MotoGP Qualifying Results From Assen: 1. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:58.936 2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:59.247 3. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:59.632 4. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:59.760 5. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:59.784 6. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 2:00.006 7. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 2:00.136 8. Alex BARROS, Honda, 2:00.232 9. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 2:00.281 10. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 2:00.298 11. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 2:00.656 12. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 2:00.810 13. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 2:00.883 14. Troy BAYLISS, Honda, 2:01.216 15. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 2:01.836 16. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 2:01.854 17. David CHECA, Yamaha, 2:02.639 18. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 2:02.704 19. Shane BYRNE, Proton KR, 2:03.442 20. James ELLISON, Blata, 2:03.488 21. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, 2:06.527 More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: ROSSI TAKES FOURTH POLE OF THE SEASON AT ASSEN Gauloises Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi will start the seventh round of the MotoGP World Championship from the front of the grid as he chases his sixth victory of the season at the 75th anniversary Dutch TT tomorrow. Rossi took pole position with his final lap of this afternoon’s qualifying session, clocking a time of 1’58.936 to hold off the challenge of Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri (both Honda), who complete the front row. Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards kept his promise to set a vastly improved lap time as he worked out his braking markers at the remodelled version of a circuit he knows well from his days in the World Superbike series. Cheered on by a vast army of travelling British fans, Edwards will start from the second row of the grid after taking 1.5 seconds off his best time from yesterday to take sixth place on the grid. High temperatures and blazing sunshine continued today, with the thermometers reaching 36ºC during the afternoon session. However, the local weather forecast is predicting that the early summer heat wave will end abruptly tomorrow morning, with thunderstorms expected to continue all day. VALENTINO ROSSI (Pole Position, 1’58.936, 23 laps) “I am very happy because it is great to ride at this track on a qualifying tyre – the emotion is incredible. The bikes are so fast and this track also, even with the modifications it is still one of the best in the world. I was lucky because I was able to use both of my qualifying tyres at 100%. With the first one I set a 1’59.4, which was a great lap, but I looked at it and thought maybe I could go a little faster. I had to wait a while because there were a lot of riders waiting for me on the last lap and I left it until the last moment, because it’s better to have no one in front of you here when you are trying to set a fast lap. The last lap of 1’58 was fantastic. I’m happy to start from pole position because tomorrow for sure will be a hard race. We’ll wait to see what the weather does but if the temperatures are like today it will be very tough for the riders and the tyres.” COLIN EDWARDS (6th, 2’00.006, 22 laps) “I knew yesterday that we had some good ideas to help us improve our time today and I think it’s fair to say we’ve taken a giant leap forward with the set-up of the bike. This morning we fixed the rear traction problems I’ve been having and we’re starting to understand the differences between Valentino’s riding style and mine. Whilst it seems Valentino can ride pretty much anything, my style is ingrained in me and I need a little help to load up the rear, which is what we have done here. It is helping me get the power to the ground and today I set six or seven laps in the low 2’00s, which is a decent race pace. I still feel that it can come down a little further, and it will need to for tomorrow’s race. I’ve really noticed the support from the British fans here, which has been great. Hopefully it will stay dry for them tomorrow although if it rains I’ll be quite happy because I’m interested to see how this set-up works in the wet.” DAVIDE BRIVIO TEAM DIRECTOR “It is always a great emotion to watch Valentino ride in that way his two fast laps were fantastic. Both our riders set a fast pace throughout the session and Colin was able to get a good position for the race, which I am very pleased about. I think the whole team can look forward very positively to tomorrow. The rain might be an issue but I’m sure our technicians will manage”¦ and the riders too!” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MARLBORO MEN 7th AND 13th AT ASSEN Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa had a tough second day at Assen, placing seventh and 13th fastest in this afternoon’s qualifying session at the sun-drenched Dutch track. The pair will therefore start tomorrow’s 75th Dutch TT from the third and fifth rows of the grid. “Definitely a difficult day,” said Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. “We are working very hard with Bridgestone to find the best compromise between performance and endurance, but we don’t seem to have it here. This year they have produced a new generation of tyres with improved construction, but they are still working to find the ideal combination of construction and compound at some tracks. At Mugello earlier this month the tyres worked really well but here we don’t have such a good rear. The front is fine, but we are struggling with the rear. Nevertheless, we are very confident in Bridgestone’s potential and we know they are working very hard to keep improving.” CAPIROSSI: FASTEST YESTERDAY, 7th TODAY Loris Capirossi topped yesterday’s practice sessions but was unable to reproduce that performance today. He ended up seventh, just 1.2 seconds off pole around MotoGP’s longest racetrack. “I’m a good rider, I want to win, and I know what I can do when everything is working well,” said the Italian Ducati Marlboro Team man. “Here it seems we’re not able to run up front. We are in a better situation than we were in at Barcelona, but not much better. It seems like the high-speed changes of direction affect the rear tyre, which then starts to move around. Also, I’m lacking traction into the corners, so I wouldn’t be unhappy if it rains tomorrow! “On another matter, yesterday we had a riders’ meeting to discuss the new chicane and we told the organisers that we want it modified, so that a rider who runs off through the right-hander won’t collide with other riders when he regains the track through the left-hander.” CHECA QUALIFIES 13th QUICKEST Carlos Checa was just seven tenths off ‘pole position’ yesterday but had an tougher time as the pace increased today, ending qualifying 13th. “We are struggling with race tyres and I didn’t make the best of my qualifying tyres either,” said the Spanish Ducati Marlboro Team rider. “I was almost a second faster with my qualifier but that’s not enough around here. I did do 14 or 15 laps with the same rear today but the performance wasn’t so great. So, that’s why I think a little rain wouldn’t be so bad.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: SUPER SHINYA IN SUPERB FORM AT SUNNY ASSEN After a blistering performance during this afternoon’s final timed session at Assen, Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow’s Dutch TT from fourth place on the grid; his best qualifying position of the season so far. Nakano was joined in the top ten today by young German teammate, Alex Hofmann, who will start from tenth position, equalling his best qualifying result of the season. With tropical track temperatures nudging 50 degrees, Nakano was one of just five riders to break the two minute barrier in qualifying on the high-speed, 5.9 km Circuit van Drenthe. The one-hour session on the recently modified circuit was managed perfectly by Nakano’s pit crew, led by the experienced Fiorenzo Fanali. Nakano used the first of his three allocated soft qualifying tyres early in the session to grab provisional pole, which held for almost 30 minutes. He then dropped down the order as he concentrated on vital race tyre evaluation for Bridgestone. Nakano was then serviced by two precision pit stops in the final minutes, for two further runs on qualifying tyres. He improved his time by 0.6s on his final lap, to leapfrog from ninth to fourth, and finished the session as the top Bridgestone qualifier. Hofmann was also in excellent form and was regularly in the top ten, but missed his chance to go faster as the session closed in a busy period of fast laps. Most importantly, today’s practice and qualifying sessions produced improved performance from a new compound and construction Bridgestone tyre, which was supplied to Kawasaki for the first time today. Combined with improved chassis balance, the latest tyres showed consistent speed and endurance, which has given the Kawasaki team an optimistic outlook for tomorrow’s 19 lap race. Shinya Nakano: #56 – Fourth – 1’59.760 “From the beginning of the session I had a very good feeling, especially from the new Bridgestone tyre. My team did an excellent job of managing our test programme and my pit stops, and this gave me a chance to go fast. I had very good balance from the ZX-RR today and was able to hold high corner speeds, but it wasn’t an easy day in these very humid conditions. Our race package looks okay for tomorrow and I’m looking forward to starting so far up the grid for the first time this season.” Alex Hofmann: #66 – Tenth – 2’00.298 “I’m a little bit angry with myself; I’m tenth while Shinya is fourth and I would like to be closer to him. But overall I had some good pace today from our race tyres and just concentrated on race rhythm. On the last lap there was a lot of gambling going on by all the riders for a fast time. There has been a lot of tyre work here, but just as in Barcelona we will see how it ends up in the race, but it looks positive after today.” Ichiro Yoda: Technical Director “We had much better spring balance and set-up for this track today, and the Bridgestone qualifying tyres worked very well in these conditions. The new compound and construction race tyre that Bridgestone supplied appears to be very consistent for pace and endurance, so I’m expecting a strong result tomorrow. Bridgestone did an excellent job today.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “Two riders in the top ten on a fast circuit like Assen is another impressive performance from the ZX-RR and Bridgestone. Now I just hope the weather doesn’t change too much and play an influential role in the race. Our package looks strong and both Shinya and Alex are in top form. There is definitely more to come.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Rossi to start 75th Gauloises TT Assen from pole Valentino Rossi will start from pole position for the fourth time this season as he searches for his six win from seven rounds in tomorrow’s 75th anniversary Gauloises TT Assen. The MotoGP World Champion, who leads current the series by 58 points over Marco Melandri, was in stunning form at the end of an incident packed qualifying practice held in scorching temperatures touching 36ºC. Sete Gibernau, Marco Melandri, Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi all posted fast laps with around six minutes remaining before a moment of bizarre calm before the final storm as several riders, including Rossi, coasted around waiting for clear track before launching their final pole attacks. Rossi timed his run to perfection, clocking a lap of 1’58.936 to scupper an effort from Gibernau, the only rival who managed to seriously threaten the Italian’s dominance. “I was lucky because I was able to use my qualifying tyres to 100%,” reflected Rossi after the session. “With the first one I set a 1’59.4, which was a great lap, but I looked at it and thought maybe I could go a little faster. I had to wait a while because there were a lot of riders waiting for me on the last lap but I left it until the last moment and set another very good lap in 1’58. I’m happy to be on pole position because tomorrow for sure will be a hard race. We’ll wait to see what the weather does but if the temperatures are like today it will be very tough for the riders and the tyres.” The heat continued to rise after the practice had finished, with Melandri coming together with Honda colleague Max Biaggi in an ugly clash on the final lap, when he accused his fellow Italian of deliberately blocking his passage. Despite being unable to improve his fastest lap up to that point, Melandri’s previous best was enough for the final slot on the front row alongside Rossi and Gibernau. Shinya Nakano’s surprise surge to the top of the time sheets after just seven laps of the session was followed by another quick time on the final lap which was enough for his best grid position on the Kawasaki in fourth place. The Japanese rider relegated Hayden to fifth after the American’s pole effort faded in the final two sections, with Edwards completing the second row in sixth place. Loris Capirossi was unable to defend his place at the top of the time sheets after setting the pace in yesterday’s free practice, eventually dropping to seventh place. The Italian is joined on the third row of the grid by Alex Barros and Max Biaggi, who also collided with Franco Battaini earlier in the session after running straight at one of the recently modified corners. Whilst Biaggi managed to stay on board his Honda, Battaini crashed spectacularly from his WCM although he escaped uninjured. In the 250cc class Jorge Lorenzo produced a determined performance to take his second quarter-litre pole position just twelve days after breaking his collarbone in two places at Catalunya. The Honda teenager clocked a lap of 2’04.562 to hold off the challenge of last year’s winner Sebastián Porto despite riding with a titanium plate and six screws in the cracked bone. Dani Pedrosa produced a strong last lap to force Casey Stoner to the outside of the front row in fourth place as he prepares to defend a 27-point lead over the Australian in the championship. Mika Kallio took pole position just 0.060 seconds ahead of his KTM team-mate Gabor Talmacsi after giving the Hungarian a handy tow on the very last lap of 125cc qualifying. Series leader Mattia Pasini also launched a pole attack on the final lap but fell 0.445 seconds short of Kallio’s benchmark of 2’11.855 and will start from third on the grid, with Marco Simoncelli completing the front row. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team SUZUKI MotoGP finds the going tough at Assen Team SUZUKI MotoGP racers John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr qualified in 12th and 15th place respectively for tomorrow’s Gauloises Assen TT at the sun-baked Dutch circuit today. As air temperatures again rose to tropical highs of 36 degrees centigrade both riders and machines were tested to extreme limits of performance. Hopkins (P12, 2’00.810) was again thwarted during his quickest laps by firstly a slower rider and then – in his own words – by the biggest front end slide he’d ever had. He said: “I thought I was on for a good lap and then I got blocked by another rider and lost the momentum. But then the front end slide was just crazy. I think I’ll go out on a scooter later on just to see the tyre mark, because it was certainly the longest slide I’ve ever experienced without crashing!” “It was really hard today and if the weather stays the same and we finish in the same place as qualifying – or better – I’ll be ecstatic, because we don’t seem to have the bike and tyre package here to run at the front. I’ll do my best though, you can be sure of that.” Pole position was set by World Champion and current series leader Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha. Roberts Jr (P15, 2’01.836) spent both this morning’s practice session and this afternoon’s qualifying trying to find the right set-up for his Suzuki GSV-R and although he has improved his time by nearly two and a half seconds over the weekend he is still not where he wants to be. Roberts Jr said: “We’ve worked hard on the GSV-R all weekend and even though we’ve improved the bike via chassis and engine adjustments, for me it is still along way from where it needs to be. “I’ve improved my lap time a lot but it’s realistically nowhere near a competitive race pace. For me tomorrow, maybe a change of weather – which might be on the cards – will give me a change of fortune.” Team Manager Paul Denning was realistic about the Team’s performance. He said: “Big effort but no cigar. John maybe had a bit of bad luck with timing his runs. He got baulked and then had a huge slide on one of his other fast laps. Kenny has improved his lap time dramatically over the weekend but his position has stayed largely the same. “The overall potential of the GSV-R and Bridgestone tyre combination is not what we hoped for at Assen this weekend. If the weather cools off or changes significantly it may possibly help us, but we would have preferred to have been closer to the mark today. All we can do is keep trying!” Team SUZUKI MotoGP will be competing in the seventh round of the MotoGP World Championship from Assen tomorrow at 14.00hrs CET. More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: CAMEL HONDA DUO PREPARED FOR A RACE ON THE ATTACK Brazilian Camel Honda rider Alex Barros will tomorrow start from the third row of the grid in what promises to be a hard battle. Eighth fastest for Alex doesn’t really reflect the potential he showed in the free sessions over these first two days in Holland. Alex has constantly ridden at a high pace so far, and he is confident before tomorrow’s race. He will need a good start however and a good first lap, in order to pick up positions with a fast early pace expected. The weather needs to remain favourable however, with heavy showers forecast for tomorrow. Fourteenth position and the fifth row for Troy Bayliss whose aim has been to get a good feeling for the ‘reformed’ Assen track. Troy has already been a winner here in the past and tomorrow’s race will require a big fightback from him where he will need all his usual grit and determination. Sito Pons Camel Honda “The third row isn’t the ideal starting position, but you can still get a decent start. All the riders on the front row have a similar pace, so I think Alex has a decent chance in this race. Then there’s the unknown rain factor. The forecast isn’t a good one, and if it did rain tomorrow all the hard work we have done will effectively be in vain and the warm-up will become crucial to prepare the bike for the race. If the conditions are good however, we’ll still use the time to fine-tune the set-up. As regards Troy, his qualifying went pretty much as in Barcelona, and considering the race he had there after a bad start, if he can get away well at the start he could have a good race.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 2’00.232 8th fastest “The practices went quite well, today we got through a lot of work. The heat here in Holland is quite unusual and so the tyres are really suffering, especially the rear where we had a bit of a crisis today. Furthermore this type of track requires quite a hard spring setting with all the changes of direction right and left, and that conditions performance somewhat. We have worked hard on this issue, and now we have our ideas a little clearer as regards tyre choice for the race. The bike isn’t perfect yet, but our rhythm isn’t too bad. As for the chance of rain, we’ll see what actually happens, because it’s more probable that it rains in the morning rather than during the race.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda 2’01.216 14th fastest “The qualifier went more or less like in the last races so tomorrow we’ll have a lot of hard work on our hands. I gave everything I have, but the others were going so strongly. Obviously there’s still something missing, even though I’m riding at 100%. It’s not an easy situation, but tomorrow I will try and get a good start and battle on to the end.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha: Qualifying practice / PREPARED FOR ‘THE CATHEDRAL’ The Yamaha riders will be looking for their third victory in the last decade at Assen in the elite category. Valentino Rossi will hope to repeat his success of last year where he started from pole. If he wins, Valentino will have achieved his 15th victory on a Yamaha, and the Japanese factory’s 137th in the top class. RUBEN XAUS and DAVID CHECA , the FORTUNA YAMAHA riders, completed another satisfactory day of progress, adapting to both the bike and the category. Xaus finished seventh last year after having posted the ninth best time in qualifying. This year he will start lower down the grid, but the Spanish rider will hope for a repeat of his performance at the last Grand Prix in Montmelo where he was right on the pace of the race. Checa, for his part, was not quite as comfortable and struggled to adapt to the qualification tyres, but will hope to improve in tomorrow’s race. Ruben Xaus (11): (Free session 3: 2.02.930, 15th + 2.750 12/20 laps) (Qualifying session: 2.01.854 16th + 2.918 -16/20 laps) “Yesterday we quickly matched the quicker times, but we struggled today to get close to our rivals. It’s clear we have to make big changes because when we make small ones, the advantage we make is very small. I know which tyre I will be choosing out of the three options we have been offered, but it won’t be tomorrow until we take a final decision. For the moment I have to concentrate on my overall progression and not worry so much about doing an explosive time if I can’t be consistent. It’s better to find a good rhythm than to do one isolted fast lap, that will not help in the race.” David Checa (94): (Free session 3: 2.03.012, 16th + 2.832 15/22 laps) (Qualifying session: 2.02.639, 17th + 3.703 – 22/22 laps) “Assen is a very difficult circuit. I know that with the race tyres I will be about two second off the top riders. I was not comfortable with the qualifying tyre and also had problems with the front end but the race tomorrow is the important thing. I am worried because we have worked hard and well. This race is full of riders who are more experienced than me, but I will give my all and see what happens.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: GIBERNAU AND MELANDRI ON FRONT ROW AGAIN Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) and Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) both qualified on the front row for the fourth time this season in a display of consistent speed. Sete was second fastest, Marco third fastest with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) on pole. In searing heat with track temperature at an elevated 48 degrees, riders had to get to grips with a new track layout at the revised 5.997km circuit, now incorporating a new chicane before Stekkenwal, a challenging right-hander. And sure enough there were incidents there. Franco Battaini ran into Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) there when Max returned to the track having ran into the gravel trap in the final ten minutes of the session. Then Melandri and Biaggi touched on the cooling down lap and continued their contretemps later in the paddock, with Biaggi’s uncle Valerio physically assaulting Melandri. The heat was getting to everybody. But, as ever, all-important grid position was secured by those riders who made best use of their qualifying tyres. At the halfway stage of the hour, Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) was the fastest man on the track, but with 15 minutes to go Loris Capirossi (Ducati) displaced the Japanese man. But it was in the final ten minutes that the real action began. Gibernau scorched to the first sub-2 minute lap with seven minutes left on the clock to go pole, and became the first rider to breach the 2 minute barrier with his 1 minute 58.759s time. Then Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) moved up to the front row in second with a 2m 00.157s lap. And there was more to come. Rossi turned in a 1m 59.415s time to steal pole from Sete with six minutes to go just before Melandri made his bid for pole with a 1m 59.632 second time that was good enough for second on the grid. Gibernau then re-took pole with his best of 1m 59.247s before Rossi again snatched back the initiative with his first dip into 1m 58 second territory with a 1m 58.936s lap. He is the only rider to have gone below 1m 59 seconds here in the run-up to tomorrow’s race. Hayden eventually ended up on row two in fifth, Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V) on row three in eighth, Max next to him as ninth fastest qualifier, with Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) 11th and Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V) 14th. Sete said, “That was hot and after the scare we had with my crew chief Juan yesterday it’s okay. Thankfully he’s well again now and today the team did a very good job. It’s hard and physical here and we’ll need a good start to get up there and try to get our best result of the season.” “I’m happy with my grid position,” said Marco. “But I didn’t get the best from my qualifying tyres. Biaggi then stopped in the middle of the track to do a practice start before the session had finished so I had a word with him. Everything is OK for me now.” Nicky said, “Fifth place again. At one point we were really struggling and we were lucky to pull something out of the bag. We need to find a bit more in warm-up tomorrow and perhaps take a gamble a bit for the race.” “The heat here is unusual and the tyres are really suffering, especially the rear,” said Barros. “We’ve worked hard at solving this and now our ideas are a little clearer about tyre choice for the race. The bike isn’t perfect yet, but our rhythm isn’t too bad.” For Tamada 11th will have to do. “I could have been faster if I’d had time, but we preferred to concentrate on development of the bike. I made a couple of mistakes in some turns which lost me time, but the feeling with the tyres got better lap by lap. But I still need to be able to use the qualifying tyres better.” Troy Bayliss said, “Tomorrow we’ll have a lot of hard work on our hands. I gave everything I’ve got but the others are going strong. There’s still something missing even though I’m riding at 100%. It’s not an easy situation to be in but I’ll try and get a good start and fight on till the end.” HONDA RIDERS QUOTES: MotoGP: Sete Gibernau, Movistar Honda MotoGP, 2nd: “Things were back to normal today. Juan, my chief mechanic, had a physical problem yesterday but, thank God, the situation was stabilised and today we noticed his presence. Yesterday we were working a little bit in the dark because there was no technical leader in the box, although I’d like to thank all the boys for their calmness. I’m really looking forward to this race, I’m sure it will be a body to body fight until the end and I’ll be giving 100% all the way.” Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda MotoGP, 3rd: “I’m happy with this position although at the same time I’m a bit annoyed right now that I didn’t get the opportunity to make the most of my qualifying tyre. Firstly I came across Max Biaggi, who was going really slowly. It’s a shame because I was lapping really strongly, but it’s good to be on the front row at this track because it’s one of my favourites.” Nicky Hayden,Repsol Honda Team,5th: “Fifth place again! Seems like I’m stuck on fifth; it’s getting kinda’ old. To be honest that session wasn’t great. At one point I was down in 12th and we were really struggling and I guess we were lucky to pull something out of the bag at the end and get a second row start. At least we have a respectable place to start the race tomorrow. We just need to find something big tomorrow morning and perhaps gamble a bit for the race. We’ll have to make a good start to have a chance of running with the front guys tomorrow.” Alex Barros, Camel Honda, 8th: “The practices went quite well, today we got through a lot of work. The heat here in Holland is quite unusual and so the tyres are really suffering, especially the rear where we had a bit of a crisis today. Furthermore this type of track requires quite a hard spring setting with all the changes of direction right and left, and that conditions performance somewhat. We have worked hard on this issue, and now we have our ideas a little clearer as regards tyre choice for the race. The bike isn’t perfect yet, but our rhythm isn’t too bad. As for the chance of rain, we’ll see what actually happens, because it’s more probable that it rains in the morning rather than during the race.” Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team, 9th:”I’m pretty satisfied with todays’ testing because we found a good setting for the race. Unfortunately I crashed my bike number one when I came into contact with Franco Battaini and so I couldn’t use it to do the fastest lap. I had to qualify with bike number two but I’m pretty confident for the race. The team did a good job and we can try to be with the fastest guys in the race tomorrow.” Makoto Tanaka, Team Manager: “No real surprises in the qualifying for the team today. Both riders have not found the best set-up round here and we see a second and third row start. The weather could be a factor tomorrow and we will have to be smart to anticipate conditions. Max had an eventful session with two collisions in the final 10 minutes. Both were unfortunate and he did very well to stay on his machine. Race Direction have made a decision and Honda won’t be appealing.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 1th: “The time I have obtained could have been much lower if I had the time to have another fast lap, but we preferred to concentrate on the development of the bike for when we’ll step on the track tomorrow afternoon. During the first time attack I try to find the right feeling with the tyres, while in the second try I made a couple of mistakes in the some turns which made me lose some precious time. With the tyres the feeling gets better lap after lap, but I still need some time to make it to use the Michelin qualifying tyres’ potential at its best. Unfortunately I felt some pain at my right forearm which in some turns is almost intolerable. I will have to try to start well tomorrow to remain with the group of the fastest riders from the beginning, just like it happened two weeks ago in Barcelona.” Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 14th: “The qualifier went more or less like in the last races so tomorrow we’ll have a lot of hard work on our hands. I gave everything I have, but the others were going so strongly. Obviously there’s still something missing, even though I’m riding at 100%. It’s not an easy situation, but tomorrow I will try and get a good start and battle on to the end.” More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: SETE AND MELANDRI READY TO GO FOR IT AT ASSEN DUTCH TT -MOTOGP OFFICIAL QUALIFYING DUTCH TT -MOTOGP OFFICIAL QUALIFYING Sete Gibernau will start from second place and Marco Melandri third in what promises to be a tense Dutch TT. The final few minutes of today’s qualifying session gave a sign of things to come, as did the pace set by the day’s three fastest riders (Rossi, Gibernau and Melandri). The grid positions were decided in a frantic final eight minutes, with Sete the first to sit on pole before brief spells for Rossi and Melandri. The World Championship runner-up had a much better day today thanks to the recovery of his Chief Mechanic Juan MartÃnez, who spent yesterday in the circuit’s medical centre. Sete, who has two consecutive podiums at Assen including victory in 2003, is more motivated than ever to do well whilst Marco has once again made his case for a potential first victory in the seventh round of the season. The Italian, who currently lies second in the championship behind Valentino Ros! si, was the quickest rider in the three free practice sessions. This morning he set a lap of 2’00″180, signifying an improvement of two seconds over the three hours of practice. Sete’s progress has been equally impressive, improving by 2.5 seconds from the first to the final session. SETE GIBERNAU (2nd, 1’59″247): “Things were back to normal today. Juan, my chief mechanic, had a physical problem yesterday but, thank God, the situation was stabilised and today we noticed his presence. Yesterday we were working a little bit in the dark because there was no technical leader in the box, although I’d like to thank all the boys for their calmness. I’m really looking forward to this race, I’m sure it will be a body to body fight until the end and I’ll be giving 100% all the way.” MARCO MELANDRI (3rd, 1’59″632): “I’m happy with this position although at the same time I’m a bit anno! yed right now that I didn’t get the opportunity to make the most of my qualifying tyre. Firstly I ran into Max Biaggi, who was going really slowly. I tried for a second time but found him in the middle of the track again and we touched. It’s a shame because I was lapping really strongly, but it’s good to be on the front row at this track because it’s one of my favourites.”
