Newport Beach, CA American JD Beach is racing this weekend at the Assen TT in hopes of having a solid performance in front of Dutch MotoGP fans in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race. The weekend prior saw Beach ride a tough race in very difficult wet conditions at Donington Park and finish below where he has all season. The difficulty began with an uncharacteristic crash in qualifying that relegated JD to 12th place on the grid. For the race, a temperature problem on his bike made things even worse as he got off the line absolutely dead last, quite a distance away from the second to the last bike going into the first turn. He put his head down, however, and began an impressive drive through the pack that netted him a very respectable 5th place finish, especially as the current points leader (Luis) Salom finished behind him in 9th, allowing JD to make up some key championship points. JD currently is only 9 points out of the championship lead. “For me the Donington race wasn’t that great. I didn’t do as well as I had wanted and I struggled at that track. My lines were bad and I found it tough to push hard. So considering that and the wet conditions, I guess I did pretty well.” Happy to put the Donington experience behind him, Beach is ready for the upcoming Dutch race. “After Donington I went with the Stoners, some of their friends, and Chris Hillard from Alpinestars to a roller coaster park near the track. That was a lot of fun then we all took a ferry over to Holland and drove onto Assen.” “I’m not going to let what happen in Donington affect how I ride at Assen. The Cup is getting close to being over so every race counts. Plus, I like Assen. It’s a fun track. The front straight isn’t too long so it will be tough to draft pass people to the finish line. Some turns are difficult but all together it’s really fun. Friend, Cam Beaubier, met up with JD today at the track and will be on hand to represent the Red Bull MotoGP Academy and to support JD for the race, which begins at 3:30pm on Saturday, immediately following the MotoGP race.