking for at the moment. We tried today a lot of tyres and made many runs but it?s not so obvious at the moment which we will use for the race, which in my opinion will be run in the 1m 37 bracket which I feel I can reach. This pace could make for an interesting race. With the MotoGP bike Assen remains one of the tracks, which are not my favourite, but today is the first day and I think that tomorrow things will be easier for us. This is another reason why I?m not worried by our position of 11th overall today.?

Gianni Berti ? Technical Co-ordinator JiR Team Scot
?Today was the start of our very important programme of tests in which we were working on finding the proper balance of the bike and using the tyres at our disposal without looking for the best lap time. We made many short runs to properly test everything and tomorrow the target will be our pace for the race. We are not so far off the leaders and I?m confident we can find the lap times that allow us to do a good race.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

Round 9 - Dutch TT - Free Practice

STONER INSIDE DUTCH TT POLE RECORD, TOUGH DAY FOR MELANDRI

Casey Stoner made the most of the warm sunshine that welcomed the MotoGP riders to Assen today, clocking the fastest time of both opening free practice sessions for the Dutch TT. The Australian lapped in low 1'36s throughout the afternoon, dipping inside the current pole position record for the current track layout, set by John Hopkins in 2006 (1'36.441). Marco Melandri suffered very different fortunes and was unable to improve his lap time from the morning to the afternoon.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st: 1'36.078

"We're very happy with the fact we've come to another circuit and the new set up is working as well as it did at Catalunya and Donington. There don't seem to be any bad points to it and it is helping me ride like I want to again. I'm able to use harder compound tyres again and I'm just getting a better feel for the whole bike in general, without it bucking and weaving everywhere. We had a couple of moments today where it thought about trying to spit me but nothing to worry about. If you watch the race last year you can see the bike moving around a lot and we were struggling, whereas if you saw me ride today you can see what a huge step forward we've taken. In fact, maybe with the exception of Donington, this is probably the first time since Qatar where I can say that this bike is better than last year's. Today we've gone faster than the pole record on a race tyre so we're delighted with how everything is coming together."

MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 18th: 1'39.020

"At the moment it is not looking good. This afternoon we tried to load the front up a little more to improve the steering and feeling in the fast corners but we lost a bit of grip on the rear and in the end the bike was harder to ride. We took a step backwards with the setting at the end and I did two runs where I rediscovered the feeling I had this morning. However, at the moment we're still a long way off finding the solution to our problems."

 

[KUCIAR666]

Vermeulen in top 10 as Capirossi crashes out

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP had a day of mixed fortunes at Assen in the Netherlands today as Chris Vermeulen showed promising signs for the weekend ahead, whilst Loris Capirossi crashed at high-speed, resulting in a visit to the medical centre for an operation to his right forearm.

Vermeulen (P10, 1?37.282, 54 laps) lost a bit of time in the morning as his mechanics worked hard on getting the best engine set-up for the 4,555m long Assen circuit. Their dedication paid dividends as he improved on every run throughout the day eventually clocking a fastest time at the end of the second session ? on worn race tyres - that was only 0.463 seconds away from second place.

Capirossi (P15, 1?38.082, 33 laps) was making his comeback at Assen following a collision at Catalunya earlier this month, and vindicated his decision to participate this weekend by setting the 12th quickest time in this morning?s practice. Unfortunately, in this afternoon?s session he crashed in a fast left-hand corner and high-sided his Suzuki GSV-R. As the bike and Capirossi tumbled towards the gravel at high-speed, his right inner forearm got stuck underneath the bike resulting in a substantial and deep hole. Capirossi was immediately taken to the medical centre and operated on to repair the wound. He will now rest the injury and will not take any further part at this weekend?s event. AMA Champion Ben Spies ? who is present at Assen ? will not replace Capirossi.

Today?s practice was held in warm and sunny conditions with track temperatures reaching 32?C. Fastest time of the day went to World Champion Casey Stoner on his factory Ducati.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more practice session on Friday morning, followed by the qualifying in the afternoon. Saturday?s race is round nine of the MotoGP World Championship and the 26-lap event gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Chris Vermeulen:

?It?s been not too bad on the whole today. We had a bit of a problem this morning with some engine settings on the bike and it made it quite difficult to ride. The technicians worked hard to correct it and they even got some information from the factory in Japan to help us and together we were able to overcome the problem. The bike worked a lot better this afternoon, but because I missed a lot of this morning?s session with trying to get the set-up right it left us with a lot of work to do this afternoon. We managed to get inside the top-10 and I am sure there is even more to come tomorrow.

Loris Capirossi:

?After this morning?s practice I was quite happy, because my hand was working well and there was no pain. I felt that I was riding quite well and settling back into things. In the afternoon I came in and put on a new tyre and the first lap out it felt quite good, but when I changed down from sixth to fourth gear and leaned on the left side I lost control and the bike jumped me out of the seat. The problem was that when I crashed the bike came on top of me and I get this hole in my arm. It was not easy when that happened, but I know I have great support all around me from many people. I will now work to get myself 100% right and jump back on the bike as soon as possible!?

Paul Denning ? Team Manager:

?When things are difficult it often seems to be the case that it gets more difficult before it becomes easier again! Loris knew it wouldn?t be easy to come back after 17 days since he broke his hand, but he immediately justified his decision to be here by being able to ride at a decent speed, to supply good feedback and know where we were heading over the weekend. I think it is necessary to make it clear that the crash was nothing to do with his recent hand injury and it was just one of those things that happens in racing. He was lucky that he didn?t break anything or cause more damage to the original injury, because it is a really fast place to crash. Unfortunately the bike got on top of him and ripped a sizeable piece of flesh from his right forearm. Dr Costa and his team performed an operation to close and stabilise the wound and Loris will now start his recuperation to get himself fit again ? for sure it will be Sachsenring in two weeks time!

?On a brighter note, despite some problems this morning, Chris has been able to complete the day?s evaluation work, and on tyres that were past their best he was able put in his fastest time at the end of session two. That put him only a few tenths off of a top three position. Apart from Casey Stoner all the riders are really close at the moment and we feel confident that Chris and the GSV-R have got quite a lot to give over the rest of the weekend!?

A-Style TT Assen Practice Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1?36.087: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.732: 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.844: 4. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +0.925: 5. Alex de Angelis (Honda) +1.039: 10. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.195: 15. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.995:

 

[KUCIAR666]

GOOD START FOR GUINTOLI ON THE ASSEN CIRCUIT.

ELIAS SEVENTEENTH

Good weather conditions in Assen, Holland, where the first day of free practices valid for the Dutch Grand Prix begun. Alice Team rider, Sylvain Guintoli, has started well registering the twelfth best lap time not too far from the fastest riders, in fact, this has been a pretty close day with only four tenth of a second from the fourth to the twelfth position. The other Alice Team rider, Toni Elias, has begun with a lot of caution to gain back the confidence on the Dutch circuit after the injury he suffered on this track only last year. The Spanish rider has anyways constantly increased his lap times and tomorrow he will do his best to conquer a good position for Saturday starting grid.

Sergio Verbena ? Sylvain Guintoli?s track engineer

?Sylvain has started well straight away this morning. This has probably been the first weekend where we didn?t have many complications. Apart the first three riders, we are really near to the others and this makes us optimism for the rest of the weekend. Sylvain seems at ease at this track. We have tried many tyres and we should have found the right solution for the race, but tomorrow we will have another go to evaluate the situation.?

Sylvain Guintoli ? Alice Team rider (12th best lap time in 1'37.357 ? Total laps 52)

?Surely this has been my best first day of the season on dry surface. I feel really comfortable on my bike thanks to the modifications we have done on the front part of the bike. We are really close to the fastest riders. Tomorrow we should concentrate to improve the race rhythm. I registered my best lap time with the hardest tyres used today. Probably we will use them also in the race and this gives me good confidence. I hope to have a good qualifying tomorrow to be able to start in the best way possible in the race.?

Toni Elias ? Alice Team rider (17th best lap time in 1?38.656 ? Total laps 46)

?I am happy this day has passed. Today I started with a lot of caution for the reason that everyone knows. In the first five laps I have ridden really slowly in the turn where I have fallen last year to gain back the confidence with the track. But from the second session I started again to give my best. We have meet some problems that have blocked us, but we believe we can improve tomorrow to increase our performances and be competitive in the race.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

KAWASAKI'S HOPKINS ON THE PACE AT ASSEN

Kawasaki's John Hopkins completed the opening practice day at the Assen circuit in a confident mood, having made further improvements to his Ninja ZX-RR and finishing in eighth place overall.

Hopkins was pleased to be challenging for top positions after finding a good machine setting. With only half a second separating second and 12th position on the timesheet, competition is already fierce on the opening day of the Dutch TT.

Hopkins is running an upgraded version of Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR engine this weekend and this, together with improvements in set-up over the last two races, means that Hopkins is confident of improving further his position ahead of the race.

The Anglo-American, who is slowly recovering from a back injury, spent the sessions today dialling in the new specification parts while running through many Bridgestone tyre options to identify the best race tyre option. The 25-year-old is looking forward to tomorrow when he will refine his machine set-up, as well as check the longevity of his chosen tyre with a race simulation.

Teammate West, who was feeling buoyant after a top ten finish last time out, has suffered with some difficulties around the 4.555km Circuit van Drenthe, finishing today's practice in 15th position. The 26-year-old Australian used the base setting he found at the British Grand Prix, but is struggling with chatter and a lack of exit grip at this complex track, which features many long, negative-camber turns.

West will work closely with his crew to make some alterations to the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR overnight and they hope to resolve the issues that have thwarted the Kawasaki pilot's progress today.

John Hopkins: #21 - 8th - 1'37.251
"It's been a good start for us today. We have had some new specification engine parts to test and these have definitely shown an improvement. We're running pretty much the same set-up as last time out and the Kawasaki seems to be getting around here really well. This afternoon we ran through every tyre we had allocated to us to make a decision for the race, because we are unsure of what the weather might do during tomorrow. The last tyre we tried worked really well and we'd like more dry time to do a long run to test it for durability. The competition is close and apart from Casey (Stoner), who is a long way ahead, we're running the same times as everyone else so I'm pretty happy with that. The injury is starting to feel better now and I'm really feeling confident ahead of qualifying tomorrow."

Anthony West: #13 - 15th - 1'38.413
"I'm a bit frustrated to be honest. I came here thinking that our set-up from Donington Park would be a good starting point for this circuit, but that's not been the case today. We've had some problems with chatter that we haven't had before, and we're struggling a little bit with drive out of the turns. But, my crew already have some ideas on how we can improve things tonight, which we'll check out during practice tomorrow morning. It looks like we've got a bit of a fight on our hands this weekend, but that's all part of the job. I really like the Assen circuit, so I hope we can get things sorted ready for qualifying tomorrow."

Naoya Kaneko
Kawasaki Technical Manager
"We've made some upgrades to John's engine since last weekend and the performance of his machine has definitely improved. He is also recovering well from his injury, which means we can make further steps forward in set-up. Anthony has used the base setting from Donington but the circuit here features a lot of banked turns and we need to find a better machine balance to help him enter and exit the corners quicker. The chatter problem arose later on in the session and we need to find a compromise to improve this. Anthony will also receive the engine upgrades to his machine for tomorrow's sessions, and we will continue work overnight to find a solution to his grip troubles."

1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'36.087; 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha +0.732; 3. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.844; 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.925; 5. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.039; 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.050; 7. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP +1.100; 8. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.164; 9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +1.193; 10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.195; 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.326

 

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BOTH TEAM SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI RC212V MACHINES IMPRESS ON FIRST DAY IN HOLLAND

The first day of free practice for the Dutch TT at Assen started out well for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini, with the two riders separated by a fraction of a second in the top half of the time sheets. Alex De Angelis lapped fifth fastest, just ahead of his team-mate Shinya Nakano in sixth.
Alex recovered his good general feeling with the bike after some positive early work with the team and Bridgestone. The San Marino rider was on the pace from the opening laps and improved his rhythm in the afternoon.
The Japanese rider was also satisfied after experimenting with a variety of technical solutions, before himself setting potential top-five pace.

Alex De Angelis (5th - 1?37??126): ?I?m satisfied with this first day of free practice ? we?ve set the fifth fastest lap in both the morning and the afternoon session and we were fast from the first few laps. I like this track a lot ? I still hold the 250cc lap record here and I?m still adapting my style to MotoGP; this gives me great motivation. We?ve done a lot of work with Bridgestone and I?m satisfied because today I have been able to set a lot of laps on the same tyre. Tomorrow we will focus on smoothing out a few areas that can improve our performance even more.?

Shinya Nakano (6th - 1?37??137): ?The result today isn?t bad and I?m happy to be sixth fastest. Like at Donington, here at Assen we?ve had a bit of a chattering problem. Tomorrow we?ll have a look at the telemetry and see if we can solve it by working on the geometry and trying some different tyres out, with the objective of improving the balance of the bike.?

 

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FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ASSEN CIRCUIT FOR THE REPSOL RIDERS

Nicky Hayden, fourth on the first day and Dani Pedrosa, ninth. In 250cc, Juli?n Sim?n sets the sixth best time. In 125cc, Rabat 15th and M?rquez 17th

Today the mythical circuit of Assen was witness to the first day of practice in preparation for the Dutch GP, fortunately the typical wet weather seen at this date in the World Championship calendar did not appear, and the good weather allowed the first day to be completed in perfect conditions.

For the two Repsol Honda Team riders their first contact was positive, although at the end of the day it was clear that both Nicky Hayden as well as Dani Pedrosa and their respective teams have a lot of work to do this weekend if they want to catch Casey Stoner, the Australian rider, who was especially fast around the Dutch track today.

Stoner lowered the Assen track record by more than one second, and what is more was the fastest in the two free practice sessions. In the morning, Hayden was second fastest, just 0.6 seconds behind Stoner, and Pedrosa third at 0.8 seconds.

In the afternoon Pedrosa and Hayden went out onto the track with the firm intention of lowering their times and to get closer to the pace that the Australian was setting, but in spite of setting better times, both of them stayed a little behind Stoner in the second free session. Nicky Hayden was fourh at 0.9 secs and Dani Pedrosa, with a set up he did not feel comfortable with, ninth at 1.193 secs. Tomorrow, the weather forecast is different - some predict rain, others settled weather, and so the team will have wait and see what the exact conditions are like for the timed practice session.

Julian Sim?n finished the day encouraged by the progress he made throughout the first day. Although in the morning and in a large part of the timed practice his times did not turn out to be so good, in the end though he was able to change the set up on his motorbike and set the sixth best time, 1.176 secs off the provisional pole set by Alvaro Bautista. The Repsol rider was especially slow on the third section, but after changing the tyres, along with the chassis and the suspension set ups, he got onto the second row of the provisional grid on the last two laps.

In 125cc, Marc M?rquez had a little fright, falling at the end of the timed session, although luckily without any consequences. The Repsol rider finished the session improving his time, he had been 14th, and he was setting faster laps so as to continue climbing on the leaderboard, well aware of the fact that if it rains tomorrow it will be today`s classification that decides Saturday`s grid. Nevertheless, two minutes from the end of the session when he was braking to take the third corner his front wheel lost its grip and M?rquez ended up on the ground. Without any chance of getting back on the track with the team`s second motorbike, the young Repsol rider saw another three riders improve their times, so he is now temporarily placed in 17th position.

His teammate Esteve Rabat finished 15th, setting a time of 1' 46.7 seconds, 1.167 seconds off the best time set by Sergio Gadea. Rabat was soon into his stride, feeling comfortable on the Dutch track, setting the eighth best time of the free session. On the timed lap he was able to gradually lower his times, but his KTM 125 FRR by this time was suffering from stability problems on the rear wheel. Tomorrow, weather permitting, he will try to improve the set up in search of a one that give him a chance to fight for a good position grill on the grid for Saturday`s race.


MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa >> 1?37.280 secs, 51 laps, 232 Km.
?During the afternoon session we tried a different settings solution for the chassis in an effort to improve my feeling thorough all the changes of directions here, but it didn?t give the results we had expected, so I couldn?t be fast as I wanted this afternoon.

We also tested some tyres, looking for the best solution for Saturday. But the big question mark is once again the weather; we can?t be sure about what the weather will do tomorrow but it looks like it may be wet so we tried to get as much work as possible done during the course of today?s two sessions. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will keep on working on the set-up to improve our race pace.?

Nicky Hayden >> 1?37.012 secs, 55 laps, 256 Km.
?It?s nice to finally see a little bit of summer weather starting to hit Europe. The track is in great condition, they did a great job of having it clean, so we were able to get up to speed a lot faster than last year. All in all it?s been a pretty solid day. We made a little bit of an improvement this afternoon.

I wasn?t able to improve my best time by much but I was able to be a lot more consistent out there. I was hoping to go a little quicker at the end which didn?t happen. The bike?s working pretty well here but we?re certainly going to have to step it up a bit to get in there and be really competitive. We?ve got a few ideas to try and make it a little bit better tomorrow, the rider too.?

250cc
Juli?n Sim?n >> 1?40.686 secs, 45 laps, 205 Km
?Today was a very complicated day and we were way down the leaderboard. It is proving difficult to set the motorbike up, although we are getting there little by little. In the end we tried a different tyre, we made some changes to the chassis and the suspension, and I got the sixth position.

For me this is very important, and it is rewarding to see me up there, because this morning after seeing where I had finished I was a little down-hearted. Tomorrow we are going to work hard, trying to improve this bike. My arm also has improved a lot too, and today I did not have any kind of problem. We are going to take advantage of this to do some good work tomorrow.?

125cc
Esteve Rabat >> 1?46.700 secs, 36 laps, 164 Km.

?It has been a quite a complicated day. In the morning things did not go too badly, but in the afternoon we had quite a lot of difficulties, above all with the engine, it did not accelerate enough.

In addition, we also had problems when opening the throttle since the bike lost adherence at the back, it was like it wanted to spit me out. We still have some work to do, because we must find new things to try and get a good set up and select the tyres as well.?

Marc M?rquez >> 1?46.898 secs, 33 laps, 150 Km.
?The day went well; in the morning I just went out to get to know the circuit, nothing else, taking no risks. But in the afternoon, when we started it seemed to me that the bike was going better and I went faster.

But when I started to lower my times, we realised that we were beginning to have a lot of problems and that is when I fell. I was taking too many risks. We will see if we can improve the set up by tomorrow, and so set faster times than we did today.?

Official Results

MotoGP

1. Casey STONER (DUCATI) 1:36.087
2. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) at 0.732
3. Colin EDWARDS (YAMAHA) at 0.844
4. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) at 0.925
5. Alex DE ANGELIS (HONDA) at 1.039
9. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) at 1.193

250cc

1. ?lvaro BAUTISTA (APRILIA) 1:39.510
2. H?ctor BARBER? (APRILIA) at 0.231
3. Marco SIMONCELLI (GILERA) at 0.468
4. Aleix ESPARGAR? (APRILIA) at 0.700
5. Thomas LUTHI (APRILIA) at 0.945
6. Juli?n SIM?N (REPSOL KTM) at 1.176

125cc

1. Simone CORSI (APRILIA) 1:45.533
2. Bradley SMITH (APRILIA) at 0.340
3. Joan OLIV? (DERBI) at 0.363
4. Mike DI MEGLIO (DERBI) at 0.364
5. Sandro CORTESE (HONDA) at 0.402
15. Esteve RABAT (REPSOL KTM) at 1.167
17. Marc M?RQUEZ (REPSOL KTM) at 1.365

 

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FIFTH FRONT ROW PUTS ROSSI IN THE RUNNING AT ASSEN

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi took his fifth front row start of the 2008 season at Assen today, ahead of tomorrow?s 60th Dutch TT. The Italian missed out on pole by just 0.139 seconds and will share the front row with Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, his closest championship rivals.

The bright sunshine of yesterday gave way to bad weather this morning and the first session was run on a wet track, with Rossi finishing seventh. The sun came out after lunch and the track was dry for qualifying, giving the team some time to continue with yesterday?s work and refine their dry set-up. During the last third of the session Rossi was able to improve with each of his Bridgestone qualifying tyres and looked to be in with a chance of pole on his final flying lap, when a small problem in the final sector lost him his advantage. Second place behind Stoner looked secure until a last-minute dash from Pedrosa relegated him to the outside of the front row, with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo two rows behind him in seventh.

Rain is a possibility tomorrow and with the weather at Assen generally changing extremely quickly, the team may have to wait until just before the race to make a final tyre decision. Tomorrow?s 26-lap race will begin at 1400 CET.

Valentino Rossi
Position: 3rd Time: 1'35.659 Laps: 29

?Like always, the front row is our target and so we are happy with this third position. Anyway it?s better than last year, when I was 11th! We made some small modifications with the qualifying tyre and today everything seemed to work very well. Now we hope that it will translate to the race tyre, although of course we have to wait and see what the weather is like before we can make a choice, things change so quickly here! I was able to try for pole and I thought it was possible on the last lap, but unfortunately I had a small problem with the last tyre. Today we were all very close, closer than yesterday, but I think we still need to improve a bit more if we?re going to be sure to be able to fight with Casey, so we will try to finalise things tomorrow morning.?

Davide Brivio
Team Manager

?It?s very good to be on the front row and it was good to see Valentino so fast this afternoon with the qualifying tyre and going very close to pole position. We still have some important final tuning to do in order to be able to stay at the front tomorrow, and then we will just have to see how the race develops. Of course we?re all hoping for it to be dry but it?s difficult to know what to expect with the weather here! It?s clear that Stoner is very strong again, but we will be hoping to be able to go with him.?
THIRD ROW PUTS LORENZO IN BETTER SHAPE FOR DUTCH CHALLENGE

Jorge Lorenzo finished his second day?s work in Assen in a somewhat happier mood than yesterday, after qualifying seventh for the 60th Dutch TT. The Fiat Yamaha Team rookie was struggling yesterday but a good run with his Michelin qualifying tyres this afternoon gave him confidence and he will start tomorrow?s race ten places higher than he started last Sunday?s in Donington.

After yesterday?s troubles a wet session this morning was the last thing that Lorenzo and his team needed, and the Mallorcan was languishing down in 15th place after the rain-hit practice. The sun soon came out though and a strong wind helped to dry the track out, meaning that the team were able to try out a new dry setting in the first half of the afternoon session, which seemed to work well. Things improved even more with qualifying tyres; it was clear that Lorenzo was in much better shape than last week and he will head the third row tomorrow, alongside Chris Vermeulen.

Lorenzo?s team-mate Valentino Rossi managed to qualify third today and will be aiming to keep pace with championship rivals Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, in first and second respectively, when the lights go out at 1400 CET tomorrow.

Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 7th Time: 1'36.532 Laps: 26

?Today was a bit better than yesterday and I felt stronger, even if the improvement is still not what I hoped for since Donington. With race tyres we still have some problems, although it was better than yesterday with a new setting, but with my Michelin qualifying tyres I was able to push more and seventh is not so bad for us today. The front riders are very fast here and we know that to stay with them is going to be very difficult, but I have more confidence today and so I hope that I can be at least in the top seven. If I can do this I will be happy. We still have to go step-by-step and if I can improve a bit again tomorrow then I hope to be able to push more within the next two or three races.?

Daniele Romagnoli
Team Manager

?Overall this afternoon was important and interesting because we found some general improvement, even if we still have more work to do. Unfortunately the weather didn?t help us this morning and for us it was an almost useless first session. In the afternoon we decided to try the new setting that we found last night and, although our lap time was more or less the same as yesterday, other riders were a bit slower than yesterday with race tyres due to the different track conditions and so this is actually encouraging for us. With qualifying tyres we were able to be in seventh place, which is much better than in Donington and gives us some confidence for the race tomorrow.?


Qualifying Times

FRONT ROW

1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'35.520

2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'35.552

3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'35.659

SECOND ROW

4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'35.975

5. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'35.985

6. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'36.278

THIRD ROW

7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'36.532

8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'36.768

9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'36.804

FOURTH ROW

10. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'36.823

11. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'36.899

12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'36.948

FIFTH ROW

13. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'36.978

14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'37.287

15. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'37.643

SIXTH ROW

16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'37.793

17. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'38.726


Assen: Record Lap
N. Hayden (Honda) 2006, 1'37.106

Assen: Best Lap
J. Hopkins (Suzuki) 2006, 1'36.411

 

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Vermeulen eighth as Rizla Suzuki?s sole representative at Dutch TT

Chris VermeulenChris Vermeulen will start from the third row for tomorrow?s Dutch TT at Assen, after qualifying his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R in eighth place during this afternoon?s session.

Vermeulen (1?36.768, 25 laps) lost a lot of valuable set-up time during this morning?s final free practice session due to a wet but drying track, following heavy overnight rain. He worked very hard during the qualifying to make up for the lost time and was pleased with the steps taken when it came to using his Bridgestone qualifying tyres to decide his starting position for tomorrow?s 26-lap race.

Vermeulen will be Rizla Suzuki MotoGP?s sole representative on the grid for the Dutch Grand Prix following Loris Capirossi?s crash yesterday that has sidelined the experienced Italian with a puncture wound to his right inner forearm. Capirossi was present at the circuit today to support the team and will remain at Assen until tomorrow?s race. Suzuki?s Italian star is already making a good recovery from the operation he had yesterday to repair the injury and is planning to make a comeback at Sachsenring in Germany next month.

Today?s qualifying was held in dry, but overcast conditions, reigning World Champion Casey Stoner will start from pole position with championship leader Valentino Rossi in second.

Tomorrow?s race is the only Grand Prix on the calendar held on a Saturday and the lights will go out to signal the start at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Chris Vermeulen:

?It was a difficult qualifying session because we had so much work to get through after losing so much time this morning. We had a lot of set-up changes that we wanted to try but it was too wet earlier and we lost a lot of time sitting in the garage just waiting to see what the weather was going to do - so really from the morning session we didn?t learn anything at all! In the qualifying session we got a little bit lost with set-up because we tried so many things, and in the end we went back to what we ran yesterday and that seemed to work well. My last couple of qualifying laps were pretty good and I managed to get on to the third row and scrape something out of the session. At least we are up there and if we get a good start and a strong first few laps, I think we can be competitive and fight for at least a top five finish.?

Paul Denning ? Team Manager:

?This morning was really the same result for everyone - it was a waste of tyres and fuel because the weather never stayed consistent enough to get any meaningful information. The conditions were good enough this afternoon to see some amazing lap-times ? especially from Casey on the Bridgestones. For Chris it was a difficult session and we never really achieved the rhythm that we hoped we?d be able to. However, right at the end he did a great job to get the GSV-R into the top-eight and on to the third row of the grid. The guys know exactly what is needed for the warm-up and race so hopefully we?ll be able to replicate that improvement and run a decent race-pace tomorrow, we know that Chris has great potential and that he is ultra hungry for a good result.

?It was hard to see the number 65 bikes in the pit today, all dressed-up, but with nowhere to go! The good news is that Loris is in disappointed ? but good ? spirits and stayed to support the team today. He is full of energy and is eager to get back on the bike in Sachsenring in two weeks.?

A-Style TT Assen Qualifying Practice Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1?35.520: 2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 0.032: 3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.139: 4. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +0.455: 5.Randy de Puniet (Honda) +0.465: 8. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.248:

 

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THIRD AND FOURTH ROWS FOR TEAM SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI RIDERS

Shinya NakanoAfter once again demonstrating good potential in free practice, Team San Carlo Honda Gresini?s two riders again struggled to turn that form into top qualifying positions this afternoon, with Shinya Nakano sealing ninth place on the grid whilst Alex De Angelis will start from just behind his team-mate from twelfth place. After finding a good compromise for the bike and tyres in race trim, it will be another major challenge for the San Marino rookie as he looks to make up places at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

Shinya Nakano (9th - 1?36?804): ?I expected a better result because we?ve been working well on qualifying tyres recently and the bike setting was good. A fast lap just didn?t come though and that may be because the front end was not our strongest point today. In any case, a third row start is not a disaster and we can still do well in tomorrow?s race.?

Alex De Angelis (12th - 1?36?948): ?We?ve shown over the past few rounds that we have a good package in race trim and thanks to the support of Bridgestone we also have a tyre now that suits my style of riding. However, I?m still having trouble adapting my pace to a qualifying tyre and I can?t get the maximum out of it. I will be limited by my starting position but I showed today that my pace is good again. I did a couple of laps in 1?37?2 on race rubber so I?m confident, even though it is not easy to overtake here.?

Fausto Gresini - Team manager: ?We need good starts from our riders in the race tomorrow and after that we can look forward to a good race. That is what their practice pace has shown us in another positive weekend so far.?

 

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THIRD CONSECUTIVE POLE FOR STONER, MELANDRI UNABLE TO IMPROVE

Casey StonerCasey Stoner took his third pole position in a row at Assen and the thirteenth of his career today, as well as setting an impressive race pace once again. Morning rainfall and afternoon wind did not make life any easier for the Australian but he came on strongly at the end of the session to improve his best lap on each of his three qualifying tyres.

During his last run on race tyres the antenna located near the finish line that sends data to the bike's transponder wasn't working; Casey could not see his lap times on his dash and they didn't show up on the circuit monitors. However the problem was quickly solved, and it was Stoner, Pedrosa and Rossi who would battle for pole in an exciting climax to the session, with the Ducati rider's final effort remaining just out of reach of his rivals. Marco Melandri was unable to improve his best lap time this afternoon and he starts from 17th place.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) Pole Position - 1'35.520

"This afternoon was a lot windier than yesterday and the rain this morning meant that the track conditions weren't at their optimum: the front was pushing in a lot of corners where you really have to rely on it, so that made life ten times more difficult than it should be! Before we put the qualifiers in we had that problem with the lap time transmitter and I didn't know how fast I was going. Luckily Dorna managed to fix it before we put the qualifying tyres in and I was feeling confident, but the extra grip offered by the softer rear put even more pressure on the front and I almost lost it on several occasions during the last three laps. To have qualified on pole despite all those things is fantastic! The rain this morning also meant that we didn't get many laps in on slick race tyres today but that is the same situation for everybody and we did enough yesterday to be confident about tomorrow's race. This is my third pole position in a row so it shows the great job being done by everybody at Ducati and especially at Bridgestone, who have made great steps forward with their qualifying rubber this season so congratulations to them."

MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 17th - 1'38.726

"I don't know what to say, other than that I am extremely disappointed to be in a position that doesn't correspond to my ability, or clearly that of the bike. We're all trying so hard but we just can't find a solution to our problems and it's going to be a very tough race tomorrow."

 

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Andrea Dovizioso, ready for a top-five race finish at Assen

Andrea DoviziosoThe second day of practice for the Dutch TT at Assen was hit by wet circuit conditions this morning, thanks to overnight rain. This meant that the confrontation between the top riders was postponed until the afternoon?s qualifying session. Thankfully the sun came out and dried the Circuit Van Drenthe in time. The JiR Team Scot squad worked hard on Andrea Dovizioso?s race pace for tomorrow and are confident that the Italian rider will be able to fight for fourth or fifth position from his starting slot on the fourth row of the grid.

Cirano Mularoni - Team Manager JiR Team Scot
"The work done today in anticipation of tomorrow?s race gave us some positive signals and tomorrow we will exploit the warm-up for further development before the race. Despite this we are confident that Andrea is able to compete for positions much higher than his position on the grid. Qualifying is a phase in which we have to learn to improve our performance. Usually the race gives more motivation to Andrea, who ? with a good start ? should put on a good spectacle for the team and the fans tomorrow."

Andrea Dovizioso ? Rider, JiR Team Scot MotoGP
HONDA RC212V
11th best time: 1'36 "899
?Tomorrow I think I can battle for the fourth or fifth position. Although I will have to make a good start, not make any errors and get to the first corner in a good position, because in the first part of the circuit it?s difficult to overtake! Many other riders are able to run a race-pace near to mine, and I believe that I can still improve a few things during the warm-up session tomorrow. A consistent lap time of around 1m 37.5s is what I?m aiming for, and with this in mind I think we can be in the top five. It seems that I cannot improve my performance on the qualifying tyres, because I do not have the confidence with the front tyre that I need and also a little vibration also disturbed my pace. We still have to do some development on the setting of the suspension before the race, to get it to work a little better during the fast corners on the track, where you really need to have good support from the front tyre.?

Gianni Berti - Technical Co-ordinator JiR Team Scot
?Today was like a half-day of practice for us all, because the track was wet this morning and this meant we didn?t gather any more data to help us in this afternoon?s session. Despite this, under race conditions we are sure we can be competititve, but thanks to our problems on the qualifying tyres we have to work hard in the early laps and come from the back to the front of the field once more.?

 

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QUALIFYING CRASH RULES HOPKINS OUT OF ASSEN RACE

Kawasaki's John Hopkins has been ruled out of tomorrow's Dutch TT at Assen, after sustaining a fractured left ankle and suspected compression injuries to his left knee in a high-speed crash during this afternoon's qualifying session.

The 25-year-old Anglo-American lost the front of his Ninja ZX-RR under braking for the left-hander at turn 12, one of the fastest corners on the Assen circuit, in the closing minutes of the timed session. Hopkins managed to separate himself from his sliding Ninja ZX-RR, but sustained the injuries to his left leg when he collided with the tyre wall on the outside of the corner.

The initial assessment in the Clinica Mobile was that Hopkins would be out of action for at least 20 days, but the Kawasaki pilot will return to Los Angeles tomorrow for a further medical examination by Doctor Art Ting. Only once full extent of his injuries is known will a decision be made as to whether Hopkins will return to action at the next race in Sachsenring, which takes place in just two weeks time.

Teammate Anthony West, who has struggled to recapture the form he found last time out at Donington Park, has suffered with cornering troubles around the technical 4.555km Circuit van Drenthe. The 26-year old had looked strong throughout the wet practice this morning, but with the clouds clearing for the afternoon, the dry conditions brought no joy to the Australian racer.

Despite overcoming some of the traction problems that hampered him in the opening part of the season with a new base setting, a frustrated West has found it difficult to turn his Ninja ZX-RR at high speeds, leaving him on the sixth row of the grid in 16th position.

As the sole Kawasaki starter for tomorrow?s Grand Prix, West will be fighting to repeat the top ten finish he achieved last weekend at Donington Park.

Anthony West
?This morning was wet and we found a good pace but it?s a completely different situation in the dry. We?ve not had many problems with the spinning that we have had in the past, which is one forward step, however, with the extra grip from the rear, I just can?t get the bike to turn. At Donington we could get away with this, but the Assen circuit is one where the corners flow together, and it?s vitally important to be accurate with the correct lines to set up each corner. The problem I?ve got means that it just isn?t possible, I can?t get on the gas because the bike just runs wide and it messes up an entire lap, which is really frustrating. I feel like I?m battling to get around here and the problem was exaggerated with a qualifying tyre because it has so much more grip. On a positive note we do have a lot more usable traction on a race tyre, so if we can find a compromise to have a more balanced set-up, then I am certain we can be in contention and I?ll be looking to achieve a good result tomorrow.?

Michael Bartholemy
Kawasaki Competition Manager
?In practice everything seemed to be quite positive and I felt confident that we would be able to achieve a good result here. However, things have not gone to plan today. Anthony has been struggling and John?s crash may affect the next two races, which is a real disappointment. The injuries to his ankle were not caused by the fall itself, but the collision with the unprotected wall on the outside of turn 12. John will now return to America for treatment and we?ll make a decision on Sachsenring once we know the extent of his injuries. Anthony is normally fast at this circuit, but he has encountered some new problems here and we will be working hard to help him find the rhythm he had last time out at Donington Park.?

1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'35.520; 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.032; 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha +0.139; 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.455; 5. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP +0.465; 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.758; 7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +1.012; 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.248; 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.284; 10. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Teamw +1.303; 15. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.123; 16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.273

 

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DE PUNIET SHINES AT ASSEN QUALIFYING

Assen, 27 June 2008: Qualifying for the Ducth Grand Prix was run in dry conditions today with ambience temperature of 20?C despite some rain showers in the morning free session.
LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet made solid progress ending the day 5th gaining another good result in qualifying after the 4th place at Barcelona some weeks ago.

After some set-up changes to his Michelin-shod Honda RC212V nr. 14, the 27-year-old was in a sparkling form at the 4.555Km historic track clocking the 2nd fastest lap time in the morning free session in the wet. De Puniet will start from the second row tomorrow for the 26-lap race thanks to his best lap time of 1?35.985 less than five tenths off the quickest lap of the day.

The ninth round of the season gets underway at 14:00 local time with Stoner heading the front row followed by Pedrosa and Rossi.

De Puniet ? 5th: ?It was a good week end so far because I feel comfortable on the bike and all the practices sessions were pretty positive. We found a competitive overall package and want to thank my staff for their good job including Michelin because the race tyres we tested were all of a good grip level: even my laps on qualifiers were consistently fast and the second row start will help me to stay with the firsts. Tomorrow?s race will be very close but I am looking forward to ending this week end in the most positive fashion?.