Curious about what happened to Team Toth at Assen yesterday?

Aprilia returned the bikes to Team Toth to have them undergo the pre-weekend technical checks, minus the electronic units. Without the units the bikes were useles and Aprilia would return them only on confirmation that Toth had paid up the outstanding debt.

Free practice was about to start and Toth’s bikes were still sitting silently in the garage with Mattia Pasini and the entire team nervously waiting for last minute news with Pasini hanging out a sign for journalists with “No moto, non parti” (no bike, no start) written on it, as the session started without them.

The session was almost half way over, when Aprilia’s Luca Boscoscuro arrived at Toth’s box bringing with him the impounded units, in a flurry the mechanics immediately mounted them on the bikes and Pasini tooke off like an banshee with team mate Imre Toth Jr. following, both trying to get in some of the remaining practice time.

Pasini was so angry and motivated that he rode like a wildman. On his third lap he was 17th, on his fourth lap he was a little more than a second from Marco Simoncelli who at that moment was leading. On his sixth lap he was already 7th, six tenths from the provisional leader. On the tenth lap headed back to his garage for some set-up adjustments and then back on track to throw down a best lap of 1’41”906. which would place him fifth at the end of the session, behind Bautista, Barbera, DiMeglio and Debon.

Strangely enough on Team Toth’s website, they continue to insist that this situation is something the Italian media made up.

Source | gpone

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