This weekend the Repsol Honda Team travels to Holland to take part in the Dutch TT, the seventh round of the MotoGP Championship, with Casey Stoner leading the Championship, Andrea Dovizioso in third place overall and Dani Pedrosa – now fifth after missing the last 2 GPs – working hard to return to racing as soon as possible after receiving another surgery last Thursday. Sadly, it looks like the Repsol Honda team will face another GP without Pedrosa. The Spanish rider is still recovering after his surgery last Thursday to fix a small fragment of bone in the right collarbone that had moved during his previous rehabilitation. Dani, who confirmed he will be back on his RC212V in Mugello on the 3rd July, is feeling better and better each day, but at this moment it is almost certain he will not return in Assen. Championship leader Casey Stoner is in fantastic form at the moment, with four wins out of six races. The Australian rider will be looking for another strong result at a track where he has visited the podium every year since 2007. His team mate Andrea Dovizioso is also looking forward to racing at Assen after his strong podium finish in the British GP. Even though the Italian rider has scored only one podium finish from his previous outings at the Dutch TT – a third place in 2006 in the 250cc class – Dovizioso is eager to repeat a good result on a track that he enjoys. If, as it looks more likely, Pedrosa will not race in Assen, he will be replaced in the Repsol Honda team by Hiroshi Aoyama, with HRC test rider, Kousuke Akiyoshi stepping in to take his place in the San Carlo Honda Gresini Team. HRC would be pleased to give an opportunity to Aoyama to race in Assen on the Factory RC212V and thanks Gresini Racing Team for their cooperation. Assen is the only track to have hosted a Grand Prix every year since the World Championship began in 1949. It was originally based around the public roads and the camber changes in some places still reflect that. Despite undergoing some drastic alterations a few years ago, the circuit features fast, flowing corners and rapid direction changes which will fully test the agility of Honda RC212V. Traditionally held on the last Saturday in June, the weekend programme begins a day earlier than usual, with first practice starting at 10.10 on Thursday morning. CASEY STONER “It was a tough race in Silverstone and to come away with three wins in a row and also the Championship lead is awesome, so it’s been nice to have a break after such a good time! I’m really looking forward to going to Assen, it’s a nice track, the first section is a little slow and doesn’t do too much for me, but the last part is a lot of fun. I believe the RC212V will work well for us there as it has done at all circuits so far this season. We will work hard to get the set up right on the bike and hope to challenge for another win, but right now we need to go ahead doing our best each race. I’m really sorry to hear Dani had to undergo another operation, he really doesn’t deserve all this bad luck and I hope he’ll be ok soon”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO “After the podium finish at Silverstone, I look forward to race in Assen. I really like the old track, now with the several modifications it has lost a bit his unique identity. We are on good form and feel that we will also be strong this weekend. In particular at Silverstone we did a very good strategy and a good race so I’m motivated to get another strong result for the Championship. It’s a circuit in two sections – the first part is quite slow while the second part, the old Assen, is technically more demanding. I’m really sorry that Dani had to have another surgery. I hope that he recovers soon and he comes back completely recovered”. DANI PEDROSA “It’s been some days since the surgery and I feel much better. I don’t feel the pain I had before the operation and the evolution has been very good. I’ve already begun the rehabilitation and I am very positive. Every day I notice an improvement and this is very good because I really wish to get back on the bike as soon as possible. To be honest it will be very difficult for me to make it to Assen, but I really believe I will be OK for Mugello, so now I’m focused on working to get better every day and see how far I get. I want to return as soon as possible, but I want to do the right thing”.