Simoncelli remounted to claim sixth after his lowside trying to put a gap between himself and Hector Barbera in the battle for third. Hector Barbera made himself unpopular with the Italian crowd early on, his collision with Polaris World Aprillia rider Mattia Pasini sent the local hero tumbling through the gravel at  200km/hr.

The drama wasn’t centred solely around Hector Barbera, Alex Debon had a massive highside on lap three, landing in front of compatriot and fellow Aprillia rider Hector Faubel while Mika Kallio dented his championship hopes by running into the back of KTM teammate Hiroshi Aoyama, ending the race day for the Red Bull team early.

Despite not being developed for more than four years Yuki Takahashi managed to lead the race briefly on his JiR Team Scott Honda, the animated Japanese rider clearly delighted with his eventual second place finish. The battle at the front was exciting and at times frightening as Hector Barbera and Marco Simonceli dueled, with 17 laps remaining Barbera bumped Simonceli wide allowing Mattia Pasini through from fourth into the lead. The Italian crowd were on thier feet but thier excitement soon turned to anger as a mid corner collision bought about by an agressive challenge from Barbera sent thier man barreling through the gravel at high speed. Pasini had to be restrained by his pit crew and was clearly infuriated by the crash.

Hector Barbera and Marco Simonceli spent the middle part of the race locked in a fierce battle, at one point the Aprillia rider pushed the Gilera of Simonceli wide onto the concrete apron on the exit of the double right hander, Marco rejoined the track side by side with the Spaniard who once again made contact. The leaders antics allowed Bautista and Takahashi through into first and second with nine laps to go.

Barbera’s constant pressure paid off and Simonceli lowsided his Gilera with four laps to go, gifting Barbera third spot. The current championship leader rejoined to finish in sixth, and Barbera’s riding during the race is likely to be the subject of post race reviews.

Roberto Locatelli finished a surprise fourth place, his best result since a serious accident last year left the second Metis Gilera rider with critical injuries.

The carnage has opened up the championship and the top five riders are now seperated by just 51 points.

250cc Race Classification 

Simone Corsi managed to seize third position from Joan Olive in the final lap to close the gap between himself and Di Meglio to 28 points. Only English teenager Bradley Smith was able to trouble the Aspar Aprillia rider, whos error on lap 12 at the tight left hander briefly handed the Polaris rider the lead. The Brit managed to hold the lead for two laps before Talmasci retook the lead and immediately gapped him.

The seven way battle for third that developed behind Bradl during the early stages was disrupted by a hard charging mone Corsi whos somewhat ambitious and agressive moves carved up the pack. On lap eight Corsi opened up Di Meglio for  Ionone and Terol putting the world championship leader three positions behind him. Di Meglio soon made his way back behind the Italian however, and when Corsi made his way past the fading Bradl on lap 11 Di Meglio was able to follow him through.

It was too late to catch the two riders ahead though, and a fierce battle for the final podium spot developed. Di Meglio was the victim, crashing out and gifting third to Simone Corsi. Derbi rider Joan Olive took third back from Corsi with seven laps to go, but Corsi kept the pressure up, anxious to retain the 16 championship points now that Di Meglio was out.

It was a dramatic final lap with Joan Olive being pressured by Corsi, the Italian reclaiming third with two corners remaining. Olive’s dive into the final corner was too ambitious, and the Belson Derbi tasted italian gravel.

The 125cc Championship remains close with five rounds to go, and with the end of the season nearing the racing is heating up.

Australia’s Casey Stoner has thrown his championship aspirations down the road with his Ducati today in Misano. The reigning world champion has now crashed in the last three rounds, with two of those coming while protecting a comfortable lead handng Rossi the championship lead by 75 points with five rounds remaining.

It was an otherwise uneventful race at Misano, after Randy De Puniet got his customary exit out of the way early on lap one the race settled into a rhythm. Dani Pedrosa managed to hold up compatriots Toni Elias and Jorge Lorenzo until lap four when both Spaniards made their way into third and fourth.

 After eight laps Stoner had eked out a 3 second advantage over championship leader Valentino Rossi and was looking comfortable, so comfortable the Ducati rider decided to have a wee lie down in the Misano gravel.   

Stoner re-broke his scaphoid in bizarre circumstances during the week, appearing to reopen a break sustained in 2003, the accident appeared to be due to the weakness in his arm as a result of that injury, the Alice Ducati simply folding from under Stoner during a medium speed right hander. Regardless of the reason behind it the disappointing exit of Casey Stoner lit up the Italian crowd who’s enthusiasm didn’t waver even as Rossi settled into a comfortable rhythm at the front.

The battle for fifth provided some entertainment for the crowd as James Toseland and Chris Vermeulen closed on Andrea Dovisioso. The Tech 3 Yamaha passed the Honda of Dovioso with eight laps to go and the Rizla Suzuki of Vermeulen elbowed his way past the fading Dovisioso a lap later.  The three riders allowed Loris Capirossi to close up behind them as they battled, and when Vermeulen passed Toseland with six laps to go it was a Rizla double decker sandwich. Capirossi, Toseland and Dovisioso made the last lap interesting in the battle for sixth but it was Rossi crossing the line first ahead of team mate Lorenzo and Toni Elias.

Kawasaki riders Anthony West and John Hopkins rounded out the depleted field of fifteen. Honda’s Nicky Hayden failed to start due to a leg injury and De Puniet, De Angelis and Stoner all failed to finish.

Rossi now leads the championship by 75 points from Stoner.

The front pack was typical until lap three when Thomas Luthi crashes out of second place. It was an ugly crash with the Cafe Laté Rider running wide and tripping over himself in the gravel. Bautista and Kallio diced for third and fourth while Debon and Simoncelli carved each other up for the lead. The heated argument for the lead allowed the two red bikes to catch up and Hector Barbera tagged along for the ride. 

In the final three laps of the race Simoncelli and Debon took turns dive bombing each other  from ridiculous distances until Simoncelli managed to eke out a small gap in the lead. Bautista and Debon swapped second numerous times before a wildly ambitious move from Debon in the final corner forced Simoncelli wide. Bautista snuck through and as they cross the line it was Debon, Bautista and Simoncelli with the series leader having dropped from first to third in the space of the final corner.

Hector Barbera followed the trio home in fourth ahead of Mikko Kallio in fifth. The former ice racer dropped more points to Simoncelli and now trails the Italian by 16 points in the championship.

After qualifying 13^th on the grid Bradl rode the Grizzly Gas Kiefer Aprilia to a commanding win, managing to stave off an attack from the fast finishing series leader Mike Di Meglio.

The first lap was marred by the loss of Raffaele De Rosa, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Takaaki Nakagami and Danny Webb but the British fans were cheering as Bradley Smith led Stefan Bradl and Galbor Talmasci across the line into the second lap.

Smith led until lap three when Stefan Bradl broke past for the lead briefly. Smith reclaimed the lead before a brave move from Bradl opened up the door for Talmasci and relegated the youngster to third. By lap four Di Meglio had also found his way past smith and as Talmasci and Di Meglio fought Bradl escaped out the front.

It wasn’t easy sailing at the front of the pack as fierce attacks and counter attacks nearly saw the entire front train tumbling through the dirt time and time again. Terol was the instigator of one piece of hornet nest 125 antics very nearly taking out the three riders ahead of him.

As Marq Marquez exited stage left on lap seven Joan Olive arrived on the train at the front, splitting Talmasci and Terol in third place while Bradley Smith faded to sixth.

The race for second broke on lap 15 when Di Meglio set out to overhaul the one second gap to Bradl but the series leader had left his run too late. In the end it was Bradl from Di Meglio and Olive diving past Talmasci in the dying meters for third.

Simoni Corsi’s championship hopes faded with a distant 10^th place. There are now 44 points between Di Meglio and Corsi with 6 rounds to go.

Rossi’s smile evaporated soon after the start as the Ducati rider led the pack into turn one, Stoner led by more than a second after the first lap, and set a new lap record on lap two and again on lap five.

With more than a second and a half to next place Rossi and a further seven seconds back to the group vying for third Stoner looked comfortable, until a clumsy low-side on lap six took the Australian out of the race. Stoner managed to remount the Ducati but failed to make it back to pit lane and eventually stopped on the side of the track, his torn and tattered leathers a fitting simile for the reigning champion’s title hopes.

As Rossi settled into a rhythm and eked out a 15 second advantage over the field, the race for second sizzled behind him. Dani Pedrosa fired his Honda from 12^th on the grid into fifth part way through lap one before slowly fading backwards, while the two Kawasaki’s of Anthony West and John Hopkins battled with Capirossi and Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzukis for the final podium spot. On lap four the hard charging Elias signaled his arrival with a daring move on Dovizioso which also displaced Ant West. Randy De Puniet made yet another brief but romantic congress with the asphalt on lap five, and on lap six Stoner’s Ducati seemed to hit a bump in the track on a long right hander, throwing the number one machine down the road, and gifting Rossi 25 championship points.

With the battle group for third now a battle group for second tempers flared and the pace heated up, Capirossi, Vermeulen, West and Hopkins carving each other up lap after lap until on lap 10, Tony Elias from 13^th on the grid launched the satellite Ducati into second, saving face for Ducati on a disastrous day and simulataneously reviving his flagging career. Shinya Nakano caught up to the battle group. Vermeulen was balked by Elias and never really recovered, fading to sixth behind Nakano and West while teammate Capirossi sealed a welcome podium for the Rizla team. Marco Melandri was a solid seventh ahead of Alex De Angelis and Andrea Dovizioso, once as high as 5^th was the best of the Michelin riders in ninth. Jorge Lorenzo rounded out the top ten pipping John Hopkins in the dying stages of the race.

The MotoGP championship leaves Brno with Rossi 50 points clear of Stoner, and Pedrosa a further 15 points back in third. It will be a hard task for the field to catch Rossi from here, however the drama of the final few rounds of 2006 is not such a distant memory and with six rounds remaining the fight is certainly not over. The MotoGP circus now heads to San Marino, a crucial round for the title hopes of Stoner and Pedrosa, and also for the future of Michelin who are once again lagging behind Bridgestone.

MotoGP Race Classification 

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Motorcycle	Total time	Km/h	Gap
1	25	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	43′28.841	164.025
2	20	24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	Alice Team	Ducati	43′43.845	163.087	15.004
3	16	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	43′50.530	162.673	21.689
4	13	56	Shinya NAKANO	JPN	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	43′54.700	162.416	25.859
5	11	13	Anthony WEST	AUS	Kawasaki Racing Team	Kawasaki	43′58.306	162.194	29.465
6	10	7	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	43′59.449	162.123	30.608
7	9	33	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	44′05.294	161.765	36.453
8	8	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	44′05.591	161.747	36.750
9	7	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	JiR Team Scot MotoGP	Honda	44′07.663	161.620	38.822
10	6	48	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	44′08.414	161.575	39.573
11	5	21	John HOPKINS	USA	Kawasaki Racing Team	Kawasaki	44′08.451	161.572	39.610
12	4	50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	FRA	Alice Team	Ducati	44′09.733	161.494	40.892
13	3	52	James TOSELAND	GBR	Tech 3 Yamaha	Yamaha	44′40.331	159.651	1′11.490
14	2	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Tech 3 Yamaha	Yamaha	44′49.974	159.078	1′21.133
15	1	2	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	45′05.879	158.143	1′37.038
16		14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	45′07.248	158.063	1′38.407
Not classified
		1	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	11′49.228		16 Lap

Casey Stoner has smashed the lap record and bettered the 2007 A-Style Assen TT race time by almost 25 seconds in a dominant display at a dramatic Dutch MotoGP. The Ducati pilot doubled his winning margin from Donnington, crossing the line once again standing tall on the vertical Ducati  11.31 seconds ahead of Honda rider Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa’s teammate Nicky Hayden rode a strong race in third on the new pneumatic engine Honda, but the fresh engine proved to be too thirsty.  It was 2 years ago that a late race crash by Colin Edwards gifted Hayden his only MotoGP win outside of the USA, and with the Honda spluttering towards the line on fumes, the Tech 3 Yamaha swept by to claim the final podium spot and redress Edwards’ disappointment from 2006. Ironically Assen was the worst qualifying performance of the season for Edwards, and his best race result.

Nicky Hayden limped across the line behind his delighted compatriot for fourth while Andrea Dovizioso scored his fourth top five result in MotoGP with fifth place on the JiR Team Scot Honda.   

Jorge Lorenzo continued his solid showing with sixth place ahead of solo Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen and the sole remaining Gresini Honda of Shinya Nakano while James Toseland racked up another top ten finish in ninth.

Sylvain Guintoli just managed to finish in the top ten for the first time this season. Guintoli’s tenth was the best performance by a Ducati other than Casey Stoner with Elias and Melandri finishing second last and last after being rounded up by a recovering Valentino Rossi for 11^th and a valuable 5 points in the championship.

The opening lap saw Rossi make a critical error into the left hander at turn one, loading up the rear brake and low-siding on cold Bridgestones. The sliding Yamaha took out perennial crasher Randy De Puniet, surprising most in the paddock, who are more accustomed to seeing the asphalt-friendly Frenchman play the villain then the victim.

The same lap saw Alex De Angelis throw the Gresini Honda down the road in a nasty accident that appeared to injure the Italian for a brief moment and Anthony West joined the list of non-finishers on lap seven with a clumsy low side under breaking that didn’t help the terrible season for Kawasaki.

Casey’s dominant performance at Assen has closed the points gap between him and front runners Rossi and Pedrosa to just 25 points. Pedrosa has taken the lead from Valentino Rossi and leads the veteran 171 points to 167.

The next round at the Sachsenring Germany takes place on the 13^th July.

GRID

A quick kiss on the ‘cheek’ of Casey’s helmet from wife Adriana set the scene on the grid

LAP ONE

Pedrosa leads into turn one, Dovisioso and Nakano great starts.

Rossi has horror start, is back in the pack.

Rossi down,  Rossi takes out Depuniet, De Puniet wrist injured, rossi rejoins (rossi locked the rear and lowsided into the side of de puniet)

World in shock, someone took out De Puniet!

Stoner passes Pedrosa at change of direction

Alex De Angelis down not moving at first, perhaps winded, eventually walks off track

LAP TWO

Stoner lap record on lap two 1′36.82 (goes on to better this mark)

LAP FOUR

Stoner 2.1 seconds up

LAP FIVE

Vermeulen closing on nakano and dovisioso

LAP SIX

Vermeulen on nakano for sixth

LAP SEVEN

Vermeulen on dovisioso for fifth

LAP EIGHT

Ant West lowsides

LAP NINE

Guintoli runs off at chicane, rejoins with no loss of position

LAP TEN

Rossi in 13^th 16 seconds behind melandri in 12th

LAP FORTEEN

Edwards on Vermeulen

LAP FIFTEEN

Edwards on Dovisioso

LAP EIGHTEEN
Rossi on Melandri

LAP NINETEEN

Lorenzo caught Vermeulen by surprise, near contact as Lorenzo takes him for seven

LAP TWENTY

Lorenzo on Nakano for sixth
LAP TWENTY ONE

Stoners lead 9.2 seconds

LAP TWENTY THREE

Rossi on Elias for 11^th and 5 world championship points

LAP TWENTY SIX

Hayden runs out of fuel, home fourth, Edwards home third!

FINISH:

Stoner cuts into his 12 second lead with a big stand up wheelie across the line

Pos.	Rider		Team	Total time
1	C. STONER		Ducati Marlboro Team	42′12.337
2	D. PEDROSA		Repsol Honda Team	+ 11.310
3	C. EDWARDS		Tech 3 Yamaha	+ 17.125
4	N. HAYDEN		Repsol Honda Team	+ 20.477
5	A. DOVIZIOSO		JiR Team Scot MotoGP	+ 27.346
6	J. LORENZO		Fiat Yamaha Team	+ 28.608
7	C. VERMEULEN		Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	+ 32.330
8	S. NAKANO		San Carlo Honda Gresini	+ 34.892
9	J. TOSELAND		Tech 3 Yamaha	+ 38.566
10	S. GUINTOLI		Alice Team	+ 38.817
11	V. ROSSI		Fiat Yamaha Team	+ 46.025
12	T. ELIAS		Alice Team	+ 48.213
13	M. MELANDRI		Ducati Marlboro Team	+ 59.594
	A. WEST		Kawasaki Racing Team	19 Lap
	R. DE PUNIET		LCR Honda MotoGP
	A. DE ANGELIS		San Carlo Honda Gresini

]]> http://www.motogpmagazine.com/race-results/lap-by-lap-at-assen/feed/ http://www.motogpmagazine.com/latest-news/stoner-on-pole-at-assen/ http://www.motogpmagazine.com/latest-news/stoner-on-pole-at-assen/#comments Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:20:19 +0000 Jacob Black http://www.motogpmagazine.com/?p=50 Ducati Team rider and reigning world champion Casey Stoner has scored his third successive pole in qualifying for the Assen TT this weekend. The Australian is the first of three riders with qualifying times under the previous lap record in a depleted field of just sixteen riders.

The small MotoGP field is due to the absence of Loris Capirossi and John Hopkins, who both suffered major crashes and were unable to take the start grid. Loris has a puncture wound in his forearm after being trapped under his sliding Suzuki while John Hopkins suffered a broken ankle and to breaks to his leg after coliding with the advertising boards after a lowside at the fast Ramshoek corner.

The weekend has been marred by atrocious weather and often unreadable wind and rain. The conditions deemed too difficult and treacherous for Kawasaki and Rizla Suzuki to replace thier fallen riders with substitutes.

Stoner shares the front row with Dani Pedrosa who topped a wet and slippery free practice two and championship leader Valentino Rossi.

Nicky Hayden continues to perform with Honda’s new pneumatic valve engine in fourth while Randy De Puniet makes a surprise appearance rounding out the top five. Colin Edwards ends his run as the only rider to qualify in the top five all season with a sixth place birth for Assen.

Jorge Lorenzo is still battling confidence after a string of heavy falls and injuries but did well to qualify 7th leading the third row from Suzuki lone gunman Chris Vermeulen in 8th and Shinya Nakano in ninth.

Sylvain Guintoli rounds out the top ten in his best qualifying performance in 2008 so far.

The race is tipped to be a wet race with difficult conditions and possible gusty winds.

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′35.520 297.193
2 2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′35.552 293.318 0.032
3 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′35.659 290.869 0.139
4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′35.975 293.000 0.455
5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1′35.985 281.616 0.465
6 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1′36.278 290.010 0.758
7 48 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′36.532 290.010 1.012
8 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′36.768 284.061 1.248
9 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′36.804 285.186 1.284
10 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team Ducati 1′36.823 294.679 1.303
11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda 1′36.899 284.435 1.379
12 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′36.948 282.279 1.428
13 52 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1′36.978 285.638 1.458
14 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team Ducati 1′37.287 294.037 1.767
15 21 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 1′37.643 287.157 2.123
16 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 1′37.793 290.244 2.273
17 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′38.726 293.000 3.206

Loris’ arm was trapped under the bike during the crash, causing a severe puncture wound to his forearm. Fortunately the accident did no further damage to the broken hand Loris sustained at Catalunya 17 days ago.

Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Paul Denning said in a press release,

"I think it is necessary to make it clear that the crash was nothing to do with his recent hand injury and it was just one of those things that happens in racing. He was lucky that he didn´t break anything or cause more damage to the original injury, because it is a really fast place to crash. Unfortunately the bike got on top of him and ripped a sizeable piece of flesh from his right forearm"

The Suzuki manager gave no reason for not replacing Loris with Ben Spies, who rode to 14th in his debut MotoGP appearance last week in Great Britain. This decision leaves Australian Chris Vermeulen with the task of improving the bike for race day and scoring solid points for the Suzuki team on his own.

The team expects Capirossi to return for the Sachensring in two weeks time.