Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Assen, Netherlands June 24, 2010 Final Qualifying Results (all on KTM RC125s with Dunlop tires): 1. Daijiro HIURA, Japan, 1:47.375 2. Daniel RUIZ, Spain, 1:47.846 3. Alexander KRISTIANSSON, Sweden, 1:48.065 4. Kevin CALIA, Italy, 1:48.127 5. Harry STAFFORD, Great Britain, 1:48.147 6. Danny KENT, Great Britain, 1:48.158 7. Phillip OETTL, Germany, 1:48.298 8. Arthur SISSIS, Australia, 1:48.448 9. Mathew SCHOLTZ, South Africa, 1:48.457 10. Alejandro PARDO, Italy, 1:48.532 11. Jake GAGNE, USA, 1:48.576 More, from a press release issued by Red Bull: Hiura’s last lap pole. Daijiro Hiura pulled a last lap stunner to head the practice times by almost half a second, taking pole for Friday’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race, the first of 2 this weekend. The 15 year old Japanese points leader bumped 18 year old Spaniard Daniel Ruiz off the top with that final lap. 16 year old Swede Alex Kristiansson is 3rd with Italian 15 year old Kevin Calia 4th. Hiura was thrilled with the the great start to the weekend. “I was enjoying riding the bike so much and on my own I found a really good rhythm. The bike is working very well then right at the end of the session I could see Kevin (Calia) ahead and that was just the pull I needed, chasing him to put in that extra quick lap.” Ruiz was only momentarily disappointed to find he was second. “That’s not bad, in fact it’s good. I have been on pole and frankly I didn’t like it so much. Leading the race is not the easiest thing to do, I found it so hard to keep the concentration, always wondering what was going on behind. If I can race in the front group that will be fine for me and I am very comfortable with the bike and the track.” Kristiansson was thrilled with his return to form and 3rd place. “I just feel great on the bike suddenly and enjoying riding the way I should. I was struggling with the bike set-up in the early races this year, it was running wide and we couldn’t seem to fix it. Now we have harder springs front and back and it seems to be the solution, it feels great and it has given me the confidence to go fast.” Another man enjoying the good form is Calia who got his form back with a fine ride to 5th in Mugello. “I really feel so good on the bike now I am enjoying it and it seems to follow on from Mugello. We made some suspension changes to the bike for the 2nd qualifying session but in fact that made the bike more nervous so we will go back to the original settings for the race, I think it will be a lot of fun.” Harry Stafford, the 16 year old Briton, was pleased to be 5th fastest and the set-up progress they made. “In the first qualifying session the bike was moving around a lot and even though we got that sorted during the session I didn’t have the confidence to really push it. In the second session I got that confidence and it really worked well. I think I could have gone a bit faster still but there were a lot of people touring at the end of the session and that messed up the final section of my last lap.” Danny Kent qualified 6th, not too disappointed considering the 16 year old Briton crashed in the morning free practice. “I missed almost a full session with that crash so we were catching up in the two qualifiers, trying to get the bike sorted out. It’s good now though so 6th isn’t too bad a place to start the race.” South African 17 year old Mathew Scholtz sustained a nasty and very painful open fracture of his big toe on his right foot when he crashed in the final session, first suggestion from the medical centre is that he will be off racing for 2 months. Going into race 4 Hiura leads the Cup with 61 points to Kent’s 58 with Ruiz third on 51 and Scholtz on 41. Friday’s race starts at 16.30 CET and for those who cannot see it live on TV it is webcast on www.redbull.com as is Saturday’s race at 15.40, the 5th of the 10 race Cup.