MotoGP Combined Practice Times Thursday Practice Assen, Holland 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:37.828 2. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:38.040 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda), Michelin, 1:38.114 4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:38.148 5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Michelin, 1:38.221 6. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:38.256 7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:38.341 8. John Hopkins (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:38.436 9. Shinya Nakano (Honda), Michelin, 1:38.444 10. Alex Barros (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:38.485 11. Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:38.600 12. Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:38.650 13. Carlos Checa (Honda), Michelin, 1:38.733 14. Alex Hofmann (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:38.846 15. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:39.152 16. Marco Melandri (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:39.259 17. Toni Elias (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:39.716 18. Anthony West (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:39.751 19. Kurtis Roberts (KR Honda), Michelin, 1:40.835 More, from a press release issued by Ducati: Thursday Jun 28 2007 Dutch TT – Free Practice SUPERB STONER FASTEST, CAPIROSSI 11TH AT ASSEN Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi completed the first day of practice for Saturday’s Dutch TT in first and 11th positions. World Championship leader Stoner, fresh from his genius win in last Sunday’s damp British Grand Prix, was once again in superb form, topping both morning and afternoon sessions aboard his Desmosedici GP7 to end the day more than two tenths ahead of his closest rival. Capirossi meanwhile experimented with different Bridgestone rear slicks – the company’s traditional 16.5-inch rear and its newer 16-inch rear – the Italian ending the day setting his best time with the 16.5. CASEY STONER, fastest, 1m 37.828s “I don’t know why but we got a little bit confused with the settings and went backwards this morning, so I wasn’t overly confident. The time we had on the track this afternoon was very positive, we managed to get everything sorted and towards the end of the session I was feeling quite confident with a different tyre we had chosen. It looks like we’ve found our race tyre already, it’s the hardest compound we’ve got, we did the fastest lap on that tyre, so we know it’s going to last the race, which is good. We’re looking very good if the weather plays up again tomorrow. The settings we use here are pretty similar to what we used at Donington, not straight out of the box, but you don’t need a totally different set-up here like you did with the old track. There’s no big g-force areas anymore, they’ve pretty much destroyed an awesome racetrack. It’s so disappointing, you keep thinking ‘where’s the old one gone’, it’s not the most fun to ride anymore. But we’ve still got a job to do here. Donington and here seem to have pretty similar surfaces now, there’s not much grip here either, it seems dusty in places, so we’re having to work in similar areas to what we were working on at Donington.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 11th fastest, 1m 38.600s “We tested some tyres today but have yet to find what we really want. I tried the 16 but I was lacking rear grip into the corners, especially through the last part of the track. At the end of the afternoon session I tried the 16.5 again, it felt better and I did my best lap at the end, even though the bike settings weren’t ideal for the tyre. Seven tenths isn’t a small gap but we have a good margin for improvement with the set-up. In general, I feel okay and if tomorrow’s weather is similar to today’s, we should be make a few changes and go faster.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Sports: Stoner kicks into gear at Assen A-Style TT Assen Thursday 28th June Report Day 1 motogp One day ahead of the normal MotoGP schedule, the A-Style TT Assen seems to have thus far taken a head start from the predicted showers anticipated for round nine of the championship. A fresh wind and some dark clouds did not hinder the riders’ progress as they began their preparations at the ‘Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing’. MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner topped the timesheets on the first day of practice for Saturday’s race, his time of 1’37.828 making him the only rider to break the 1’38 marker in the afternoon session. With track temperatures rising on a pleasant day at Assen, all riders in the MotoGP class showed a consistent improvement over the course of the day. The top four overall was made up of as many different factories, with Randy de Puniet continuing his recent run of good form to finish with the closest time to the storming Stoner; just over two tenths of a second slower on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR800. Last year’s race winner and current MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden also had a positive day; finally looking at ease on his factory Honda machine as the third fastest rider. The holder of the circuit record was unfortunate last weekend at Donington, but continues to show a turnaround in comfort following his intensive testing after the Catalunya race. Valentino Rossi, sporting special leathers and livery along with team-mate Colin Edwards for the A-Style TT Assen, was the fourth quickest of the day, ahead of Dani Pedrosa and surprise package Makoto Tamada. The Japanese rider was just 35 thousandths of a second off the 2006 Rookie of the Year’s time, and his and fellow Yamaha satellite rider Sylvain Guintoli’s performances today suggest that Assen could be a good circuit for Dunlop tyres. Colin Edwards, John Hopkins, Shinya Nakano and Alex Barros completed the top ten on day one, all within seven tenths of Stoner’s fastest time. The afternoon session was largely incident-free, with only a small crash from Anthony West and a selection of off-track excursions to report. A fractured femur suffered in the opening free practice session for the A-Style TT Assen means that Toni Elias will not be able to race in the Netherlands. The Gresini Honda rider has been taken to a local hospital for surgery. What started as an innocuous lowside turned nasty as the Spaniard reached the gravel trap, catching his left leg underneath himself as he rolled. Elias was stretchered away from the scene and taken for examination, before being moved by ambulance to Assen Hospital. Elias has yet to ride a race at Assen, having been injured for the 2005 event and suffering damage to his shoulder after four laps of the opening session last year. 250cc Jorge Lorenzo came out swinging after his Donington K.O, blitzing his way to provisional pole for Saturday’s 250cc race. The Spaniard clocked a time of 1’39.958 to beat his previous pole record at Assen from last year. The 2006 race winner will be looking to extend his lead in the championship, after it was cut to just 11 points by the second fastest 250cc rider of the day, Andrea Dovizioso. Lorenzo was nearly three quarters of a second faster than the 2006 World Championship runner-up this afternoon, who was in turn half a second quicker than third quickest Alvaro Bautista. Donington podium finisher Hiroshi Aoyama completed a provisional front row comprising of three different manufacturers, with the second line of attack comprising of Hector Barbera, Thomas Luthi, Alex de Angelis and Marco Simoncelli. 125cc Following on from his first victory of the season five days ago, Mattia Pasini is on a roll in the 125cc category. The Italian has been on pole five times already this year, and has one hand on Tissot watch number six after taking the provisional top spot this afternoon. Pasini’s time of 1’45.603s was enough to relegate recently out-of-sorts Lukas Pesek into second by less than two tenths, with Simone Corsi and Sergio Gadea pencilled in to join them on the front row. Sandro Cortese, Gabor Talmacsi and current 125cc World Championship leader Hector Faubel complete today’s top eight alongside Raffaele de Rosa. British 125cc rider Bradley Smith will play no further part in proceedings at the A-Style TT Assen, having suffered metacarpal and metatarsal fractures after being hit by Andrea Iannone’s bike in the opening practice session. The 2006 Rookie of the Year is currently undergoing further examination of the injuries to assess when a return to action will be viable. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: Assen – Grand Prix of The Netherlands Event: Dutch TT – Free Practice Date: Thursday, 28th June 2007 Ambient temperature: 13 degrees C Track temperature: 26 degrees C Humidity: 77% FOURTH AND SEVENTH FOR 1950’S-INSPIRED FIAT YAMAHA TEAM ON DAY ONE IN ASSEN Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards started their Dutch challenge in unusual style today, both sporting a new 1950’s-inspired livery on their leathers and bikes. The colourful pair finished the day fourth and seventh in the combined standings after a thankfully dry first day of practice for the Dutch TT. This morning saw the Yamaha duo second and fourth respectively in the first practice as they tested tyres and worked on bike set-up. They continued with more of the same throughout this afternoon’s second practice, dropping slightly down the order but both improving on their times from the morning. Both riders finished the day feeling initially positive about their tyre choices and potential in the dry and, with rain a possibility tomorrow, today’s two hours of dry track time could prove crucial. The fastest time of the day was set by Casey Stoner with a lap of 1’37.828, just 0.320 seconds faster than Rossi. The Fiat Yamaha Team’s special Assen livery is inspired by Fiat’s famous ‘500’ and celebrates the forthcoming re-launch of the iconic car on 4th July, exactly 50 years after it was first launched in 1957. The design is inspired by the art and discography of the era, including Elvis Presley and Italy’s Rita Pavone. Valentino Rossi Position: 4th Time: 1’38.148 Laps: 51 “Today was not too bad! This morning was actually better than this afternoon, even though we were faster in the second session. Our initial base set-up this morning felt quite good but this afternoon we tested some different things and honestly I didn’t have such a good feel. Our tyre choice seems to be okay and we have some softer tyres here which should work better in lower temperatures, as we should be able to get the heat into them faster. We’ve started out okay today but we need to improve some things so I really hope it’s not going to rain tomorrow. I really like my new livery, it’s fun and different and the colours especially are something you don’t usually see on the racetrack! The Fiat 500 is a famous Italian icon so it’s good to be able to celebrate the new version of the car in this way.” Colin Edwards Position: 7th Time: 1’38.341 Laps: 57 “I’m pretty happy with how we’ve started out here today. Michelin have brought some good stuff again and we’ve managed to get through all the things we needed to test for the weekend. At the moment it looks like we could actually race three of our tyre choices so that’s a good situation to be in at this stage. Today we had my bikes set-up in two different ways and one was better than the other, so tomorrow we’ll go with that for them both. It’s actually pretty similar to last year’s bike and that obviously worked good then so we’ll keep going on like that. It was great to have two sessions uninterrupted by rain for once, fingers crossed we’ll have more of the same tomorrow. The livery’s pretty cool, it’s fun to have something different and I’ve had some good comments from the rest of the riders. I’m not sure I could handle the pink every week but as a one-off special it’s great!” Davide Brivio Team Director “It’s been good to have an entirely dry day after all the rain we’ve had recently. We were able to check some good tyres with both our riders and it seems we’ve got a good base on the bike. Now we need to put everything together and fine-tune the settings and make our final tyre choices. Unfortunately it might rain tomorrow, in which case we’ll only have today’s data to analyse for a dry race, but we’ve got some good information so we should be okay. We’re very pleased to be able to help Fiat to celebrate such an important event with our special ‘Cinquecento’ livery. The fact that our team can be used as a tool to help publicise the re-launch of an Italian icon is a great example of the importance and success of Fiat’s sponsorship.” Combined Free Practice Times 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’37.828 2. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team 1’38.040 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1’38.114 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’38.148 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’38.221 6. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 1’38.256 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’38.341 8. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’38.436 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda 1’38.444 10. Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d’Antin 1’38.485 11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’38.600 12. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 1’38.650 13. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR 1’38.733 14. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d’Antin 1’38.846 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’39.152 16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini 1’39.259 17. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini 1’39.716 18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki 1’39.751 19. Kurtis Roberts (USA) Team Roberts 1’40.835 Assen: Lap Record N. Hayden (Honda) 2006, 1’37.106 Assen: Best Lap J. Hopkins (Suzuki) 2006, 1’36.411 More, from a press release issued by Gresini Honda: ELIAS TO MISS OUT AFTER ASSEN TUMBLE The Spaniard fractures his left femur in practice for Dutch TT Assen continues to be a bogey track for Toni Elias, who was injured this morning in a free practice crash at turn fifteen. The Spaniard, who damaged his shoulder here last year and missed the race, will again be absent from Saturday’s starting grid after breaking his left femur in an awkward slide into the gravel trap. After visiting the Clinica Mobile, where the fracture was diagnosed, Elias was transferred to the Wilhelmina hospital in Assen for further checks and was operated on this afternoon. Doctor Costa accompanied the Gresini Honda rider throughout and says he will need three months to recover. It was also a difficult day for Marco Melandri, who worked hard on the geometry of his bike as he continues to try and find a setting that can allow him to ride comfortably and turn around his fortunes in a difficult season. MARCO MELANDRI (16th, 1′ 39″259): “We’re having a tough time because I can’t find a good feeling with the bike and can’t ride it as I want. We’ve worked on the geometry today and tried a few different solutions in an attempt to improve my race pace but we’ve still got a lot of work to do. I’m really upset about Toni’s crash and hope that he gets better and returns to join us soon.” TONI ELIAS (crashed): “I knew I’d broken my leg straight away. I tried to put it back in position even though the pain was tremendous. Hopefully I can recover quickly and be back on track soon. I also want to thank all the Clinica Mobile staff for their help and support.” More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: Big steps for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP on first day in the Netherlands Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen both made significant advances in finding the optimum set-up for Saturday’s Dutch TT, during today’s free practice sessions. Hopkins (P8, 1’38.436, 57 laps) took a big step forward towards the end of this afternoon’s hour-long session as he worked tirelessly with his crew to get the Suzuki GSV-R dialled in to the Assen circuit. He continually improved his times and set his best lap at the end of the practice. Vermeulen (P15, 1’39.152, 50 laps) struggled with his braking set-up for the most part of today and was hampered in getting his bike prepared for Saturday’s 26-lap race as he searched for solutions to the problem. He and his crew finally made a breakthrough in the latter parts of this afternoon’s session and now have a clear indication of the direction to take tomorrow. Today’s sessions were held in sunny and dry but very windy – conditions at the 4.5km Dutch track, and championship leader Casey Stoner on his Bridgestone-shod factory Ducati set the quickest time. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more free practice session tomorrow morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon. Saturday’s race is round nine of the championship and gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “I can honestly say we struggled a bit with set-up this morning – we were nowhere near where we wanted to be! This is one of the first tracks this year that we have showed up at and had to work really hard to get the bike how we want it. The crew has worked really hard to get us up to near where we have to be – we are still a bit behind, but we can make that up! We’ve got some stuff to try in the morning that I am sure will make things even better. We also worked hard with Bridgestone and went through our tyre allocation to find a compound that works well here. In the last run at the end of this afternoon’s session we found some big things that really moved us forward, it was almost like a night and day difference! I now can’t wait to get back out on track, it’s a shame we don’t have another hour today as I’m sure we could smooth some more things out and make a big step up!” Chris Vermeulen: “We’ve had a few problems on the bike today, but the biggest has been the brakes. We’ve had a bit of inconsistency and I’ve had to work the lever really hard and that has given me a bit of arm pump. We have tried a lot of things and improved considerably this afternoon. I did get a bit of chassis vibration later on in the session, but we know what that is caused by and we’ll put it right tomorrow. We still have a lot to come from me and the bike around here and I know Tom and the crew will be working flat out to find the answers that we need!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It’s been a hard day for the whole team and we are now in a better position than this morning! The gaps in performance of all the riders here at Assen seem quite small and we’ve yet to unlock the full potential of the GSV-R. However, towards the end of this afternoon’s session, John took a significant step forward and now feels a lot more confident in the bike and his own ability to run with the front group. We will need to find some more solutions to help Chris – the position he is in is horrible, but the gap in lap-time is not impossible to make up! “Everyone at Rizla Suzuki MotoGP was sad to see Toni Elias have an accident this morning and we would all like to wish him a full recovery, as well as a speedy return to the MotoGP paddock.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Competition fierce as Stoner and De Puniet lead Dutch TT practice Round 09 Netherlands Free Practice Assen, Netherlands Thursday 28 June 2007 Preparations for this weekend’s Dutch TT got underway in dry conditions at the Assen circuit today with two highly competitive free practice sessions. Such was the fierce nature of the competition, all three tyre manufacturers had at least one bike in the top six, four bike manufacturers filled out the top four, eight different teams made their way into the top ten with just one second separating pace-setter Casey Stoner from 14th-placed rider Alex Hofmann. Two Bridgestone-shod riders led the way with Ducati’s Stoner, the only man to dip under 1m38s on the opening day, leading Kawasaki’s on-form Randy de Puniet who posted a succession of consistent laps to finish in second place. John Hopkins was eighth for Suzuki while Alex Barros completed the top ten aboard his Pramac d’Antin Ducati just 0.657s from Stoner. In what promises to be one of the most closely fought races of the season so far, all eyes will be on the skies tomorrow as rain clouds are expected to develop during the course of the day. Tyre Talk with Junichi Kawajiri Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development How important were the results from today’s free practice sessions? “From today’s results, we are able to see just how competitive and close the entire field is here in Assen in these conditions with only one second covering the top fourteen riders. Of course, the results themselves do not mean a lot, but the work we have carried out will be very important for Saturday’s race. The weather forecast indicates that we may have some light rain showers tomorrow, so these two free practice sessions could prove to be quite decisive if Saturday is dry. For this reason, I am satisfied with the initial tyre work and evaluations that we have achieved today.” What tyres have Bridgestone’s five teams been evaluating today? “Our teams have been concentrating their work using medium specification tyres with most teams opting to use the 16.5” rear tyres today. The 16.5” rear is well known by our teams and acts as a reliable base when the teams are setting up their bikes for this circuit, but if it is dry tomorrow we might also consider running the 16” to see how it performs. Some riders were able to get up to speed quickly today and already conducted reasonably long runs with the medium specification tyre which showed some encouraging results in today’s conditions. It is very close between the riders and teams, but Casey and Randy were able to demonstrate this afternoon their potential for Saturday’s 26-lap race.” What technical challenges do tyre manufacturers face at this revised Assen track? “I think that like last year, the biggest challenge will be the longevity of the tyres and the grip level over the race distance. This track places most stress on the right-hand side of the tyre because right-hand corners are more numerous than the left, so we must also make sure that the warm-up performance on the left-hand side of the tyre is good. Qualifying will also be important here because it is a tough track for overtaking. Finally, on behalf of Bridgestone, I would like to send regards to Toni Elias after his crash in this morning’s free practice session, we wish him the very best wishes for a quick recovery from his injuries.” Bridgestone Combined Free Practice Session Results Pos Rider Team Session 1 (pos) Session 2 (pos) Gap P1 Casey Stoner Ducati 1m38.323s (1) 1m37.828s (1) Fastest P2 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m39.139s (7) 1m38.040s (2) +0.212s P8 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m39.483s (10) 1m38.436s (8) +0.608s P10 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 1m39.145s (8) 1m38.485s (10) +0.657s P11 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m39.327s (9) 1m38.600s (11) +0.772s P14 Alex Hofmann Pramac d’Antin 1m38.894s (5) 1m38.846s (14) +1.018s P15 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m39.930s (13) 1m39.152s (15) +1.324s P16 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m39.523s (11) 1m39.259s (16) +1.431s P17 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1m39.716s (12) Did Not Take Part +1.888s P18 Anthony West Kawasaki 1m40.330s (17) 1m39.751s (18) +1.923s Weather: Dry track – Air 17°C, Track 21°C, Humidity 48% (Session 1) Dry track Air 22°C, Track 31°C, Humidity 77% (Session 2)