2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Assen, Holland June 30, 2007 Race Results (Dry Conditions): 1. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, Michelin, 26 laps, 42 minutes, 37.149 seconds 2. Casey Stoner, Ducati, Bridgestone, -1.909 seconds 3. Nicky Hayden, Honda, Michelin, -6.077 seconds 4. Dani Pedrosa, Honda, Michelin, -10.465 seconds 5. John Hopkins, Suzuki, Bridgestone, -13.138 seconds 6. Colin Edwards, Yamaha, Michelin, -15.139 seconds 7. Alex Barros, Ducati, Bridgestone, -36.075 seconds 8. Alex Hofmann, Ducati, Bridgestone, -41.768 seconds 9. Anthony West, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, -43.605 seconds 10. Marco Melandri, Honda, Bridgestone, -43.796 seconds 11. Carlos Checa, Honda, Michelin, -43.826 seconds 12. Shinya Nakano, Honda, Michelin, -47.896 seconds 13. Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, Dunlop, -54.068 seconds 14. Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, Dunlop, -57.718 seconds 15. Kurtis Roberts, KR-Honda, Michelin, -88.637 seconds 16. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, Bridgestone, -94.808 seconds, crash 17. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, Bridgestone, -9 laps, DNF, retired 18. Randy de Puniet, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, -15 laps, DNF, crash 2007 MotoGP World Championship Standings (after 9 of 18 races): 1. STONER, 185 points 2. ROSSI, 164 points 3. PEDROSA, 119 points 4. HOPKINS, 94 points 5. VERMEULEN, 88 points 6. MELANDRI, 87 points 7. EDWARDS, 75 points 8. BARROS, 69 points 9. TIE, CAPIROSSI/HAYDEN, 57 points 11. HOFMANN, 53 points 12. Toni ELIAS, 49 points 13. DE PUNIET, 40 points 14. CHECA/NAKANO, 25 points 16. TAMADA, 20 points 17. GUINTOLI, 18 points 18. WEST, 12 points 19. Fonsi NIETO, 5 points 20. TIE, Olivier JACQUE/Kurtis ROBERTS/Kenny Lee ROBERTS, 4 points More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Rossi hits the target with epic Assen victory A-Style TT Assen – June 30th Race Report Starting from the fourth row, Valentino Rossi rode the perfect race at the A-Style TT Assen today to take victory number three of the 2007 season; closing the gap in the title chase to 21 points between himself and MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner. Rossi left it late to make his decisive move on Stoner, who had been the runaway leader after taking the holeshot, finally passing his young rival on the 22nd lap and building up a 2 second advantage up until the chequered flag. It had been a difficult start for the five-time MotoGP World Champion, who was held up early by a stubborn Loris Capirossi until the fifth lap. After passing the Ducati veteran, ‘The Doctor’ was unleashed on the rest of the field and flew up to fifth position before his seventh time past the line. Closing down a five-second gap between himself and Stoner, Rossi found tenths of a second seemingly from nowhere to get right behind the Australian at the midway point. First showing the threat that he posed to the series leader with a move on lap 15, his 22nd lap pass on the tight Assen chicane was the definitive moment of the race, and gifted Rossi victory number six at the ‘Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing’. Stoner did himself no disgrace either, with a magnificent display of riding intelligence onboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP7. Mimicking Rossi’s lines before the Italian had a chance to use them himself to overtake, the 21 year-old impressed just as much as in previous races to take second place and keep his position at the head of the classification. The three outstanding riders of the past two seasons were all present on the podium, with MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden returning to the rostrum in his best result of the season so far. ‘The Kentucky Kid’ confirmed that his Barcelona test and pre-crash Donington Park showings were a sign of a big step forward with the Honda RC212V, with a third place at the track where he won last season, and took an important psychological boost from both the position and his status as the highest placing Honda. Dani Pedrosa was unable to match Hayden’s pace at the end after having been dragged along with the frontrunners at the midway point, and lost touch with his team-mate towards the finish. He did, however, have enough of an advantage over fifth placed John Hopkins to maintain his position. Colin Edwards completed the top six at the A-Style TT Assen, ahead of the Pramac d’Antin Ducati duo of Alex Barros and Alex Hofmann. Anthony West again drew plaudits for his excellent ninth place in only his second appearance for Kawasaki, ahead of Gresini Honda rider Marco Melandri. The only rider to crash in the MotoGP race was second placed qualifier Randy de Puniet, who collided with poleman Chris Vermeulen halfway through the race. Loris Capirossi retired with mechanical problems. 250cc GP Bouncing back from his Donington Park DNF in the best possible way, Jorge Lorenzo took his sixth win of the season from as many pole positions in 250cc. The World Championship leader was in unstoppable form from the get-go, leaving his rivals with little more than scraps to fight for once he had imposed himself on the race. Lorenzo reacted at just the right moment to a speedy ride by Alex de Angelis; noting that the San Marino rider had closed in on him, the reigning World Champion set about extending his breathing space with some of his fastest laps of the day. In the end, De Angelis had to concede defeat, settling for second and continuing his run of 2007 success which has not seen him finish lower than fourth this year. Alvaro Bautista took the fifth podium of his rookie season in the quarter litre class in third, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and the packed trio of Hiroshi Aoyama, Marco Simoncelli and Hector Barbera. Problems for Mika Kallio meant that he dropped down the order late on, finishing eighth ahead of Roberto Locatelli and Yuki Takahashi. 125cc GP Mattia Pasini took a runaway victory at Assen in the 125cc race, following on from his win at Donington with a dominant performance onboard the Polaris World Aprilia. The Italian starting from pole for the sixth time this season- only relinquished the lead once over the course of the 22 lap race, at the first corner of lap one. In a season plagued by mechanical problems and crashes, Pasini appears to have finally turned things around, appearing in the top ten for the first time this season as a result of his 50 point haul from the last two rounds. Pasini finished six seconds ahead of the closely packed chasing group, who decided the podium spots amongst themselves at the death. World Championship leader Hector Faubel took second, with team-mate Gabor Talmacsi keeping himself in the title hunt courtesy of a third place finish. Sergio Gadea, Simone Corsi, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Lukas Pesek were also in the chase for a rostrum place on the final lap, with Sandro Cortese, Michael Ranseder and Stefan Bradl completing the top ten. The next round of the MotoGP World Championship takes place at Sachsenring in Germany on July 15th. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Saturday Jun 30 2007 Dutch TT – Race SERIES LEADER STONER SCORES STRONG PODIUM RESULT AT ASSEN, CAPIROSSI DNFS Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner finished a strong second in this afternoon’s windswept Dutch TT to preserve his World Championship lead as the 2007 MotoGP series reached half-distance. Team-mate Loris Capirossi had a tougher day at Assen, entering the pits with nine laps remaining. Stoner dominated much of the race after a brilliant start from the front row of the grid. But he was troubled somewhat by the windy conditions and couldn’t quite fend off Valentino Rossi in the closing laps. Capirossi was involved in some hectic tussles with a bunch of rivals until his GP7 began to suffer possible clutch slip, currently being investigated by his crew. Both riders left Assen in a hurry this afternoon, flying from nearby Groningen to Rimini in Italy to appear at the big World Ducati Week event currently taking place at Misano. CASEY STONER, 2nd place, World Championship leader on 185 points “We got an awesome start, went out to the front and felt quite comfortable doing similar times to what we were doing in practice, though not quite as fast because the wind was worse today. I was getting pushed around in a few of the fast turns and had a couple of front-end loses, so I wasn’t willing to push the bike in the braking points. I saw Valentino catching up, I saw him battling on the TV screens around the track. He was chasing me down pretty hard, he had a faster pace. I tried to up my own pace but once he came past I was at my maximum. I felt great the entire race and I can’t complain about the result because we only lost five points in the championship and we’ve only been off the podium twice this year. I’m really happy with the result, so my thanks to the team, after a bit of a spill this morning I think it’s been a good recovery. The bike ran out of fuel on the slowdown lap, just because I’d been sliding and spinning a heck of a lot more during the race than I had through practice, so I think the bike was using a lot more fuel. Overall, I’m happy with the way the season’s going. I didn’t start the year expecting to be leading the championship at this point, and no matter what happens for the rest of the season we’re going to be very happy. I’m proud to be a Ducati man.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, DNF, 9th in World Championship on 57 points “I had some difficulty with the front tyre early in the race. Then after a few more laps the cutch began to slip and that got worse, so eventually I decided to enter the pits. It’s very sad and for sure I’m having a tough time at the moment, but the most important thing is not to give up and to try and improve.” LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project director “Well, we can’t win every race! Once again, Casey did a brilliant job all weekend, he was the only one who could run with Valentino who was in unbelievable form today. Loris was unlucky, he had some clutch slip, which we are currently investigating. Apart from that, it’s been another good weekend, now we got to Misano to meet the Ducati fans. Our thanks as always to everyone involved, especially Bridgestone and Shell Advance.” More, from a press release issued by Team Roberts: KURTIS ROBERTS IN THE POINTS AGAIN AT ASSEN Assen, Holland – June 30, 2007: Kurtis Roberts finished in the points for a second successive GP, managing to recoup 15th place after a difficult weekend at the revised Assen circuit for the Dutch TT. Roberts, riding as substitute for his elder brother Kenny Junior, is in only his fourth race, combining the role of test rider developing the all-new 2007 prototype MotoGP racer as well as trying to achieve results for his father’s team. It is a tall order. Strictly limited testing time at each race is just one difficulty Kurtis faces. The KR212V uses a V4 Honda engine in a specialist chassis designed and built in England by Team Roberts. Last year, the combination was highly successful, putting 2000 World Champion Kenny Junior back on the rostrum. This year’s new 800cc engine meant starting again from scratch Today’s race, round 26 laps of the 4.555 km Assen circuit, was won by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), from title points leader Casey Stoner (Ducati), with defending champion Nicky Hayden third. KURTIS ROBERTS – 15th Position It was a frustrating race from the get-go. We’ve been frustrated all weekend. The bike seemed to work fairly well on the banked corners, but on the long double-apex flat corners that close in on themselves, it was miserable. That’s where we really struggled. There are four corners on this racetrack where we’d lose a second in each of them, it seemed like, because we couldn’t drive off, and it’s no secret we’re down on acceleration anyway, so it compounds the problem. In my worst corner, I got pushed wide and I think three people passed me, and then they were gone. That killed us. We’d made a lot of changes for the race that we hadn’t tested, and I wasn’t happy with the bike until about lap 19. I figured I’d stay out and see what came to us. Luckily a crash handed us a point today when two riders came down. It’s not like we’re in the championship hunt, but it’s better to get points for the team than not, and we’ve got to keep chipping away at it. The problem is only four hours to test at the race, and it keeps raining. I’m looking forward to Laguna, because at least I know the track there. KENNY ROBERTS – Team Principal We tried a completely different setting for the race, taking a chance, because we haven’t really performed good all weekend. Amazingly enough it did the same stuff. He went as fast at the end of the race, with good times, but when it’s new and when the tyres are new we can’t get it to turn. We made a drastic change, and it didn’t make any difference so we have a problem somewhere that we are having difficulties isolating. We’re working hard on the new chassis. I don’t know if it will be there for Laguna, but that’s our target. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Hopkins battles to another top five finish at Dutch GP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins secured his sixth top-five finish of the season as he raced to a hard earned fifth place at the Assen TT today. Starting from sixth on the grid, Hopkins made an excellent start and was running in second position over the first half of the race. The hard-battling Anglo-American then encountered some vibration problems with his bike and lost valuable time to the chasing pack. Hopkins fought to keep them off but was passed by eventual winner Valentino Rossi and both of the factory Hondas. Hopkins’ points haul today moves him up into fourth place in the world championship classification. Chris Vermeulen had a race that he will probably want to forget. Having started from pole position, after his brilliant wet weather qualifying performance yesterday, the high-flying Australian got off to a good start and his early race form was as good as anything he’d produced all weekend. He was in a strong points scoring position, but a mistake from Randy de Puniet on lap 12 saw Vermeulen pushed into the gravel as the Kawasaki rider crashed into him. Vermeulen rejoined the race but the damage was too much for him to mount a serious assault, and although he finished the race he was just outside the points with a 16th place finish. Today’s race was held in dry but overcast conditions and was watched by over 91,000 spectators at trackside. Rossi took the victory with championship leader Casey Stoner just behind him and reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden in third. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be back in action in two weeks time at the Sachsenring in Germany, for round 10 of the MotoGP World Championship on Sunday 15th July. John Hopkins: “It was definitely a tough race out there today and I feel like I’ve been in a real battle! I really put my heart into that race and worked hard to get that result! I wanted to be on the podium real bad today and I so much wanted to catch Stoner at the start. I was trying so hard, but I was getting some real bad vibrations around some of the turns and was losing about half-a-second through a certain section of the circuit. This meant I had to work even harder throughout the rest of the lap, but I lost a bit of rhythm and Rossi and then both the Hondas got by me. From there I just pushed as hard as I could to make sure I stayed ahead of Edwards. The Bridgestone tyres worked awesome today and the Rizla Suzuki was great again! A big thanks to my crew this weekend because we didn’t have the best of set-up at the start of the weekend, but they improved it tremendously. Now we go on to Germany and I can’t wait to get there and just carry on from where we have left off this weekend I know we will be on that podium again soon!” Chris Vermeulen: “It was good to start from pole position, and we made big steps in this morning’s warm-up and the bike worked the best it has done all weekend when we started the race. I was doing my quickest lap-times and I felt good on the bike. Unfortunately I didn’t quite have the speed of the front guys, but I was pushing hard. Then all of a sudden I was hit from the rear and I ended up in the gravel. I didn’t know the other rider was there and I certainly don’t think there was room for him! It took me a long time to get back on the track and I managed to finish the race. For the remaining laps I was unable to lean the bike over fully because some parts were damaged in the accident and I wasn’t able to score any points. We will now move on to Germany and hope that no-one else wants to knock me off there – as this seems to be happening a lot to me this season!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It has not been the easiest of weekends for the whole team, but nonetheless it was good to see John produce a well-earned top five result. We were hoping for a better finish during the first half of the race when John was really flying, but the pace needed to get to the podium was just a little bit more than we had over race distance, and we need to respect John’s maturity in riding to the limits to bring the bike home in a decent points-scoring position. “Chris went from the celebration of his pole yesterday to being outside of the points today certainly not our expected result! Chris had improved his dry pace significantly during the early part of the race and looked set for a top seven or eighth place finish, but we didn’t count on an aerial assault from one of our competitors mid-way through the race. The good news is that Chris was completely unhurt and will be able to go for it again at Sachsenring in two weeks time!” A-Style TT Assen Race Classification: 1 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 42’37.149: 2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +1.909: 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +6.077: 4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +10.465: 5. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +13.138: 16. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1’34.808: World Championship Classification: 1. Stoner 185: 2. Rossi 164: 3. Pedrosa 119: 4. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 94: 5. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 88 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner continues grip on championship with Assen podium Round 09 Netherlands – Race Assen, Netherlands Saturday 30 June 2007 Ducati’s Casey Stoner finished a competitive runner-up in today’s Dutch TT at the Assen circuit after yet another compelling duel with Valentino Rossi, typifying this season’s MotoGP championship. Stoner’s strong second place adds another 20 points to his championship-leading tally which gives him a 21-point lead at the head of the classification with half of the season now complete. Suzuki’s John Hopkins scored his fourth consecutive top five race finish with a fine fifth place in today’s race which sees him bolster his own championship effort, elevating himself to fourth in the overall standings. A further four Bridgestone-shod riders scored top ten results in today’s race with Alex Barros leading team-mate Alex Hofmann in seventh and eighth places for the Pramac d’Antin team, Anthony West scoring his first top ten result for Kawasaki in ninth place, ahead of Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri who rounded out the top ten. Bridgestone’s range of medium compound rear tyres performed as expected this afternoon and the tyres were able to demonstrate a solid performance at a difficult track. Marco Melandri gave the new specification 16” rear tyre a successful race debut which will help Bridgestone further develop its tyres for what promises to be a closely-fought second half to this 2007 season. Hiroshi Yamada- Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Sport Department “The competition this weekend has been exceptionally close, between riders, between teams and, of course, between the tyre manufacturers. Second place is a very good overall result. Casey and the Ducati team did a great job to score another podium and to keep their lead at the front of the championship tables, so thanks to them. Suzuki also performed very well; after yesterday’s pole position with Chris, it was great to see John score another solid top five result, a job well done. However, the tyre performance today reminds us that we must keep working hard to provide our teams with tyres that are capable of victory at each and every race weekend. We are in the middle of the most intense period of the season, so we will continue to critically analyse our areas of weakness as we aim to further advance our rate of development heading into the second half of this season. In the meantime, thanks to all five our teams for their hard work this weekend.” Junichi Kawajiri Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “Generally, I think that our range of medium compound rear tyres performed well but lacked just a bit of grip in comparison to our rival this weekend. I am nevertheless satisfied that we were still able to help Casey achieve a close second place and John a competitive fifth. We could see in free practice that the performance of our slick tyres was encouraging, especially since it is only our second visit to the revised Assen track. Marco Melandri also gave our new 16” rear tyre a trouble-free race debut and we have acquired some valuable data for further development. All in all, I think there are some positives to take away from a tightly-contested weekend.” Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 2nd Place and Championship Leader ” I was able to watch a bit of the race on the big screens around the track and I could see that Valentino was coming through the field quickly. I was just keeping the best pace I could, trying to stay nice and consistent, not making mistakes and I was doing what we did in free practice and I was happy at that. I could see that Valentino was chasing me down, the gap just dropped dramatically and I could see that his pace was faster, so I upped my own pace a bit and we were running in the 1m37s for a while. But once he came past, that was it, I was at my maximum and he had a lot left. I was a bit disappointed because it was windy today and my bike was being blown around a heck of a lot out there. I lost the front a few times from the bike pushing me wide, and if that hadn’t happened, I am sure our pace would have been a bit better, but I do not know if we could have matched Valentino. That said, we have to be really happy with this second place and the way our season continues to unfold.” Bridgestone Race Results Front Rear P2 Casey Stoner Ducati 42m37.149s +1.909s Slick Medium Slick Medium P5 John Hopkins Suzuki 42m50.287s +13.138s Slick Hard Slick Medium P7 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 43m13.224s +36.075s Slick Hard Slick Medium P8 Alex Hofmann Pramac d’Antin 43m18.917s +41.768s Slick Hard Slick Medium P9 Anthony West Kawasaki 43m20.754s +43.605s Slick Hard Slick Medium P10 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 43m20.945s +43.796s Slick Hard Slick Medium P16 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 44m11.957s +1m34.808s Slick Medium Slick Medium DNF Loris Capirossi Ducati 28m48.517s +9 laps Slick Medium Slick Medium DNF Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 18m14.507s +15 laps Slick Hard Slick Medium Weather: Dry. Air 21°C, Track 32°C, Humidity 38% More, from a press release issued by Michelin: ROSSI WINS ‘IMPORTANT VICTORY’, THREE MICHELIN MEN IN THE TOP FOUR Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) scored his third victory of the year in stunning style at Assen today, charging through from 11th on the grid to beat Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici) by 1.9 seconds. The Italian and the Australian were joined on the podium by reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) who had his own thrilling comeback, from 13th on the grid to a brilliant third-place finish. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) made it three Michelin riders in the top four, with Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) coming home in sixth. “That was a great race, for sure I was worried starting from 11th, but I knew we were fast and even though Casey was very fast we had some advantages over him,” said Rossi, who set half a dozen fastest laps as he chased after the championship leader. “This is an important victory, so I have to thank Michelin because my tires worked great all the way to the end. The bike settings were very good today, but especially the tires, we worked very well with Michelin this weekend.” Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing said: “We are very happy with today’s result, because the level of the race was very high and there were some big battles between the different riders. It was great to see Valentino win again, the lap times he was doing were just amazing, lap by lap he went faster and faster, it was really incredible. We were also really happy to see Nicky back on the podium, and both Dani and Colin also had good races. “Most of our riders are now using the new construction rear slicks we first tested at Istanbul. These tires give excellent cornering stability and great handling, you could see today that Valentino was really confident with both his front and rear tires, so he could take the inside line into the corners and try to overtake wherever he wanted. Good stability in the corners is a priority with this new construction, because riders need to feel confident at maximum lean. Also, the tires were consistent throughout, even though Valentino had to ride very aggressively to come through the pack “Today’s race was one of the most beautiful so far this year, and we have to say thank you for all the efforts made by our partners over the weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: Assen – Grand Prix of The Netherlands Event: Dutch TT Date: Saturday, 30th June 2007 Ambient temperature: 21 degrees C Track temperature: 32 degrees C Humidity: 38% ROSSI SEALS YAMAHA’S 150th PREMIER-CLASS WIN WITH EPIC RIDE IN ASSEN Valentino Rossi put in one of the outstanding performances of his career aboard his one-off liveried ‘Cinquecento’ Fiat Yamaha at the Dutch TT today, taking a superb victory from 11th on the grid. His third win of the season is also Yamaha’s 150th in total in the premier class of Grand Prix racing. Colin Edwards’ was unable to match the outstanding performance of his team-mate today but nonetheless rode a solid race to finish in his grid position of sixth. After difficulties in yesterday’s wet qualifying Rossi was left with a mountain to climb today and, with championship rival Casey Stoner starting from the front row, there was no room for error from the Italian. Rossi made up little ground at the start but after the first couple of laps he found his rhythm and began a spectacular charge to the front, passing rider after rider with a series of bold moves and eventually making his way up to second behind Stoner by lap 12 of 26, setting a string of fastest laps on the way. The seven-time world champion was then faced with the task of closing a gap of almost two seconds to the championship leader but within just a few laps he had done just that and moved to within striking distance of the lead. It was no easy job to pass the Australian however and he made several unsuccessful attempts before finally making a pass stick through the chicane with three laps remaining, eventually crossing the line 1.909 seconds clear. Edwards meanwhile was unable to capitalise on his fast race pace and, although he was lapping at a similar pace to the front runners throughout, he was unable to close the gap after being caught in traffic at the start. Rossi’s maximum-points haul today closes the gap to Stoner at the top of the standings to 21 points, whilst Edwards’ ten points see him hold onto seventh at the half-way point of the season. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 42’37.149 “This was an incredible race. I think maybe one of the top five of my career! Clearly starting from 11th is quite lucky for us because I’ve won a few times from that position, including last year at Sachsenring. Last night I didn’t sleep so well and I couldn’t have imagined that the race could turn out like this, in fact I was really a little bit worried after the qualifying and didn’t know what to expect today! Once I got going though I saw that I had a great pace and so I just rode as hard as I could to get past everyone because I knew then that I could come back to Casey. When I finally got there I was quite tired, as were my tyres, plus he was riding very well and it was hard to overtake him, but my M1 worked brilliantly today and in the last few laps I was able to go past and win. I have to say a big thank you to Michelin and to my team, because today our package was brilliant and I was able to ride at the maximum. I’m so happy to win here in Assen, it’s a special place for me and this is a great emotion! It was nice to have a special livery here as well, in the past I haven’t been so lucky with new liveries but hopefully today has turned that around! Congratulations to Yamaha for 150 wins, I am glad that we could celebrate like this!” Colin Edwards Position: 6th Time: +15.139 “My start wasn’t too bad but I got tangled up in a bit of a jumble through the first couple of laps and Pedrosa passed me. Once I got myself sorted I set off with Melandri and Vermeulen in my sights and I thought I’d be able to get past them relatively easily because my pace was pretty good, but I couldn’t quite get close enough for a few laps. Eventually I got through them both and really got my head down; I was lapping faster than I have been all weekend and actually at one stage I thought the podium was a possibility. I was pushing pretty hard to be honest and I had a couple of close moments but I didn’t want to settle for sixth. Things were going okay until there was a stage of the race when things started to feel not quite 100% and I had to slack off a little. Towards the end I started to catch Hopkins again and started to get back to a good pace but unfortunately by then he’d pulled a couple of seconds from me and I just ran out of time. Congratulations to Valentino, he rode an incredible race today.” Fiat Yamaha Team Davide Brivio Team Director “This was a fantastic race with which to celebrate Yamaha’s 150th win and we couldn’t have dreamed of a better race than this after yesterday’s qualifying. Valentino was incredible once again and he rode a truly amazing race. The package we had today, with the bike and the tyres working so well, gave Valentino the chance to ride at the maximum so we have to say a big thank you to Michelin, Yamaha and the whole team. It was a great emotion for everyone to watch Valentino ride like this today. Colin also did a good race and he had a fast pace throughout, although unfortunately he wasn’t able to close the gap to the front. He was doing similar times to the leaders though so this is encouraging for the next races. It’s going to be a hard fight for the rest of year but we have a lot of motivation. It’s been a fun story with Fiat this weekend as well with our special livery and it’s definitely a great start to the story of the new Fiat 500!” Results 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 42’37.149 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team + 1.909 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team + 6.077 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team + 10.465 5. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 13.138 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 15.139 7. Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d’Antin + 36.075 8. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d’Antin + 41.768 9. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki + 43.605 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini + 43.796 11. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR + 43.826 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda + 47.896 13. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 + 54.068 14. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 + 57.718 15. Kurtis Roberts (USA) Team Roberts + 1’28.637 16. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1’34.808 NOT CLASSIFIED Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 9 Lap Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team 15 Lap Championship Point Standings 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 185 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 164 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 119 4. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 94 5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 88 6. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini 87 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Fiat Yamaha Team 75 8. Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d’Antin 69 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 62 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 57 11. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d’Antin 53 12. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini 49 13. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team 40 14. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda 25 15. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 20 16. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR 20 17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 18 18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki 12 19. Fonsi Nieto (SPA) Kawasaki Racing Team 5 20. Kenny Roberts Jr (USA) Team Roberts 4 21. Kurtis Roberts (USA) Team Roberts 4 22. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team 4 More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing: DIFFICULT WEEKEND FOR TEAM HONDA GRESINI MELANDRI TAKES TOP TEN FINISH AT ASSEN AS TONI ELIAS HEADS TO SPAIN BY AIR AMBULANCE After a good qualifying practice in wet conditions, which had allowed Marco Melandri to start the Dutch TT from the second row of the grid, the Gresini Honda was unable to repeat his result in the race as problems that had bothered him all weekend returned in the dry conditions. Marco made a good start and was in fourth place in the early stages of the race but quickly began to lose positions before ending up tenth. Nevertheless the Team Gresini Honda rider remains sixth in the championship on 87 points, just one behind Chris Vermeulen in fifth. Toni Elias returned home to Barcelona late this morning on a private jet, escorted by two of Doctor Xavier Mir’s medical staff. The Spaniard headed straight to the famed Dexeus Institute to be assessed before continuing with his recovery at home. MARCO MELANDRI (10th in the race, 6th in the championship on 87 points): “I got a good start but the problems we had in practice on dry conditions returned and I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I had so much chattering and it was really hard for me. I gave it my best shot but the end result is disappointing.” FAUSTO GRESINI, Team Manager: “It’s been a really difficult weekend for us – firstly because of the injury to Toni, who I would like to personally wish a speedy recovery. He received good treatment to the injury here in Holland and went back to Spain this morning. It was tough for Marco, who rode really well in the wet but struggled in the dry during practice and warm-up. The result reflects the problems we had throughout practice.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: Dutch TT at Assen Saturday June 30, 2007 Weather: Overcast with sunny. Temperature: Air 21 degrees C, ground 22 C. Crowd: 91,429. HAYDEN BACK ON FORM WITH THIRD IN EPIC DUTCH TT This was one of the great races for so many reasons. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) won from Casey Stoner (Ducati) with a resurgent Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V), the reigning World Champion, on the podium and in the thick of the action. And what action there was. Stoner sped away from the line and established a 1.25 second lead within the first four turns over Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins (both Suzuki) with Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) holding fourth place early on. Nicky was positively raring to get on terms with Stoner and was fifth at the close of the first lap. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) was on the pace in sixth and as Nicky stole fifth from Melandri Dani moved up a place too and the Repsol duo set about the Suzuki pairing as Stoner enjoyed the early luxury of a comfortable lead. Rossi lay ninth at the end of lap two of this 26-lap race. By lap three Nicky had snatched third place and Dani was right up there in fourth. Hayden had a two second gap to close on Hopkins in second and the way he set about his task was ebullient in the extreme. There was a dynamism about his riding that showed precisely why he lifted the World Crown last season. It looked as if Stoner might stroll to the win in these early laps, but Rossi was on the prowl and by lap six the Italian had relieved Dani of fourth place and was hungry for further scalps. By lap eight he was third and as Stoner left Hopkins in his wake Nicky piled on the power to stay with the front-runners. As lap ten passed Stoner was 1.1 seconds ahead of Hopkins with Rossi turning in a fastest lap of 1m 37.6s as Stoner could only manage a best of 1m 38s. Rossi then moved up to second as Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Vermeulen tangled, the Kawasaki rider hitting the tarmac as Vermeulen visited the gravel trap and then rejoined the fray. There was no doubting the sheer intensity of this race under a cloudy but sporadically sunlit sky. Rossi was repeatedly a full second quicker than Stoner as he closed on the Australian Ducati man, and Nicky was refusing to lose ground on the leaders as he put pressure on Hopkins for third place. By lap 16 Rossi was on Stoner’s rear wheel and the lead duo were 2.6 second ahead of Hayden who was now third. Nicky shaved this gap down to two seconds with five laps to go, but he was never going to get on terms with the front pair as they fought tooth and nail for superiority. Rossi dived inside Stoner at the final chicane with three laps to run. The series points leader then recognized that the former World Champion had too much pace to make a challenge for the win worthwhile. Rossi won by 1.909 seconds from Stoner with Nicky 6.077 seconds off Rossi as he crossed the line to signal a welcome return to the podium. Nicky said: “It’s really nice to get a good result and just have fun be up there at the front battling with the boys. My pace was pretty good but when Valentino came through he just split and I couldn’t get my pace down to do those few quick laps to stay with him. I thought for a while I might be on for something a bit special and maybe an even better result, but we’ll definitely take this one and try to build on it a big thanks to my team and all my guys at Repsol Honda who’ve worked really hard for me.” Dani, who finished fourth, said: “After qualifying in ninth position in the rain yesterday fourth in the race is not too bad, although I have to admit I was actually hoping for better today. My speed was quite good and I was able to improve on my pace from practice, which was encouraging. It’s a shame that in the last six or seven laps I began to struggle with traction again and I just couldn’t keep the gap to Nicky. We’ll have to keep working on this because it’s an issue we’ve had in a few races this year, which means we haven’t always achieved the results that looked possible.” Marco Melandri was tenth. The Italian said: “I got a good start but the problems we had in practice on dry conditions returned and I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I had so much chattering and it was really hard for me. I gave it my best shot but the end result is disappointing.” Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) finished 11th and said: “It was great to be fighting for a place in the top ten and I had a great battle with Hofmann, West and Melandri. In the beginning it took some time for my rear tyre to come up to temperature but then I was able to race with the others. I had some fun with Marco passing him once, but I just lacked full confidence on the brakes to push any harder, it was difficult to find a gap on the brakes. But I’m happy for the team that we were able to score some points today.” Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) came home in 12th place. The Japanese rider said: “We had a difficult start to the race as I couldn’t get a good rhythm, maybe because I chose a harder tyre than usual. But this meant that towards the end of the race I had a good pace I could catch the group in front of me. The result is still a little disappointing, as I could see the group ahead, and we’re still missing some corner speed and confidence in the front-end, but it has been the same the whole weekend. It was good to see Honda improve at the front and this must be good news for us in the long run and in the second half of the World Championship.” Kurtis Roberts (Roberts KR212V) was 15th and said: “We’d made a lot of changes for the race that we hadn’t tested, and I wasn’t happy with the bike until about lap 19. I figured I’d stay out and see what came to us. Luckily a crash handed us a point today when two riders came down. It’s not like we’re in the World Championship hunt, but it’s better to get points for the team than not, and we’ve got to keep chipping away at it. The problem is only four hours to test at the race, and it keeps raining. I’m looking forward to Laguna, because at least I know the track there.” Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) did not ride after breaking a leg in a practice crash. Casey Stoner now has 185 points to Rossi’s 164 after nine rounds of this 18-race series. Dani Pedrosa is third overall ahead of John Hopkins with Chris Vermeulen fifth and Marco Melandri sixth. Jorge Lorenzo strolled to an easy win in the 250cc category after overhauling the lap one leader Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW). Alex de Angelis finished second and Alvaro Bautista was third (all Aprilia). Dovi, however, managed to stay in touch with series points leader Lorenzo with a typically dogged fourth place finish. Dovizioso now trails Lorenzo by 23 points having recorded two wins to the Spanish man’s six victories. But Dovi is nothing if not consistent and his endeavours against the rapid Aprilia riders are surely to bear fruit as the second half of the season unfolds. Dovi said: “From day one here I have problems with a lack of rear end grip. In the race it was possible to stay with Lorenzo for five six laps but only by taking many risks. But when Lorenzo goes away I know I cannot finish second because the other two fast Aprilia’s will go past me and that’s what happened. But we go to Sachsenring now and that will suit our engine better than at this track.” His team-mate Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RS250RW) was tenth and said: “The important thing here was to finish the race with some points. This morning in warm-up we have found a setting that was appropriate for this track. Now we go to Brno for two days of testing before we go to the Sachsenring.” Mattia Pasini won the 125cc race clear ahead of a fierce fight for second place that eventually went to Hector Faubel from Gabor Talmacsi (all Aprilia). Pasini led from the lights and managed his lead in the fashion of a man who has been so long denied the spoils his pace deserves. Pasini enjoyed a six second lead over Faubel at the flag and there was more than a little contention over the podium places between Faubel and Talmacsi before the duo broached the line. Faubel now leads the World Championship points table from Talmacsi by eight points at the mid-point of the season. Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) did not ride today having broken bones in his hand and foot in a crash during qualifying yesterday. His team-mate Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda RS125R) finished 13th while Mike di Meglio (Scot Honda RS125R) failed to finish. Rabat said: “It’s been a hard weekend for us we had a few problems on Thursday and Friday. I got a good start from 13th on the grid made up a couple of places. I was in a group fighting for 11th place but I couldn’t get away, I just didn’t have the acceleration. Finishing 13th is not the result I wanted.” Faubel now leads the World Championship by 138 points to Talmacsi’s 131. Bradley Smith lies ninth on 63 points. Honda GP rider quotes Assen June 29, 2007.. MotoGP. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda:3rd. “It’s really nice to get a good result and just have fun – be up there at the front battling with the boys. On the warm-up lap I was thinking this is by far the best my bike has felt all year in any conditions and, even though I’d qualified in 13th, on the line I just remember thinking, “fight like a dog today boy!” Then I just put it in gear and got a really good start. In fact I got such a good start that when I got to the haipin I almost relaxed and took a breath and Edwards came back past me. I needed that start the only choice I had was to look for a hole and do something. My pace was pretty good but when Valentino came through he just split and I couldn’t get my pace down to do those few quick laps to stay with him. I thought for a while I might be on for something a bit special and maybe an even better result, but we’ll definitely take this one and try to build on it. A big thanks to my team and all my guys at Repsol Honda who’ve worked really hard for me. It would have been really easy to start giving up on me and pointing the finger but they stayed and worked really hard at the tests especially the two days after Barcelona – so thanks to them. We’ve just found a little bit of an improvement with the machine – just those three or four tenths that make the difference between being at the back and the front. It’s not like we found two seconds a lap, but just enough so that I can push and have fun. There’s still some work to do and a lot of racing to go but we’ll just try and enjoy this one.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th.”After qualifying in ninth position in the rain yesterday fourth in the race is not too bad, although I have to admit I was actually hoping for better today. I got a good start and was able to get behind Nicky and in the first few laps I was very comfortable. When Nicky made a few overtakes I was able to follow him through and we worked our way up the order. My speed was quite good and I was able to improve on my pace from practice which was encouraging. It’s a shame that in the last six or seven laps I began to struggle with traction again and I just couldn’t keep the gap to Nicky. We’ll have to keep working on this because it’s an issue we’ve had in a few races this year which means we haven’t always achieved the results that looked possible. The bike is getting better but we still have some problems in the latter stages of the races so we’ll have to continue to make a big effort for the next races.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: 10th.”I got a good start but the problems we had in practice on dry conditions returned and I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I had so much chattering and it was really hard for me. I gave it my best shot but the end result is disappointing.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 11th. “It was great to be fighting for a place in the top ten and I had a great battle with Hofmann, West and Melandri. In the beginning it took some time for my rear tyre to come up to temperature but then I was able to race with the others. I had some fun with Marco passing him once, but I just lacked full confidence on the brakes to push any harder, it was difficult to find a gap on the brakes. But I’m happy for the team that we were able to score some points today.” Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 12th. “We had a difficult start to the race as I couldn’t get a good rhythm, maybe because I chose a harder tyre than usual. But this meant that towards the end of the race I had a good pace I could catch the group in front of me. The result is still a little disappointing, as I could see the group ahead, and we’re still missing some corner speed and confidence in the front-end, but it has been the same the whole weekend. It was good to see Honda improve at the front and this must be good news for us in the long run and in the second half of the championship.” Kurtis Roberts, KR212V: 15th. “It was a frustrating race from the get-go. We’ve been frustrated all weekend. The bike seemed to work fairly well on the banked corners, but on the long double-apex flat corners that close in on them selves, it was miserable. That’s where we really struggled. There are four corners on this racetrack where we’d lose a second in each of them, it seemed like, because we couldn’t drive off, and it’s no secret we’re down on acceleration anyway, so it compounds the problem. In my worst corner, I got pushed wide and I think three people passed me, and then they were gone. That killed us. We’d made a lot of changes for the race that we hadn’t tested, and I wasn’t happy with the bike until about lap 19. I figured I’d stay out and see what came to us. Luckily a crash handed us a point today when two riders came down. It’s not like we’re in the championship hunt, but it’s better to get points for the team than not, and we’ve got to keep chipping away at it. The problem is only four hours to test at the race, and it keeps raining. I’m looking forward to Laguna, because at least I know the track there.” Kenny Roberts Snr Team Principal. “We tried a completely different setting for the race, taking a chance, because we haven’t really performed good all weekend. Amazingly enough it did the same stuff. He went as fast at the end of the race, with good times, but when it’s new and when the tyres are new we can’t get it to turn. We made a drastic change, and it didn’t make any difference so we have a problem somewhere that we are having difficulties isolating. We’re working hard on the new chassis. I don’t know if it will be there for Laguna, but that’s our target.” Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: dns crash in practice and broke his left femur. 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda: 4th. “From day one here I have problems with a lack of rear end grip. In the race it was possible to stay with Lorenzo for five six laps but only by taking many risks. But when Lorenzo goes away I know I cannot finish second because the other two Aprilia’s will go past me, and that’s what happened. But we go to Sachsenring now and that will suit our engine better than at this track.” Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda: 10th. “I am not completely satisfied with 10th place but it’s important to finish in the points after the problems we had on Thursday and Friday. This morning in the warm up we tried a different machine set up and it turned out to be appropriate for the track. Now we go to Brno for two days of testing before we go to the Sachsenring.” Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 13th. “I had a normal start but I wasn’t able to get a good pace at the beginning of the race. During the first two or three laps I was rather slow and started to improve bit by bit. There was something wrong with the engine, because it was much slower than usual. Moreover, there was a lot of wind out there and I think that it also had an influence on its performance. Halfway the race I saw that the temperature was not normal, but much higher than it should so I had to slow down. I’m not happy with this result, but we’re going to test next week in Brno and I hope to be able to improve the setting of my bike for Germany there.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: 14th. “I had a terrible start, but I remained focussed on maintaining a good pace to regain positions as soon as possible. In the last third of the race, I was closing on the top 15 and I could claim 14th and score a couple of points, I’m quite happy with this result despite the circumstances. The bike felt good and I was able to push hard in the early stages of the race.” Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: 21st. “After eight laps I knew I had made the wrong tyre choice at the rear, the bike was sliding around a lot. I learnt a big lesson, I should have raced with a harder compound like the other Honda riders, but I was told after the warm-up the softer tyre would be OK.” Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: dnf technical problem. “It’s a shame. The truth is that I had the pace to stay in the group I was, fighting for the fifth or the tenth position. It was a good race, but it finished in an instant. It was a mechanical failure and these things happen. Some times it can be a crash I cause and some other time it’s the bike that fails. Such are races and the most important thing now is to cheer up. The team supports me and that makes me feel very proud. We’ll give it all in Germany to be in the front.” 125cc. Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda: 13th. “It’s been a hard weekend for us we had a few problems on Thursday and Friday. I got a good start from 13th on the grid made up a couple of places. I was in a group fighting for 11th place but I couldn’t get away, I just didn’t have the acceleration. Finishing 13th is not the result that I wanted in the race, I enjoyed it and that’s important. There’s nothing more I could do, but I want to thank my team because they helped me a lot.” Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda: 16th. “I had a good start but got stuck in the traffic in the slow part of the racetrack. It’s a pity because I was unable to stay with a good pack of riders because of that. The bike was working well and I was able to measure all the work achieved with the team. I was confident and could feel the front perfectly, which allowed me to perform well entering the corners. I wasn’t 100% confident with the rear but was nevertheless able to slide the bike and stay on the safe side. Indeed my lap time on lap three was faster than in practice. Throughout the race I fought with a pack of five or six riders. I took the lead on several occasions and was in front in the last lap but Lorenzo Zanetti pushed me on the inside and the only solution was to go wide and let him through. It’s the second time this season that I¹m so close to scoring points and it’s really frustrating! Next week-end we are going to Albi for a French championship event and we still have a lot of work before the next Grand Prix, on July 14 and 15 in Germany.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 26th. “I didn’t get my usual good start and was in 22nd place at the end of the first lap. I was trying too hard and could not get into a good rhythm, making small mistakes and riding inconsistently. One lap at 1m 49.1s then 1m 48.0s. Every time the team showed me the pit board I thought, ‘this is not my day.’ In every practice and qualifying session I felt very relaxed but today I felt the pressure of this being my home race I just didn’t expect that. I blame myself because the bike was working really well today.” Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Scot Honda: dnf cash. “The lap before I crashed I touched another rider going into the left hand corner behind the paddock when I tried to pass him. I crashed at the same corner a lap later in a strange way. Going into the corner I braked a little earlier than necessary to avoid making the same mistake again but the rear end stepped out then slid away and high sided me from the bike.” Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda: dnf crash. “I was catching Joey (Litjens) in the group ahead of me when I crashed. I closed on Bonsey at a left hand corner but he braked earlier than I expected and I hit his back wheel and crashed. Pity because the bike was very good today and I was faster in the race than qualifying.” Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: dns Bradley Smith did not race due to injuries to his left hand and left foot sustained in Thursday’s practice session. Results MotoGP Race Classification MotoGP : (26 laps = 118.43 km) Pos/ Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time/ KM/H / Gap 1 / Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Fiat Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 42’37.149 / 166.727 / 2 / Casey STONER / AUS / Ducati Marlboro Team / DUCATI / 42’39.058 / 166.603 / 1.909 3 / Nicky HAYDEN / USA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 42’43.226 / 166.332 / 6.077 4 / Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 42’47.614 / 166.048 / 10.465 5 / John HOPKINS / USA / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / SUZUKI / 42’50.287 / 165.875 / 13.138 6 / Colin EDWARDS / USA / Fiat Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 42’52.288 / 165.746 / 15.139 7 / Alex BARROS / BRA / Pramac d’Antin / DUCATI / 43’13.224 / 164.408 / 36.075 8 / Alex HOFMANN / GER / Pramac d’Antin / DUCATI / 43’18.917 / 164.048 / 41.768 9 / Anthony WEST / AUS / Kawasaki Racing Team / KAWASAKI / 43’20.754 / 163.932 / 43.605 10 / Marco MELANDRI / ITA / Honda Gresini / HONDA / 43’20.945 / 163.92 / 43.796 11 / Carlos CHECA / SPA / Honda LCR / HONDA / 43’20.975 / 163.918 / 43.826 12 / Shinya NAKANO / JPN / Konica Minolta Honda / HONDA / 43’25.045 / 163.662 / 47.896 13 / Makoto TAMADA / JPN / Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 / YAMAHA / 43’31.217 / 163.275 / 54.068 14 / Sylvain GUINTOLI / FRA / Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 / YAMAHA / 43’34.867 / 163.047 / 57.718 15 / Kurtis ROBERTS / USA / Team Roberts / KR212V / 44’05.786 / 161.142 / 1’28.637 Pole Position: Chris VERMEULEN 1’48.555 151.057 Km/h Fastest Lap: Valentino ROSSI 1’37.433 168.300 Km/h Lap 13 Circuit Record Lap: Nicky HAYDEN 1’37.106 168.867 Km/h 2006 Circuit Best Lap: John HOPKINS 1’36.411 170.084 Km/h 2006 MotoGP World Championship Positions: 1 STONER 185, 2 ROSSI 164, 3 PEDROSA 119, 4 HOPKINS 94, 5 VERMEULEN 88, 6 MELANDRI 87, 7 EDWARDS 75, 8 BARROS 69, 9 CAPIROSSI 57, 10 HAYDEN 57, 11 HOFMANN 53, 12 ELIAS 49, 13 DE PUNIET 40, 14 CHECA 25, 15 NAKANO 25. 250cc Race Classification 250cc: (24 laps = 109.32 km) Pos / Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time / KM/H / Gap 1 / Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Fortuna Aprilia / APRILIA / 40’25.904 / 162.229 / 2 / Alex DE ANGELIS / RSM / Master – Mapfre Aspar / APRILIA / 40’29.761 / 161.971 / 3.857 3 / Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Master – Mapfre Aspar / APRILIA / 40’34.587 / 161.65 / 8.683 4 / Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Kopron Team Scot / HONDA / 40’43.852 / 161.037 / 17.948 5 / Hiroshi AOYAMA / JPN / Red Bull KTM 250 / KTM / 40’56.704 / 160.195 / 30.8 6 / Marco SIMONCELLI / ITA / Metis Gilera / GILERA / 40’57.039 / 160.173 / 31.135 7 / Hector BARBERA / SPA / Team Toth Aprilia / APRILIA / 40’59.227 / 160.03 / 33.323 8 / Mika KALLIO / FIN / Red Bull KTM 250 / KTM / 41’06.711 / 159.545 / 40.807 9 / Roberto LOCATELLI / ITA / Metis Gilera / GILERA / 41’37.733 / 157.563 / 1’11.829 10 / Yuki TAKAHASHI / JPN / Kopron Team Scot / HONDA / 41’44.862 / 157.115 / 1’18.958 11 / Fabrizio LAI / ITA / Campetella Racing / APRILIA / 41’45.265 / 157.089 / 1’19.361 12 / Taro SEKIGUCHI / JPN / Campetella Racing / APRILIA / 41’52.714 / 156.624 / 1’26.810 13 / Shuhei AOYAMA / JPN / Repsol Honda 250cc / HONDA / 41’52.754 / 156.621 / 1’26.850 14 / Ratthapark WILAIROT / THA / Thai Honda PTT-SAG / HONDA / 41’54.621 / 156.505 / 1’28.717 15 / Karel ABRAHAM / CZE / Cardion AB Motoracing / APRILIA / 41’54.853 / 156.491 / 1’28.949 Pole Position: Jorge LORENZO 1’39.958 164.048 Km/h Fastest Lap (New record): Alex DE ANGELIS 1’40.354 163.401 Km/h Lap 13 Circuit Record Lap: Jorge LORENZO 1’40.500 163.164 Km/h 2006 Circuit Best Lap: Jorge LORENZO 1’39.958 164.048 Km/h 2007 250cc World Championship Positions: 1 LORENZO 178, 2 DOVIZIOSO 155, 3 DE ANGELIS 155, 4 BAUTISTA 116, 5 BARBERA 80, 6 SIMON 61, 7 KALLIO 58, 8 LUTHI 56, 9 AOYAMA 53, 10 AOYAMA 51, 11 SIMONCELLI 48, 12 TAKAHASHI 41, 13 LAI 38, 14 WILAIROT 26, 15 WEST 25. 125cc: Race Classification 125cc : (22 laps = 100.21 km) Pos/ Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time/ KM/H / Gap 1 / Mattia PASINI / ITA / Polaris World / APRILIA / 38’58.171 / 154.289 / 2 / Hector FAUBEL / SPA / Bancaja Aspar / APRILIA / 39’04.286 / 153.887 / 6.115 3 / Gabor TALMACSI / HUN / Bancaja Aspar / APRILIA / 39’04.317 / 153.885 / 6.146 4 / Sergio GADEA / SPA / Bancaja Aspar / APRILIA / 39’04.525 / 153.871 / 6.354 5 / Simone CORSI / ITA / Skilled Racing Team / APRILIA / 39’04.625 / 153.865 / 6.454 6 / Tomoyoshi KOYAMA / JPN / Red Bull KTM 125 / KTM / 39’04.804 / 153.853 / 6.633 7 / Lukas PESEK / CZE / Valsir Seedorf Derbi / DERBI / 39’04.814 / 153.852 / 6.643 8 / Sandro CORTESE / GER / Emmi – Caffe Latte Aprilia / APRILIA / 39’15.867 / 153.13 / 17.696 9 / Michael RANSEDER / AUT / Ajo Motorsport / DERBI / 39’16.061 / 153.118 / 17.89 10 / Stefan BRADL / GER / Blusens Aprilia / APRILIA / 39’19.951 / 152.865 / 21.78 11 / Pol ESPARGARO / SPA / Belson Campetella Aprilia / APRILIA / 39’21.038 / 152.795 / 22.867 12 / Randy KRUMMENACHE / SWI / Red Bull KTM 125 / KTM / 39’21.109 / 152.79 / 22.938 13 / Esteve RABAT / SPA / Repsol Honda 125cc / HONDA / 39’21.266 / 152.78 / 23.095 14 / Raffaele DE ROSA / ITA / Multimedia Racing / APRILIA / 39’32.418 / 152.062 / 34.247 15 / Lorenzo ZANETTI / ITA / Team Sicilia / APRILIA / 39’35.162 / 151.886 / 36.991 Pole Position: Mattia PASINI 1’45.603 155.279 Km/h Fastest Lap: Hector FAUBEL 1’45.551 155.356 Km/h Lap 4 Circuit Record Lap: Sergio GADEA 1’45.098 156.025 Km/h 2006 Circuit Best Lap: Mika KALLIO 1’44.532 156.870 Km/h 2006 125cc World Championship Positions: 1 FAUBEL 138, 2 TALMACSI 131, 3 GADEA 105, 4 PESEK 103, 5 KOYAMA 98, 6 CORSI 97, 7 PASINI 66, 8 OLIVE 63, 9 SMITH 63, 10 ESPARGARO 62, 11 CORTESE 44, 12 RANSEDER 43, 13 DE ROSA 42, 14 RABAT 33, 15 KRUMMENACHER 30. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: TOP TEN TERRITORY FOR FIGHTING WEST AT ASSEN Hard charging Anthony West showed today at Assen why he was drafted into the Kawasaki Racing Team for the remainder of the 2007 season, as he stormed to an impressive, and hard fought, top ten finish in only his second MotoGP race aboard Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR. West, who only joined the team at last week’s Donington Park race in the UK, has barely had time to get used to the 800cc Ninja ZX-RR but that didn’t stop him finishing the Dutch TT Grand Prix in a superb ninth position. The ex-250cc and World Supersport rider, with a reputation for being a wet weather maestro, surprised and delighted the team with an exemplary performance at a dry and sunny Circuit van Drenthe. He showed great determination and a tenacity rarely seen in a newcomer to the premier class. After a patchy start from an otherwise healthy seventh place on the grid, the 25-year-old Australian soon got into the swing of things, eventually finding himself in a four-way battle with Alex Hofmann, Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri. Despite the best efforts of these infinitely more experienced riders to unnerve him, West held his own, dicing with enthusiasm as the riders rode a large proportion of the race in each other’s company. Having found huge confidence in his new machinery and Bridgestone tyres, West never weakened, staying strong in the pack and earning himself more championship points to take his total to 12 after just two races. Fellow ZX-RR rider, de Puniet, also got off to a bad start but, similarly, began to make great progress as he established his rhythm. It was disappointing after his front row start, his second of the year, but he soon caught up with Chris Vermeulen, lying in seventh, making a charge towards the front runners. After some extremely strong and promising early laps, he went to pass the young Australian but they collided and both ended up in the gravel. De Puniet, unable to restart, returned to the pits, out of the race. It was a massive disappointment to the Frenchman, who’s been putting in some great rides lately, especially at Catalunya and Donington, where he managed a fifth and a sixth, respectively. It also continues his bad luck at Assen, after last year’s nightmare when a mechanical problem meant he had to start from pit lane. It’s two weeks until the next MotoGP race, at Germany’s Sachsenring on 15th July, giving both Kawasaki men plenty of time to reflect on the highs and lows of what transpired to be a thrilling race for the 91,429 fans who gathered to watch it. Anthony West Race Position: 9th – Championship Position: 18th “I was nervous on the line and, as soon as I released the clutch, I knew my start wasn’t a good one. A lot of people went past and I couldn’t quite get it together for the first few laps, but then I found a good rhythm. Hofmann, Checa and Melandri and I formed a bit of a group and we fought for the rest of the race. We were changing positions a lot, holding each other up, everyone trying everything: it was a bit wild at times. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I’m really glad I could stay with those guys for the rest of the race and that I didn’t drop out of the group. I’m really happy: one of my goals was to be in the top ten this year but I didn’t expect it to be at this race!” Randy de Puniet Race Position: DNF – Championship Position: 13th “I’m disappointed because I got a bad start, losing eight places between the line and the first corner, and I don’t know why. I really need to work on it. After that, I passed some riders and got to eighth position, behind Vermeulen. I tried to pass him but the front of my bike hit him and we came off. I’m really sorry for Chris, and disappointed for the team, because it had otherwise been a really good weekend.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “Basically, it was a very good weekend. Randy’s been confident in both the wet and the dry the whole time and his starting position was excellent. Anthony also did a great job on Thursday and Friday. Neither of them got off to a good start and then Randy had bad luck with his crash but, from the other side, Anthony rode a fantastic race. It’s not often someone impresses me but I must say that today, he did. He’s only had a matter of hours on our bike in the dry but he’s a fighter: battling with Checa, Hofmann and Melandri. I’m really happy. On the last lap, I still didn’t believe he could finish in that position but he did. It was a fantastic job.”
