From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

LACONI AND TOSELAND (DUCATI FILA) COMMENCE FOUR-WAY TITLE STRUGGLE AT ASSEN

Assen (Netherlands), 2 September 2004: Ducati Fila riders Regis Laconi and James Toseland find themselves embroiled in an exciting four-way battle for the World Superbike Championship as the series moves to the fast and flowing Assen track in the Netherlands for round 9 of 11.

The Brands Hatch results have again overturned the standings in this unpredictable season and with four riders separated by eight points at the top and 150 points still up for grabs, anything could happen in the final three rounds (six races) of the year. Immediately after the British race, both Ducati Fila riders went to the Mugello circuit to put in some extra testing work for the end-of-season rush.

Laconi holds a slim two-point lead over Honda Ten Kate rider Chris Vermeulen, while Brands double winner Noriyuki Haga (Renegade Ducati) is a further six points adrift, two ahead of Toseland.

The 29 year-old Frenchman, who came away from Brands Hatch at the top of the table, has a best finish of fourth place at the Dutch circuit.

“I’m leading the championship, which is OK, but it would be better if I had more points!” declared Laconi. “I’m very confident after the test that we did in Mugello because we found something a lot better for the front setting and now I have more speed and feeling, everything that I need. For sure, we will see what happens here but I’m ready to finish the season in the best possible way.

“After Brands I was angry because I crashed in the race and that is not good enough because I want to win. I really like Assen, it’s very hard for riding because the track is fast, long and not very wide. The secret is to make the time in the entry to the corners, which are very fast and if you find a good feeling with the bike for this you will be quick” he concluded.

Toseland has good memories of the track, the 23-year-old from Sheffield stepping onto the WSBK podium for the first time here with third place in 2002.

“I like Assen, I’ve had some good results here in the past. It was the place I got my first World Superbike podium so the only thing I’ve been thinking about over the summer is this race”, declared Toseland. “It’s such a fast flowing circuit that if you get a good base set-up then it pretty much works everywhere. The main difficulty is keeping your concentration up, because Assen is a two minute lap rather than a one-and-a-half one but it’s not a really difficult track.

“We’ve just got to do the business on Friday, Saturday and Sunday” he added. “The test at Mugello after Brands went well and hopefully we can be right on the pace from the start, but really the season is starting all over again now with everyone being so close, so it’s a question of who dares wins!”

POINTS (after 8 of 11 rounds) : (Riders) 1. Laconi 218; 2. Vermeulen 216; 3. Haga 212; 4. Toseland 210; 5. Chili 180; 6. McCoy 155; etc.
(Manufacturers) 1. Ducati 385 (2004 champions); 2. Honda 223; 3. Petronas 158 ; 4. Kawasaki 99 ; 5. Suzuki 77 ; 6. Yamaha 60.

CIRCUIT INFO:
Name: TT Circuit Van Drenthe.
Length: 6.027 km.
Pole Position: Left.
Corners Left/Right: 10/14.
Finish Line Length: 790 m.

STATISTICS:
Best lap: Xaus (Ducati), 2:01.861 (2002).
Lap record: Edwards (Honda), 2:02.395 (2002). Superpole: Chili (Ducati), 2:00.874 (2003).
Race Distance: 2 x 16 laps/96.432 km.

2003 RESULTS:
Race 1: 1. Xaus (Ducati); 2. Hodgson (Ducati); 3. Chili (Ducati).
Race 2: 1. Hodgson; 2. Xaus; 3. Lavilla (Suzuki).


More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Foggy calls for podium challenge at Assen

Carl Fogarty is urging his Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Troy Corser and Chris Walker to carry on where they left off when the Superbike World Championship resumes after its mid-season break this weekend.

Round nine of an enthralling series visits the fast and flowing Dutch circuit of Assen, where Foggy ruled supreme during his World Superbike reign. The four-times world champion won an incredible 12 of his 16 races there and is hoping that his team will be challenging for further honours in Sunday’s two races after an encouraging display at the previous round of Brands Hatch, when Chris and Troy claimed fourth and fifth respectively.

Further developments to the engine of the PETRONAS FP1, tested successfully at Magny-Cours last week, are to be used at Assen and these cam train revisions are expected to allow the riders to increase peak revs to 14800 rpm, an increase of 1000 rpm, as well as increasing gearing options.

Carl said: “More of the same please! I guess, after Brands, we have got ourselves back up to where we want to be: challenging for the podium and consistently in a strong top six. So we want to try and carry that momentum through to the end of the year.

“Assen always feels like a third British round and there will hopefully be big support for us. Both Troy and Chris like the circuit and it should suit our bike pretty well as Troy went well there last year, even before the progress the PETRONAS engine development team have made. We tested more improvements in France last week and hopefully they will help with top end speed.”

Troy, who has been on the podium seven times at Assen, said: “I’m looking forward to the race as the track is very flowing and well laid-out. I’ve had some good results there in the past and, although last year at Assen we were down on power, we’ve improved in that area now and so we should stand a good chance of being in the top six. It’s a strange track in that there’s a lot of drafting, so in a race situation you can just get pulled along with the pack which is good. I think Chris Vermeulen is going to be hard to beat.”

Chris said: “Assen is quite a special track and it’s a mega place to ride – it’s designed for motorcycle riding, has some banked corners and loads of grip. The racing will be good as there are quite a few riders out there going strong at the moment and I think our bike will go well there. So many British fans also go over for it the atmosphere is usually great as well so hopefully it’ll be another Brands Hatch for me!”

The Assen circuit is the longest in the calendar at 6.027km and is also one of the fastest, with top speeds of around 280kmh and an average speed of 180kmh. The slowest corner is the horseshoe leading onto the back straight – De Strubben – an 80kmh bend.

Circuit information: Assen, Holland

Best lap: Frankie Chili 2:00.874 (Superpole 2003)
Lap record (race): Colin Edwards 2:02.395 (2002)
Pole position: Left
Circuit length: 6.027km
Corners: 6 left, 11 right
Corner radius: 175m maximum, 10m minimum
Maximum slope: 0 per cent

Points (after 8 of 11 rounds)

Manufacturers standings: 1 Ducati 385; 2 Honda 223; 3 Petronas 158; 4 Kawasaki 129; 5 Suzuki 77; 6 Yamaha 60

Riders standings: 1 Laconi 218; 2 Vermeulen 216; 3 Haga 212; 4 Toseland 210; 5 Chili 180; 6 McCoy 155; 7 Martin 135; 8 Haslam 120; 9 Corser 112; 10 Walker 102