FIM MotoGP World Championship Assen, Netherlands June 24, 2010 Free Practice One Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (Yamaha), 1:35.169 2. Casey STONER, Australia (Ducati), 1:35.180 3. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Ducati), 1:35.686 4. Colin EDWARDS, USA (Yamaha), 1:35.699 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (Honda), 1:35.868 6. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (Honda), 1:35.922 7. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (Ducati), 1:35.927 8. Ben SPIES, USA (Yamaha), 1:35.942 9. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (Honda), 1:36.002 10. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Honda), 1:36.269 11. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Honda), 1:36.294 12. Hector BARBERA, Spain (Ducati), 1:36.735 13. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (Suzuki), 1:36.786 14. Mika KALLIO, Finland (Ducati), 1:37.261 15. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (Suzuki), 1:37.384 16. Kousuke AKIYOSHI, Japan (Honda), 1:41.332 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo sets early pace on harder slicks Round 6: Dutch TT GP Free Practice Assen, Thursday 24 June 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric) Fiat Yamaha rider and championship leader Lorenzo set the pace in the opening session at the newly-modified Assen circuit on Bridgestone’s harder slicks. The modification to the circuit at the Ruskenhoek corner has already proved to be much faster than the previous layout, as even after just the first hour of free practice Lorenzo’s time was almost 1.5seconds faster than the previous lap record. The track temperature was relatively high for Assen, peaking at 44 degrees Celsius during the free practice, resulting in most of the riders favouring the harder option front and hard asymmetric rear slicks. Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner finished the session just 0.011seconds adrift of Lorenzo, also using the harder slicks to set his best time, but teammate Nicky Hayden and Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Colin Edwards finished third and fourth respectively on the softer rear slick. In the hot conditions, every rider preferred the harder front slick tyre for its increased stiffness and therefore stability. Despite making the laptimes faster than previously, the modification to the circuit layout for this year has little effect on tyre performance. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “The weather conditions today were relatively warm for Assen, but similar to this session last year. Tyre temperatures were slightly higher so most riders preferred the harder option slicks, but we still saw many riders try the softer options and Nicky and Colin set good times on the softer rear. This year we have selected asymmetric rear slicks for this circuit and after this first session we have received good feedback from the riders. Randy completed more than race distance on a single set of harder slicks so already we can see that even in these conditions our tyres have adequate durability and consistency. “The revised circuit layout has little effect from a tyre perspective so it was not a consideration when selecting our tyre compounds, although we did of course check the new circuit layout and the new tarmac that has been laid. We can see from this afternoon’s results that once again both our slick tyre compounds are working well in these conditions and there is a good performance overlap, which is and always has been a key factor in both our tyre development and our compound choice for each race.” Top ten from free practice (Thursday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap Tyres 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m35.169s Bridgestone slicks 2 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m35.180s +0.011s Bridgestone slicks 3 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m35.686s +0.517s Bridgestone slicks 4 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m35.699s +0.530s Bridgestone slicks 5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m35.868s +0.699s Bridgestone slicks 6 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m35.922s +0.753s Bridgestone slicks 7 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing Team 1m35.927s +0.758s Bridgestone slicks 8 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m35.942s +0.773s Bridgestone slicks 9 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m36.002s +0.833s Bridgestone slicks 10 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m36.269s +1.100s Bridgestone slicks Weather: Dry. Ambient 26°C; Track 39-44-40°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: DOVIZIOSO AND PEDROSA FIFTH AND SIXTH AT ASSEN Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso set the fifth fastest time in first practice for the Dutch TT today as round six of the MotoGP World Championship got under way at Assen. The 24-year-old Italian, who lies second in the title standings coming to the Netherlands, is confident that with improvements to the feeling from the front end of his RC212V tomorrow he can qualify well in the afternoon session and continue his impressive start to the 2010 season. His factory Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa was right behind him in sixth as the pair made the first inroads into setting-up their RC212Vs for the fast and sinuous Assen circuit. Though the 24-year-old Spaniard and his crew initially went the wrong way with suspension settings for this circuit, they too expect improvements tomorrow after the data they’ve collected is analysed and setting adjustments are decided upon. The historic Assen track has been mildly modified for 2010 and has b een speeded up in the process, with a re-profiled Ruskenhoek corner giving a faster approach to following Stekkenwal curve. The changes have also reduced the length of the lap by 13m from 4.555km to 4.542km (2.823 miles). Today’s fastest lap by Jorge Lorenzo of 1m 35.169 was duly 1.4s faster than the existing race lap record, with Dovizioso 0.699s behind Lorenzo’s best and Pedrosa just 0.054s back from his team-mate. With more fine weather forecast for the rest of the weekend, lap times are expected to fall further in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1m 35.868s +0.699s “This was a decent first session and a positive start to the weekend. Of course we still need to improve things and make up some time but I think we can do this tomorrow. We had some movement on the front end entering turns and also mid-corner and we need to sort this out in order to improve. It’s an issue that I’ve had already this season so we’re familiar with it. Today’s session was just the start to the weekend and I think we’ll see the real pace that we can run in tomorrow’s two sessions. We used the harder option Bridgestone tyres for our fast laps today, so there’s room for improvement on the softer ones tomorrow. The modifications to the track are good fun to ride although maybe it’s a little bit dangerous if a bike goes down in the right hander because it could come back onto the track in the next corner. Still, it was a positive session today and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” DANI PEDROSA 6th 1m 35.922s +0.753s “We’re in sixth place which isn’t actually so bad considering that we initially chose the wrong direction with our suspension settings for this track. Basically our set-up was too soft today and this cost us time – especially in T1 – which meant that our lap times suffered quite a lot. So it’s not the ideal start to the race meeting that we were hoping for, but it looks like the weather is going to be stable for the rest of the weekend so we have time to improve things a lot. We need a good result at this race to put Silverstone behind us and because last year I crashed here. The change to the circuit is good and that corner is now very fast – perhaps 270km/h in fifth gear. I’m confident that tomorrow we can do a better job than today and move forward.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “We began the process of setting up the machine for Assen and we have gained some useful information about the adjustments required for the 2010 RC212V at this track. Andrea’s session went quite well. He has some front end issues to correct and when this is done he can close the gap to the leaders tomorrow. With Dani we started off with a suspension set-up that was too soft and this is what held him back today. With work in this area he can climb the timesheets and qualify well for Saturday’s race.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has shaken off the blues from Silverstone last week and started this weekend’s Dutch TT at Assen on a more positive note. Loris Capirossi (P13, 1’36.786, 27 laps) and Álvaro Bautista (P15, 1’37.384, 25 laps) both used the information they had from Silverstone to good effect as they set about closing the time gap between themselves and the rest of the pack. Capirossi’s team made fundamental changes to his Suzuki GSV-R and he was able to reap the benefits as his lap times improved and the team were able to see a clear direction to go for the rest of the weekend. Bautista is still struggling with his shoulder injury, especially on the physically demanding 4,542m Assen circuit. He did improve both his bike’s setting and his lap-times during the session and is confident that the stronger he gets, the quicker he will get. Today’s’ practice was held in dry and sunny conditions with air temperatures getting up to 27ºC, helping to generate more grip for both Rizla Suzuki riders as the track temperature rose to 44ºC. World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo set the quickest time of the day. Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon. The 80th running of the Dutch TT takes place on Saturday 26th June at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “The temperature has been much warmer here and we have started to use a different setting to make the tyre work for us. We have got a better feeling today, but it still needs to improve a bit. We used a shorter bike today than usual to try and get more grip on the back and this did help. Tomorrow we will try to make the bike go a bit quicker overall, because at some points we are struggling. We were also a bit too soft on the spring so we will change that for tomorrow. I am much happier than I was in Silverstone, my position is not so good today, but I know we can improve a lot!” Álvaro Bautista: “We started with the same setting that we finished with at Silverstone to try and get more grip on the back and I think we still need to work quite hard because I don’t have a good feeling in the front, so we must improve on this. This track is harder and more demanding to ride than last week for my shoulder. I still need a more strength and I feel a bit more tired than I did in Silverstone. After some more practice – and with the bike getting better – It should be less effort to ride and I will be able to improve my times. We still have to work hard and do our best step-by-step.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Given how far away we were at Silverstone and the extreme difficulty faced that weekend, the first hour of running here at Assen has been a lot more positive. The lap-time and the consistency is a lot closer to the group from fifth to tenth position, which is where we believe Loris and the bike can be, as we strive to rebuild our season. We’ve had to take a different direction here, so the bike has at the moment, a different feeling for both riders. That being the case, we should be able to take some significant steps tomorrow and improve our potential. The feeling in the camp is certainly more positive than it was last weekend and we’re looking to get our season going here in Assen!” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STRONG START FOR STONER AND HAYDEN IN ASSEN PRACTICE The Ducati Marlboro Team began preparations for the Dutch TT in warm and sunny conditions at Assen today, where both riders put in a strong performance. Casey Stoner lapped second fastest, just 0.011 seconds shy of Jorge Lorenzo, whilst Nicky Hayden was half a second further back in third place. The Australian was satisfied with the first day’s work on the set-up of his GP10, which is the fruit of a lot of hard work over recent weeks. His American team-mate is also pleased with his early feeling around the Dutch circuit, having made a few small alterations to the base setting he used at Silverstone. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2° (1’35.180) “We’ve started out here with a much better base set-up than at the last few races. It has been a bit difficult for us since we switched back to the old forks because you have to change the way you set the bike up and change the way you ride so it has taken a little time to adapt. But I don’t want to use it as an excuse because at Silverstone we had the pace but didn’t get the start, whilst at Mugello nothing seemed to work. This weekend seems to be going well so far so I hope it stays like this. Silverstone is a faster track than this and more flowing in some ways. Assen is a little tighter and we use a lower gearing so we’ve had to change the set-up a fair bit. Also at Silverstone we struggled a little with wheelies because of the way we set it up to handle the bumps. That isn’t an issue here so we’re just trying to find grip and stop the bike standing up on the front end. We tried some things in the middle of the session that didn’t work but other than that it was a positive first session for us.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3° (1’35.686) “The bike felt pretty good out of the gate today and we made a few changes that improved it but the gap to the front is pretty big so we still have work to do. The track is very similar to Silverstone, with a lot of fast corners, so the bike isn’t so different. Having said that we’re always trying new stuff and today was no different. What we tried seemed to work so I’m thankful to Ducati for that. Hopefully we can build on it tomorrow and try to repeat this kind of position in qualifying but with a smaller gap to the front.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Jorge Lorenzo started at Assen as he left off at Silverstone, by topping the timesheet during today’s opening free practice session at the historic Circuit van Drenthe. The current championship leader quickly got to grips with the changes made to the Ramshoek corner since he finished second in the race here two years ago, to set a time of 1’35.169s and lead the session from Ducati’s Casey Stoner. Stoner, still searching for his first podium of the season, got his Assen weekend off to a solid start by posting a time just 11-thousandths of a second outside that of Lorenzo to claim second place on the timesheet. A further half-second back was the Australian’s teammate Nicky Hayden. The American ran off the track without incident towards the end of the hour-long session, but was still fast enough to claim third place aboard the second Ducati Desmosedici. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards was next up in the order, just 0.013s off the time set by fellow countryman Hayden, while the two Repsol Hondas of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa were separated by just five-hundredths of a second, with the Italian coming out on top this time around. Aleix Espargaró continues to improve, with the Pramac Ducati rider finishing today’s opening free practice session seventh fastest, despite a brief off track excursion. Ben Spies also took a trip off track on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1, but completed the highest number of laps of the session with 29 to finish in eighth position. Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri completed the top ten on their San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V machines. Riding in place of the injured Hiroshi Aoyama for the Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team, Kousuke Akiyoshi was 16th fastest, 6.163s off Lorenzo’s time. Moto2 Andrea Iannone, the winner of the Moto2 race at Mugello, led the way during this afternoon’s hour-long free practice session at Assen. The Italian rider staked his claim to the top spot early on in the proceedings, but was forced to improve his lap time throughout the session to counter the threat from a number of hard charging rivals. Current championship leader, Toni Elias, was the only other rider to break into the 1’39s bracket as he secured second place on the timesheet, just two-tenths of a second behind Iannone and three-tenths of a second ahead of Rathapark Wilairot. Shoya Tomizawa who currently sits second in the overall standings, was fourth on his Technomag CIP Suter MMX machine. Forward Racing rider Jules Cluzel, flying high after his first World Championship win last time out at Silverstone, was fifth, but ended the hour with a crash that he walked away from uninjured. Cluzel’s teammate, Claudio Corti, was just over a tenth off the Frenchman’s time in sixth. Alex Debón, Karel Abraham, Gabor Talmacsi and Sergio Gadea rounded out the top ten in the Moto2 class. 125cc The 125cc riders got the TIM TT Assen underway on Thursday and it was Nico Terol who went fastest in the first practice session on the modified Dutch track. The Bancaja Aspar rider set a time of 1’43.208s as he laid down the challenge to his title rivals at round six of the 2010 campaign. Marc Márquez, who this weekend is going for a third consecutive win, and current championship leader, Pol Espargaró, followed in second and third positions respectively, and were the final two riders to join Terol under the 1’44s barrier. Bradley Smith, fresh off the back of his first podium of the season last weekend at Silverstone, was fourth fastest at just over eight-tenths off his team-mate’s time, while Sandro Cortese completed the top five in the hour-long session. Esteve Rabat, Efrén Vázquez, and Randy Krummenacher were all inside the top ten, which was completed by Danny Webb and Johan Zarco. More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Confident start for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 at Assen The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team made a flying start to the 80th staging of the legendary Dutch TT at Assen today. In unusually warm temperatures that peaked at 27 degrees, Colin Edwards made a welcome return to form at the iconic Assen circuit. The experienced American took to the track this afternoon using a new front-end geometry setting on his YZR-M1 machine and he immediately felt much more confident and able to show his true potential after a tough start to 2010. Capitalising brilliantly on the improved turning performance as a result of the front-end setting modification, Edwards finished fourth an d was just 0.013s away from the top three. He easily finished leading non-factory rider with a best time of 1.35.699 as he looks to extend his impressive record of scoring points in every race so far this season. Ben Spies also produced an encouraging display this afternoon, the reigning World Superbike champion determined to build on the momentum gained from his outstanding maiden MotoGP podium at Silverstone last weekend. The Texan was able to reel off a series of consistent laps and in the final ten minutes he stormed into the top four. A best lap of 1.35.942 saw Spies finish eighth but he was just 0.020s away from the top six. The hot conditions saw track temperatures soar to 44 degrees and Spies spent the session exclusively on the hard compound Bridgestone rear tyre option to gain crucial information ahead of Saturday’s 26-l ap race. He will make minor set-up tweaks overnight to improve turning performance on his YZR-M1 and he is confident of claiming his first top six grid position in tomorrow’s qualifying session. Colin Edwards 4th 1.35.699 25-laps “I really needed that after a tough start to the season and thanks to my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 who have been working really hard to improve my situation. I really like Assen and the change they made on the back section made it feel a little bit more like the old circuit. My bike is quite a bit different to what it has been this season and I’m running a front geometry setting that is a lot different to what I’ve ever run before. I’m just trying to make the bike turn easier and feel a little more natural and it is similar to the setting that Valentino and Jorge like. I’ve got a lot more confidence than Silve rstone because that was not a positive weekend at all. This track is a lot more free flowing and you have to keep a lot of momentum and that suits my style. And I can just get the bike to turn better and that’s where I’ve been lacking. Now the bike feels great and I’m looking forward to a good weekend.” Ben Spies 8th 1.35.942 29-laps “It was a decent session though we definitely need to make a couple of changes to the bike to make it a bit better in the longer turns. I had quite a good set-up at Silverstone to make the bike more nimble and we started with that setting here. But it wasn’t working that well so we’ll go back to what we know works tomorrow and I’m confident it should be better. I worked a lot on the hard race tyre and I’m definitely happy with the performance and the balance of the bike. I just need to make the bike turn better when I’m on the throttle. I ‘m really happy with corner entry but I’m losing a lot on the longer turns. The target tomorrow will be to get on the second row and I’ve not managed that yet. But the times are so close that with a couple of improvements to the bike I’m sure that a top six is a realistic target. Looking at my last eight laps I’m not far off at all and I’m looking forward to another positive weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: GREAT START FOR ESPARGARO’ IN ASSEN: SEVENTH. KALLIO FOURTEENTH Perfect weather today in Assen, with about 27 air degrees and 44 on the asphalt. The Pramac Racing Team riders, Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaro, started very well finishing in seventh and fourteenth place respectively. Since the first rounds the Catalan rider, Aleix, has proven to be very competitive on the Assen track and finished among the fastest, despite a brake problem that saw him lose a bit of time. After the first half of the session, Aleix was in the fifth place just five milliseconds from the fourth position occupied by Dovizioso. The two tenth of a second that are separating the Spaniard from the third position, are a proof that Aleix likes this track and that he can confirm the good results achieved here in the past. Mika, instead, has started more calmly, studying the situation on the runway and identifying the best setting with its engineers for the tomorrow qualifying. Marco Rigamonti – Aleix Espargarò Track Engineer “Aleix continues to confirm his good period, this seventh position give us good hopes for the Saturday’s race. Even outside the track we saw that Aleix was ready and determined to have a good performance. Tomorrow, with these track conditions, we can make good qualifications. There remains only a small change to try: Aleix feels the bike too heavy when he changes direction quickly. With a little modification we will try to improve the perfect set up for the bike so that we can be even faster.” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing Team – 7th fastest lap time in 1’35.927 “This bike is wonderful! It ‘s my favorite track and I think that anyone can see how much I enjoy the track. Despite the many changes in the last years it remains very attractive, you need a lot of aggressiveness and then you can be very fast. The lap times are not very important today, tomorrow everyone will forget what I have done today, but being in the seventh potion it is definitely a good first step. Tonight we will analyze the data with my engineers to understand where and how to further improve tomorrow. I have some problems in the fast changes of trajectory, but I’m very confident for tomorrow.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – 14th fastest lap time in 1’37.261 “I like this track, but unfortunately the times are not yet good and tomorrow we will work hard to improve our results. We need to focus much on the rear of the bike; I had grip problems that did not allow me to reduce the gap I have from the other riders. We have identified some changes that we have to do on the bike to improve the grip and I think our lap times will drop significantly. Two seconds of gap from the first rider on this track it is really too much!” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: DE PUNIET TO DEVELOP CORRECT PACKAGE AT DUTCH GP OPENING DAY Assen, 24 June: In a warm opening day of Dutch Grand Prix with ambience temperature of 27°C, LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy de Puniet set the 11th fastest time at the 4.555 km track which hosts the sixth round of the calendar. LCR Honda MotoGP Title Sponsor at the circuit known as “The Cathedral” is REVI’T which is leading company in the production of most innovative, functional and stylish motorcycle apparel and for this race Randy’s bikes will be equipped with Super B batteries in order to guarantee the right energy in the electronic system for the entire week end! Assen is the only track to have hosted a Grand Prix every year since the World Championship began in 1949 and MotoGP riders are big fans of the floating track including De Puniet who came in to chase the correct package ahead Saturday’s 26-lap race. The Frenchman circulated the Dutch track 29 times posting his fastest time of 1’36.294. De Puniet -11th 1’36.294 De Puniet: “Well… our position is not brilliant but I am not worried about that. We lapped on the same hard tyres for the whole session as we usually do chasing the correct race overall package. At the end I struggled with the rear grip on maximum angle as it dropped a lot and I could not go for a fastest lap time. We gathered some new good data to improve our bike tomorrow and I feel confident we can lap in the front again”. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO LEADS THE WAY DURING FIRST ASSEN PRACTICE Just four days after his commanding win at Silverstone, Lorenzo served up more of the same form during the first free practice session at Assen today. The Mallorcan continued to keep the Fiat Yamaha Team at the forefront of the action despite Valentino Rossi’s absence with a dominant performance at his favourite track on the opening day of the 80th Dutch TT. Lorenzo found himself comfortable and fast on his M1 from the start of the session, taking the lead mid-way through and remaining at the top of the standings as he consistently improved his time. The 23-year-old tried both the soft and hard Bridgestone tyres and worked especially on the front tyre, having encountered some small problems in that area at this race last year. The track has undergone an alteration to the chicane at turns six and seven, meaning Lorenzo’s tim e today was almost a second quicker than Rossi’s pole of last year. Casey Stoner finished just 0.011 off Lorenzo today, with a further half-second gap back to Nicky Hayden in third. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 1’35.169 Laps: 28 “I am happy with today and I feel very good on the bike; the weather is perfect and I love Assen! The new corner is very fast and I really like it, it’s great fun to ride through the chicane at such a speed. We could probably have a bit more traction but we have two more sessions to work on this and then we will try to get the best possible grid position again. The team is working so well and the ambience and atmosphere in our garage is amazing at the moment.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “The weather is unbelievable which we’re really happy about because it can be quite nasty here, but it looks like being very consistent, which is exactly what Jorge was today! He enjoyed it from the start and this showed in his times. We tried both the soft and hard Bridgestone tyres and worked a bit on the front, where he had some issues last year, but it looks good so far. We think the track will be about two seconds faster in the end so we can definitely find some more pace tomorrow, but we’ve made a good start here in Holland.”