MotoGP RACE REPORT: TT ASSEN Rossi dominates to earn 100th GP victory; Americans Edwards, Hayden finish strong INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, June 28, 2009 The next stop for Valentino Rossi is history. Six-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi became just the second Grand Prix motorcycle rider to win 100 races across all classes, reaching the century mark with a victory June 27 in the TT Assen. It was Rossi’s third victory of the season, which helped him escape from a three-way tie with Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner atop the standings and take the lead with 131 points. Rossi trails only fellow Italian legend Giacomo Agostini, who earned 122 victories. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a stop on Rossi’s victory tour, as he earned the 95th victory of his incredible career in the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP in September 2008. “This is a very emotional moment, and, for sure, I will remember this 100th victory for the rest of my life,” Rossi said. “When I reached 70, 100 seemed a long way away, but here I am, and it has been great, great fun getting here. I have to thank the friends who have been with me my whole life and my father, Graziano, who won here in Assen 30 years ago when I was a baby, and my mother, Stefania, because they have always supported me. “Now I have 100 wins, and I’m only the second rider to arrive at this number. But Agostini still has 22 more, and for me, he is still the greatest.” Lorenzo finished second, 5.368 seconds behind his Fiat Yamaha teammate. 2007 MotoGP World Champion Stoner was a lonely third on a Ducati, 23.113 seconds behind Rossi. Pole sitter Rossi regained the lead from Stoner on Lap 2 and never trailed thereafter. American Colin Edwards equaled his best result of the season by finishing fourth on the Yamaha Tech 3 machine, six seconds behind Stoner. 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden completed a strong race for the Americans, finishing a season-best eighth on the Ducati. A change to a longer wheelbase helped Edwards solve his starting-line problems, and he dodged a crash by Andrea Dovizioso 10 laps into the 26-lap race. He climbed into a tie for fifth with Dani Pedrosa, just two points behind fourth-place Dovizioso. “I rode my hardest, but this year in MotoGP it is so hard just to get a podium,” Edwards said. “But I’m close to fourth in the championship and I was only beaten by the three fastest guys in the world today, so I’m happy with the job I’m doing. Hayden qualified 13th, but a strong start helped him join a five-bike scrap for sixth place throughout the second half of the race. A loose handlebar slowed his charge at the halfway point. “I know I’m coming out with a lot of excuses this year, but a loose handlebar at that speed is pretty scary!” Hayden said. The next race is the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday, July 5 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. *** RESULTS ASSEN, Netherlands Results of the 26-lap TT Assen MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle, time behind winner. All riders on Bridgestone tires: 1. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha 2. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha +5.368 3. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati +23.113 4. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha +29.114 5. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki +33.605 6. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha +39.347 7. Randy de Puniet France Honda +39.543 8. Nicky Hayden United States Ducati +39.823 9. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki +40.673 10. Alex de Angelis San Marino Honda +46.010 11. Marco Melandri Italy Kawasaki +57.777 12. Toni Elias Spain Honda +59.774 13. Sete Gibernau Spain Ducati +1:05.366 14. Niccolo Canepa Italy Ducati +1:09.897 15. Yuki Takahashi Japan Honda +1:09.930 16. Gabor Talmacsi Hungary Honda +1:25.099 17. Mika Kallio Finland Ducati +1 lap 18. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda +16 laps 19. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda +22 laps Fastest lap: Rossi, 1:36.558, Lap 4 (record) Pole lap: Rossi, 1:36.025 *** POINTS Riders: Rossi 131, Lorenzo 126, Stoner 122, Dovizioso 69, Pedrosa 67, Edwards 67, Capirossi 56, Melandri 55, Vermeulen 53, de Puniet 51, Toseland 39, de Angelis 31, Hayden 27, Elias 27, Kallio 26, Canepa 12, Gibernau 12, Takahashi 9. Manufacturers: Yamaha 165, Ducati 122, Honda 98, Suzuki 71, Kawasaki 55. *** PODIUM QUOTES VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, winner): “This is a very emotional moment and for sure I will remember this 100th victory for the rest of my life. When I reached 70, 100 seemed a long way away, but here I am and it has been great, great fun getting here. It is down to so many people, like (crew chief) Jeremy (Burgess) and my guys, who have been with me for 10 years, and all of the team, who always give 100 percent. Especially, however, I have to thank the friends who have been with me my whole life and my father, Graziano, who won here in Assen 30 years ago when I was a baby, and my mother, Stefania, because they have always supported me. Now I have 100 wins and I’m only the second rider to arrive at this number, but Agostini still has 22 more and for me he is still the greatest. JORGE LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, second): “First of all, I have to say congratulations to Valentino because this is an incredible thing to achieve, and this day belongs to him. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good start today, and I had to take a few risks to pass people and come back to the front. Once I did, I tried to go after Valentino, but in some places I just wasn’t as fast as him. He was riding (1) 36.5s every time, and I didn’t really have quite enough confidence to push that hard today because the bike didn’t feel perfect. As the race went on, I started to feel the front tire ‘close’ a bit, and I decided that it was safer to come home in second. Another podium is a great result; it’s my 50th, and we continue to be very strong this season, so I am happy. I am only five points from the lead, and we are in a good position going to Laguna, which I am very excited about.” CASEY STONER (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, third): “I’ve been feeling fine all week but started to feel run down again on Friday, and I’ve just got worse as the weekend has gone on. I’ve taken every kind of supplement and vitamin tablet you can think of, but nothing seems to have worked, so it is obviously something we need to have looked at closer because I can’t keep going like this, and it is costing us points. Thankfully, I had a fantastic bike underneath me again today, and I owe the team for that. A big thank also to Dott. Macchiagodena and our physiotherapist, Freddie (Dente), who took good care of me both in Catalunya and here. Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to get fit for Laguna, but we’ll see what we can do.” *** AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Bridgestone, fourth): “Finally I got a decent start, and the longer wheelbase bike helped me get off the line. When Dovizioso came by, I was biting my teeth to stay with him and keep the pressure on. But then I saw Dovizioso crash in front of me, and just before that I’d had a moment with the right side of the front. I’d done 32 laps on that tire yesterday, but coming in and out of the pits all of the time it’s hard to get an accurate assessment of what’s going to happen. I just held station after that because I could see I wasn’t catching (Casey) Stoner, and I was holding Vermeulen off comfortably. My target was just to ride without making any mistakes and keep the momentum going. I rode my hardest, but this year in MotoGP it is so hard just to get a podium. The field is so strong now, and it’s the hardest year I’ve ever had in MotoGP. I’ve ridden nowhere near as hard as that in the past and been on the podium. But I’m close to fourth in the championship, and I was only beaten by the three fastest guys in the world today, so I’m happy with the job I’m doing. I can’t wait for Laguna now, and hopefully I’ll be able to go better and get a podium for Monster, Tech 3 and all the American fans.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, eighth): “When you start from 13th, you are always going to have a lot of work to do. But that was the best bike I’ve had underneath me all season, so I want to say a huge thank you to the team for that. They have worked so hard. I got a great start and was able to lead the second group for a while until a couple of guys came past, and I lost my rhythm a bit. I made a little mistake under braking on the back straight, ran wide and lost a lot of time, but I fought back and got in with the group again. I was having great fun, but unfortunately the left handlebar came kind of loose about halfway through the race and cost me a lot of time. That’s when a lot of the guys got past me. I know I’m coming out with a lot of excuses this year, but a loose handlebar at that speed is pretty scary! The guys are looking at how it happened. Anyway, man, it was a hard battle. I know we were only fighting for fifth or sixth, but it felt like there was a title on the line out there! Big respect to everybody in the group, though. Elias made a big mistake, but everybody left it all out on the track today, and we all shook hands afterward. It was good to be a part of the battle.” *** MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS 250cc: Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Scot Racing Team 250cc Honda. American Stevie Bonsey finished 21st on the Milar-Juegos Lucky Aprilia and is 26th in the World Championship standings. 125cc: Sergio Gadea, Spain, Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia. American Cameron Beaubier finished 28th on the Red Bull KTM Moto Sport KTM and is 27th in the World Championship standings. Red Bull Rookies Cup: American Jacob Gagne finished third. Gagne, from Ramona, Calif., won the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup race last September during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. *** NEXT RACE Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Monterey, Calif., July 5. Round 8 of 17. *** 2009 IMS tickets: Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011. Tickets for the two remaining events in 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and Red Bull Indianapolis GP can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information. More, from a press release issued by Paul Bird Motorsports: PARKES SALVAGES POINTS AT DONINGTON Arriving at the team’s home race, the PBM Kawasaki World Superbike Championship Team were hoping for a strong showing at Donington Park but after a traumatic weekend, they left with just one points scoring ride out of four opportunities at the ninth round of the Hannspree World Superbike Championship this weekend. Australian Broc Parkes and British-born American Jamie Hacking struggled around the Leicestershire circuit all weekend and with unsettled weather again playing a part, both riders missed out on Superpole, Parkes for the first time this season, meaning they had to start from 22nd and 25th places respectively. Race day dawned dry, warm and humid and in the opening 23-lap race, both riders got hooked up with the back traffic meaning Parkes battled to 18th at the flag with Hacking three places further back but in the second race of the day, Broc got a good start and made progress with some good lap times. Unfortunately, he had a gearbox problem towards the end of the race which cost him a place in the top ten and he had to settle for 14th place and two points but Hacking ended up crashing out at Coppice Corner on lap two on the second of the www.supercasino.com, Vent-Axia and Kick Energy-backed Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10Rs, fortunately without injury. The team plans further development work on the machines at the upcoming test at Imola before the next round of the series in a month’s time at Brno where they hope to bounce back to form. Broc Parkes: “Its been a big struggle this weekend during our practice and qualifying sessions and it’s the first time all year that I’ve sat out of Superpole which was really disappointing. In race one I had a bad start and had to work my way through from the back of the pack and although our result wasn’t good I felt OK on the bike and was happy to finish the race. For race two, we changed tyres but it was really slippery out there so I’d wished I’d stayed on my race one tyre. I had a good start and got away and was able to battle with the middle guys until I had an issue with the gears in the last few laps which unfortunately put me out of the top ten. I’m looking forward to the Imola test and getting back some momentum in the team.” Jamie Hacking: “This was another new track for me and we didn’t have a good start again with the weather. Learning new circuits with wet set-ups isn’t ideal and this has made it all the more difficult for me. I really struggled to find a decent set-up this weekend; I’m not used to starting that far back on the grid so the start of the races was tough. In race one I held back to allow the guys through and ended up in last place so I just had to try hard to make up some ground. For race two I was put in a different grid position on the inside which I wasn’t comfortable with so I was pushed back again in the back end of the pack. I tried hard to gain some ground but took a corner in the wrong gear and ran off the track and into the gravel. Obviously my time here in Europe has been extremely disappointing for me and I really feel that I was not able to find my feet and show my true potential on the world stage.” Paul Bird, Team Owner: “It’s our home race so we wanted to do well here for our sponsors and friends but it wasn’t to be for us this weekend. We’ve struggled since the beginning and it’s really disappointing and frustrating to see us in this place after a few races where we were looking really good. But we’ll bounce back for the Imola test where we are looking forward to having Makoto back on the bike.” Paul Risbridger, Team Manager: “Unfortunately it’s been another tough weekend for the team and it was disappointing to miss Superpole after some good progress during Friday afternoon and Saturday’s sessions. Both riders were caught up in traffic in race one and had to climb through the pack to gain a few positions which was hard going as they were both doing times of the top twelve. In race two Broc got a better start and was competitive with the mid-field for most of the race battling for a top ten position until he had an intermittent gearbox problem which dropped him back to fourteenth. On the positive side it was good to get some points after such a hard weekend and we’re encouraged from the race pace and look forward to the Imola test in a few weeks time.” The next round of the Hannspree World Superbike Championship takes place at Brno in the Czech Republic on July 24/26. ( www.worldsbk.com) RESULTS RACE 1 18. B. Parkes (Kawasaki WSB) 21. J. Hacking (Kawasaki WSB) 1. B. Spies (Yamaha WSB) 2. M. Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) 3. N. Haga (Ducati Xerox Team) 4. L. Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) 5. S. Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) 6. S. Nakano (Aprilia Racing) 7. J. Rea (Ten Kate Honda) 8. J. Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) 9. J. Smrz (Guandalini Racing) 10. R. Kiyonari (Ten Kate Honda) RESULTS RACE 2 14. B. Parkes (Kawasaki WSB) DNF. J. Hacking (Kawasaki WSB) 1. B. Spies (Yamaha WSB) 2. L. Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) 3. M. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox Team) 4. S. Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) 5. T. Sykes (Yamaha WSB) 6. L. Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) 7. R. Kiyonari (Ten Kate Honda) 8. J. Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) 9. R. Xaus (BMW Motorrad) 10. S. Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Valentino Rossi wrote another chapter in his extraordinary career at the Assen circuit in the Netherlands on Saturday, June 27, becoming only the second rider in history to reach 100 Grand Prix wins. The Fiat Yamaha rider also took the pole position, set the fastest race lap and took over the points lead in the 2009 MotoGP championship. Moreover, teammate Jorge Lorenzo finished a strong second and celebrated a personal milestone with the 50th podium of his young career. Meanwhile Yamaha Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland made it four Yamahas in the top six by finishing fourth and sixth, respectively. Aboard his YZR-M1, the eight-time GP world champion was second at the end of the first lap, then passed early leader Casey Stoner soon afterwards to take a lead that he would never relinquish. With his M1 and Bridgestone tires working perfectly throughout the 26 laps, Rossi’s pace was even better than he had shown in practice and he gradually stretched out his gap over a hard-charging Lorenzo in the latter stages of the race to seal his historic victory. With the unique Rossi flair, the 30-year-old Italian and his fan club joined forces on the cool-down lap to unroll a huge banner picturing each of his 100 wins, spanning a Grand Prix career that began when he was 17 years old. “This is a very emotional moment and for sure I will remember this 100th victory for the rest of my life,” Rossi said. “It’s great to reach this moment here at Assen because it’s the ‘Cathedral’ of motorcycle racing and the most historic track we go to. Today was a perfect race I got a great start and my bike was incredible which meant that my pace was very strong. One hundred is a great result but the atmosphere in our team is wonderful and the motivation is still as high as ever we want to win a few more races together yet!” The MotoGP series now heads to Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on July 5. Pos. 2009 MotoGP Points 6/27/09 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 131 2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 126 3 Casey Stoner 122 4 Andrea Dovizioso 69 5 Dani Pedrosa 67 Spies Doubles at Donington, Nears SBK Points Lead Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies made it another clean sweep at Donington Park in England, blowing away the competition aboard his YZF-R1 for a pair of decisive and well-earned wins on Sunday, June 28. After a serious crash for series points leader Noriyuki Haga in race two, the Texan’s “double” vaults him up to 294 points in the championship, just 14 points behind Haga. In his home World Superbike event, Spies’ teammate Tom Sykes also suffered a crash in race one but rebounded to fifth in race two, and now remains seventh in points. Race one saw the American rider take an early lead, closely followed by rival Max Biaggi. However, no matter how hard Biaggi tried he was unable to close the gap to challenge Spies directly, and settled for second at the flag. Race two saw Spies again take an early lead, repeating his performance at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah last month by gaining nearly a second a lap and eventually pulling away to an advantage of over 7.4 seconds. He ultimately ran a commanding but lonely race at the front to claim his second win of the day. “It was a picture-perfect weekend,” Spies admitted later. “Race one was a tough race. Biaggi was there the whole time but we were able to do quick laps to stay ahead, and the last three laps I rode as hard as I could just to make sure of the win. In the second race I knew Nori had a big crash and I hope he’s okay. It’s not the way we want to win it but you have to take the points when you can. I can’t thank the Yamaha guys enough we changed a lot of things around and they came and delivered me two really good bikes to win on.” Pos. 2009 World Superbike Points 6/28/09 1 Noriyuki Haga 308 2 Ben Spies Yamaha 294 3 Michel Fabrizio 257 4 Jonathan Rea 177 5 Leon Haslam 167 More, from a press release issued by Ryan Farquhar’s publicist: Hat-trick for Farquhar at Athea Ryan Farquhar became only the second rider to record 100 Irish road race wins on Sunday when he took a hat-trick of victories at the Athea road races. Held on the 3.3-mile circuit in County Limerick, the KMR Kawasaki rider was again in imperious form as he swept to victory in the Grand Final, Supersport 600cc and Supertwins races making it three wins on three different machines. Second now only to Joey Dunlop in the number of Irish road race wins, Ryan also overhauled Robert Dunlop’s total number of wins in Southern Ireland. With mixed weather conditions once more affecting the day, tyre choice would again be crucial but Ryan had no issues in his first race of the day, the Supertwins, which he won comfortably on his ER6 Kawasaki. With rain continuing to fall for the Supersport 600cc race, Ryan opted for intermediate tyres, whereas most of the other leading competitors chose full wets, and he made a great start as he led by almost four seconds at the completion of the first lap. As the rain stopped, the track began to dry and this played into Ryan’s hands even further and he eventually took the chequered flag by over 16 seconds for his second win of the day. With intermittent rain affecting the day’s schedule, the organisers decided to move the Grand Final forward whilst it was also cut to six laps. It was then delayed further as the rain came down again and with most riders on slicks, the start was put back by 15 minutes. When it did get underway, Ryan again grabbed the early initiative and had regular rival Keith Amor on his back wheel when the red flag came out due to a spill involving Damien Mulleady. With fuel and debris on the track, the race was declared a result at three laps and Ryan gratefully took his third win of the day. That just left the Open race and Ryan and Keith again battled it out, this time for the entire 6 laps, although on this occasion it was Amor who got the verdict by just 0.180seconds. Ryan did have the consolation of setting a new outright lap record at 114.291mph. Speaking later, a delighted Ryan said: “It’s been another good day and with three wins, a second and the outright lap record I’m well pleased with how it’s all gone. The weather made it a bit of a difficult day as tyre choice was tricky, to say the least, but the Dunlops were again faultless whilst it was great to take three wins on three different types of machine. All of the Kawasakis are working really well at the moment and a few changes to the engine mapping on the 600cc ZX-6R has given me that little bit extra in the Supersport class.” “The Supertwins and 600cc races went perfectly whilst I was pleased to be leading the Grand Final when the race was stopped. In the Open race, I had Keith lined up at a couple of places on the final lap but on each occasion a backmarker was in the way and I couldn’t make a pass so I had to settle for second – it was another close race though and an enjoyable battle with Keith once more. To reach 101 wins, and also break the Southern Ireland total of Robert Dunlop, is a great feeling and a big thank you to all my sponsors and everyone involved with the team for all their hard work and commitment.” Ryan now heads to the Skerries 100 road races which take place on Saturday July 4. More, from a press release issued by Keith Amor’s publicist: Amor flies to victory at Athea Keith Amor recorded yet another win on the Irish roads at the weekend when he won the Open race at the Athea road races on Sunday. The Wilson Craig Racing Honda rider also finished a close second in the Grand Final and third in the Supersport 600cc race to make it a successful day’s racing and ensure his strong 2009 season continued. On a day that saw intermittent drizzle throughout, all races were cut to six laps and Keith opened his account with third in the Supersport 600cc race where he was riding his 2006 machine as the 2009 bike was being rebuilt after the TT. The Grand Final was shaping up to be another battle royale between Keith and regular sparring partner Ryan Farquhar as they both broke the outright lap record but the red flag came out due to a crash that left fuel and debris on the circuit and the race was declared, somewhat controversially, a result at just three laps. However, Keith made amends later in the day with a fine victory in the Open race. Talking later, Keith commented: “It’s obviously been great to grab another win but it’s also been an extremely frustrating day for me as some of the decisions made by the clerk of the course have baffled me. I was just sitting behind Ryan in the Grand Final and felt confident of getting the win until the red flag came out but how it could have been called a result when two thirds race distance hadn’t been completed is a strange one, to say the least. The Open race was another good battle so I was pleased to come out on top there whilst I knew I’d be down on top speed in the Supersport race with the older bike so had to settle for third.” “The conditions were really iffy as there were puddles and mud flying everywhere – the bikes look like they’ve done a motocross race rather than a road race – but the Dunlop tyres were working really well whilst I must also thank the boys at Arai. They gave me some new visors for the weekend and they were given a serious test by the weather but they came through with flying colours. The club also deserve praise for putting on a great meeting and they’d done a terrific job in making the circuit a lot safer. They looked after me all weekend so a big thanks to them and to all the team for their hard work and effort once more.” Keith’s next meeting will again be in Southern Ireland with the Skerries 100 road races taking place on Saturday July 4th.