Will Rossi take his 100th GP victory at Assen?
Round seven of the 2009 MotoGP Championship takes place this coming weekend in Assen - giving Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) the chance to garner his 100th GP victory. Last season Rossi had his worst result of the year at the Dutch track when he crashed early in the race and fought back to finish 11th, but he is traditionally a strong performer at Assen with victories to his name in all three categories there - four of those in the premier class. Following his epic battle with his teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Rossi will aim to maintain his championship momentum with another win but he knows that Lorenzo and Casey Stoner (Marlboro Ducati) - who are both tied with the Italian on 106 points at the head of the standings - will also be pushing to the maximum at 'the Cathedral of motorcycling'.
Lorenzo also has a good record at Assen, having won there in the 250cc and 125cc classes, and the 22 year-old Spanish star refers to the circuit as his favourite MotoGP venue. Having been beaten by Rossi by just 0.095s in his home Grand Prix Lorenzo will be desperate for revenge in Saturday’s race. Last year’s Dutch race winner Stoner is likely to be a far stronger victory candidate than in Catalunya where he rode heroically to finish on the podium despite being unwell, finishing just in front of Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) before almost collapsing as he dismounted his GP9.
Dovizioso has been fractions of a second off the rostrum in the last three races and should any of the current top three slip up in The Netherlands the young Italian will hope to take advantage. Two points behind his factory Honda colleague in the standings - Dani Pedrosa should be in better physical shape than in Barcelona where he took sixth place despite riding with the painful right hip injury which he sustained at Mugello in the previous round.
Assen is the only circuit that has stayed as part of the World Championship since the first season back in 1949. In 2006 it under went major alterations, with the removal of the majority of the Northen Loop section, making way for the TT World fans' area. The rest of the circuit retains much of its original character, making it one of the most technical and physically demanding circuits on the calendar. Unlike a lot of other circuits, which feature long straights and medium-fast corners, Assen is tight, flowing and characterised by high-speed corners and quick changes in direction. Even the surface is unusual, with many sections cambered in the style of a public road to aid drainage.
Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha
Assen is a very special track for all riders and it is a wonderful place to ride a MotoGP bike, even if it was better before they changed the layout. Last year I had my worst point of the season there so I want to make up for that with a good performance, because the fans are very passionate and they deserve a good show. After Barcelona we know how strong we are but also our rivals are strong too so we can’t afford to relax, we have to keep pushing. Montmeló was fantastic, one of my best wins ever, but the championship is very close between the three of us and so we have to try to win again to take the lead. There is still a long way to go but we have to remain consistent.
Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha
I could never have imagined after the crash in Jerez that I would have the opportunity to become leader again so quickly, but here we are at the front with Casey and Valentino! The last three races have been fantastic and almost unbelievable, and now for the three of us it’s almost like we’re starting the championship all over again. Assen is my favourite track and I am going there feeling very confident in my bike and my Bridgestone tyres and with all the team feeling very motivated. Last year I was sixth so the most important thing is to improve on that, but of course I am aiming for another podium, because consistency is the way to remain close to the top of the standings. We had a positive test in Barcelona and now I will hope to show our improvements with an even better performance in Holland.
Nicky Hayden - Ducati Marlboro
Assen is a special circuit for me - I love it here. The final split is my favourite because you have a run of fast corners that are crucial to a fast lap. The weather can change from one minute to the next so it will be important to make the most of all the track time available to us. I've had some of the best races of my career at Assen, like the fight for the win with Colin (Edwards) in 2006, which is my favourite. In 2007 I finished third and the last year I had the heart break to loose the podium in the last corner! We know we have a lot of work to do but myself and the team are hoping that the Catalunya race was the start of a major turnaround that we can continue to build on until the end of the season.
Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro
Assen is a strange track for me because before I rode there in MotoGP it was one of my favourite circuits but one where I never managed to get great results in the smaller categories. Then in 2006 I had a decent result and since then, with the Ducati, I've always been fast. Considering the fact that the GP9 has already shown that it is competitive on a variety of circuits, I can't wait to get back to Assen. Ideally we'd like another weekend of consistent good weather so that we can work on the bike and find a bit more rear grip, which is the only thing we’re missing at the moment. The rest of the bike is great - it is turning well and the front is really stable under braking. I wasn't really fit at the test and I didn't do a lot of laps but we did what we needed to and now we'll try and take advantage of that work in the next race.
Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki
I really look forward to going to Assen. Holland is where my family came from so there are always people around that remember my Grandfather and tell me how they are related to me - so I feel like a bit of me is coming home! We had a good test after the Catalunya race and if we can translate that into the forthcoming weekend then I am sure we can be competitive. I enjoy riding at Assen and I have won there in World Superbikes, but I have never quite got the results I think I've deserved - or certainly wanted - in MotoGP. I hope this will be the weekend when that all changes!
Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki
I am still very happy from my performance in Catalunya, but this is a whole new race and we have to begin again. We used the new engine specification in Spain and then did a lot of testing with new parts on the Monday so we have a lot of data to use for this weekend. We hope we'll use the new spec engine again at Assen but it is still being developed and Suzuki needs to check everything, so we will just have to wait and see. I really want to carry on with the good progress we are making, especially at Assen because I didn't get the chance to race there last year. I also want to do well for Rizla - they deserve a good result at what is really their 'home' racetrack.
Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda
Since the race in Barcelona I've basically been resting, trying to give my hip as much chance to improve as possible. Obviously there hasn't been a lot of time - just over one week - but I certainly feel a lot better now than immediately after the last race when I was totally exhausted. I'm feeling positive about the weekend and we'll just have to see how it goes when riding starts on Thursday. My intention would be to ride without receiving any pain-killing injections because gradually they lose their effectiveness and they are not something I want to rely on - we'll see how the feeling is when I start to ride. Assen is a track with good memories for me because I won my first GP here and I've had quite a few podiums here too. The recent changes where they shortened the circuit have removed some of its character but it still requires a lot of commitment to ride it well - especially through the fast direction changes where you need an agile machine set-up. The atmosphere is always special here because it's such a historic place, so I'm looking forward to getting out on track again.
Andrea Dovizioso - Repsol Honda
I've been really looking forward to getting back on the bike since we left Catalunya last week. We had a positive test on the Monday after the Barcelona race and that, combined with the constant improvement we’ve been making race after race, means I'm very confident. So I'm look forward to getting back in the garage with the team, continuing to work on our machine package and to getting a good result in Assen. I've been really close the podium in the last three rounds and at the same time closing the time gap to the race winner, so I’m determined to get into the top three as soon as possible - hopefully this weekend. Assen is not actually one of my favourite tracks though. Since the layout modifications, the fascination of the circuit has been lost a little, but still I have good memories of last year’s race where I finished fifth after qualifying 11th. It's a circuit of two sections - the first part is quite slow while the second part is more technically demanding - and the weather can also play its part in the Netherlands too. But whatever happens, I’m looking forward to another strong weekend for me and the team.
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