Assen 2011 will be remembered for: the fickle weather, Ben Spies first MotoGP victory, Marco Simoncelli messing up again and this time taking down Jorge Lorenzo with more controversy over the Italian’s riding habits, cold tire crashes and Valentino Rossi’s debut on the Ducati GP11.1.

Here’s what the rest of the riders had to say after today’s tough race:

Casey Stoner - 2nd

“Today we would have liked to challenge for the win, but the way this weekend has gone for us I’m really very happy for a podium finish and to take some valuable points. Yesterday we weren’t happy with the bike the set-up, so today we made some changes and tried to get some more feeling, but unfortunately in the warm-up we didn’t get a proper chance to try it, which meant we started the race with a set-up we didn’t really know. After the crash yesterday I’m a little bit sore. In the middle part of the race I started to have
some problems in the left hand corners with the shoulder, but in general we knew we didn’t really have the pace to stay with Ben (Spies). I tried everything possible to catch him, but he was able to retain the advantage and start to pull some more, so my congratulations to Ben, he rode a great race, but for us it was just important to get points today.”

Continue reading: MotoGP Assen rider recap

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After a very weak start to the season riding the factory Yamaha and loosing a lot confidence after several crashes, but Ben Spies finally broke his duck today at Assen, to give us one of his stellar performances that many fans remembered from when he was racing in the AMA and in WSBK’s and made him a champion.

Not only did Spies blitz the field, showing that the Yamaha M1 isn’t that far behind the highly hyped Honda as many may have thought, he was also the second rider to come from the Superbike series to win a MotoGP race, since Troy Bayliss put everyone to shame back in 2006 at Valencia.

“It was a strange race today as it was one of the most comfortable races we had and it resulted in a win,” said the Texas Terror. “I saw the Simoncelli crash on the TV screen in the corner of my eye so I knew about it. I had a good feeling in the bike in the first couple of laps and had to push as much as I could to get a gap. When Casey was pushing back I still had a few tenths if I needed to, we could always match the pace. To do it this weekend with the 50th colours gives a little bit of pressure but it came out good! I was racing as hard as I could, I have to thank my guys; they gave me a great bike today. At least we’ve won a race now!”

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That Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli have a certain history this season is a well known fact, that Marco Simoncelli has been amply criticized and lectured for being reckless is also a fact; as his inability to get to the podium despite being fast, because of his penchant for over riding and crashing out (four times in the last seven races), but today at Assen he took down reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, who needed some heavy points after a DNF at Silverstone and letting Casey Stoner take the lead in the standings.

While Lorenzo may have seemed cool and analytical in front of Italia 1’s cameras after the race, where he finished 6th, and despite an immediate apology by Simoncelli, the Yamaha rider was still seething mad, saying that he has no respect for the Simoncelli and that the Italian has to learn to manage his tires on the first lap and has to learn more racing strategy, naturally adding he was penalized by the crash and that his race was ruined.

“You saw what happened on the first lap on the TV. Of course he doesn’t want to take me out, that’s not his intention, but I think the problem is that he’s not very conscious about the risks there are in the category, with this bike and these tyres. I thought he learned from the past, from the controversy he created, like what happened with Dani (Pedrosa), but it’s clear that he doesn’t learn at the moment. I hope he learns in the future but at this moment I don’t have any respect for him because he is causing a risk to all the riders.” adding “If I were in the safety commission I’d take away his licence for several races, but I’m just a rider and I don’t have a lot of power to make those decisions.”

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Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden took 4th and 5th respectively, in today’s Dutch TT at Assen, but it could have been a lot worse if Marco Simoncelli hadn’t taken himself and Jorge Lorenzo out of the front running on the very first lap and Cal Crutchlow hadn’t gotten a very bad front tire.

The Ducati riders, with Rossi using for the very first time the Ducati GP11.1, a hybrid version of the GP11 with GP12 parts. The Italian’s best race lap was still 1.460s slower than Assen winner Ben Spies and the Italian will definitely have to cut that gap by at least one second at the next week’s Mugello race or there will be a march on Bologna, demanding Rossi’s and Del Torchio’s heads on a shiny red platter.

“We’re pretty satisfied with this result because compared to practice, we made a big improvement in the race,” said Rossi. “It would have been nice had we found the right direction more quickly, but this is a new bike that we’re still learning to work with, so obviously it takes some experience to get it right. In the end, we managed to find a setup that allowed me to ride pretty well but, not having tried it before, I approached the first laps very carefully. To be honest, we were also a little unlucky, because the rain during the warm-up prevented us from trying the changes. Anyway, the weekend was positive overall, because we got confirmation that this bike is better in many ways, especially with regard to the rear end, which is now much more stable. On the other hand, we also know that we must keep working because we still have a gap to the competition to make up. It’s not as big as the time we lost today in terms of seconds, but it’s still there. Still, we’re all trying really hard, and we must continue to do so.”

Continue reading: Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden talk about Assen race

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Yamaha’s Ben Spies took his maiden MotoGP race victory today at a cold, but dry Assen. The Texas Terror taking off from the second spot on the grid got away and at the end of the first lap was already 2.589s adrift from the rest of the field and never relinquishing his lead, comfortably taking his first win and helping Yamaha celebrate its 50th anniversary in GP racing.

While Yamaha could celebrate with Spies, team mate Jorge Lorenzo got caught up in a first lap accident with Marco Simoncelli. The Gresini rider suffered the ‘cold tire and we have to win on the first lap’ syndrome; coming up in the inside of Lorenzo and at first left hander (and his team didn’t want Bridgestone to bring in the new softer tires from Germany) of De Strubben and crashed taking Lorenzo with him.

Both riders were able to re-mount, and Simoncelli had to bump start his Honda all by himself, both started cutting a super fast swathe through the back of the field and gobbling up slower riders with ease. Lorenzo would finish sixth and Simoncelli in 9th, while Karel Abraham and Randy de Puniet weren’t as lucky, both riders crashed in the opening lap and unable to return to track.

Continue reading: Ben Spies scores maiden MotoGP victory at Assen

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This morning’s MotoGP warm-up practice at Assen was a wash out with lap times not even worth mentioning, as the 20 minute session started dry and less than halfway through began to rain lightly sending the riders scurrying back to their pit garages ruing the weather.

Only a few riders risked it out, some on full soft slicks like Rossi who posted the best time when it was still dry or on wets like Nicky Hayden and Karel Abraham even if it wasn’t wet enough, risking to tear up their tires. Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet were suited up, but decided not to hit the track.

Several riders even tried a flag to flag practice start, forseeing that this afternoon’s race that could start wet and end up dry or the opposite, depending on the fickle Dutch weather.

Continue reading: MotoGP Assen: Rossi in warm-up washout

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We’ve got our first gallery of images from the Assen circuit with the riders relaxing or psyching up in their garages before practice sessions and having last minute talks with their techs, all for your enjoyment.

Continue reading: Photos from MotoGP Assen

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Today’s qualifying session at the Assen TT circuit was hot affair between Marco Simoncelli and Ben Spies who slugged it out for the pole position, while the others suffered with set-up problems and problematic rear tires and injuries.

The tires caused enough problems due to the different temperatures (15°C less than last year) that Bridgestone offered to bring in tires with an extra soft left shoulder (the left shoulder was incriminated as causing the crashes) for tomorrow’s warm-up and race, however the offer was rejected as one team decided not to accept the offer and to change the rules there has to be a unanimous vote.

Marco Simoncelli - 1st

“Obviously I am really happy, but right now I just want everything to go to plan on race day and finally pick up the result I feel myself and the team deserve. The bike is good although obviously not quite 100% because we have not had much time to set it up and there is not a lot of grip in a lot of the corners. I have been fast in the wet and the dry and my pace is good, but now it is important to do well tomorrow - maybe the fact we’re racing on a Saturday could be a good omen!”

Continue reading: Assen MotoGP qualifying recap

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Veteran MotoGP rider Loris Capirossi has been ruled out of tomorrow’s race at Assen, following a viscious highside in the final minutes of today’s qualifying session.

The Pramac Ducati rider crashed out and was hit by his own bike and sustained a dislocated right shoulder and injured rib cartilage (and not broken ribs as his manager Carlo Pernat previously reported) which will force him to sit out the race.

“There’s not much to say. It’s not much fun to be crushed by a bike at high speed. I’m feeling better now, although I’m sorry to miss tomorrow’s race,” said Capirex. “I crashed as I was at my best; I could have dropped my time, but the problem in left-hand corners, which we had already experienced in the morning’s free-practice session, caused me to lose control. Tomorrow I’ll go back to Monte Carlo, and in two days I’ll undergo some more checks on my physical condition.”

Most of today’s crashes have been due to the left side of the rear tire not generating enough heat and Bridgestone had warned the riders and teams that this could be a problem this weekend with the lower than expected temperatures at Assen.

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Marco Simoncelli took his second pole position of the season under cloudy skies and a dry track at Assen. The Gresini Honda rider was consistently fast throughout the session, but so was Ben Spies. The two riders exchanged fast laps, but Simoncelli upped his pace to finish just a blink ahead of the Yamaha rider (0.009s) and the two were the only ones to break the 1.35 mark.

Casey Stoner suffering from a bruised shoulder after this morning’s crash, put in a last lap effort to grab take the third spot on the starting grid. The three Respol Honda crashes in FP2 cost the team over 300.000 euros in damages.

Starting on the second row will be reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, while Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso who picked up a micro fracture to his fifth metatarsal in his morning crash edged out Cal Crutchlow for fifth by just one tenth of a second. The Briton is riding with a broken collarbone sustained during qualifying at Silverstone two weeks ago.

Rookie Karel Abraham (his team renewed with Ducati for another year) had another great showing, taking the seventh spot on the grid and ended up the best Ducati rider, finishing ahead of Nicky Hayden (9th), Randy de Puniet (10th) and Valentino Rossi.

It was another disastrous qualifying session for the Italian who ended up in a quagmire with his new GP11.1, lingering for almost the whole session down in the back of the field only to pull himself out in the final minutes and take an 11th spot, but a massive 1.846s off pace.

Loris Capirossi had a bad crash in the last ten minutes of the session with his Ducati hitting his back and the rider lost consciousness for a moment, he has been diagnosed at the moment with at least three broken ribs.

Continue reading: MotoGP Assen: Marco Simoncelli takes 2nd pole position of the season

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Due to yesterday’s free practice cancellation, this morning’s longer second practice session started under cloudy skies and a dry track, but halfway through it started to drizzle, and then with 20 minutes left it started to rain with the riders holing up in their garages, but several riders took to track with their rain tires and then the sun came out again. Typical Assen weather.

Repsol Honda started the session with a big bang, all three of their riders crashed out in less than three minutes; Casey Stoner highsided out on his second lap out, as did his team mate Andrea Dovizioso at the same left-hander turn (and almost hit by Simoncelli) and just a few second later so did Hiroshi Aoyama, but at another turn, and all three crashes were blamed on the cold tire syndrome/or some damp area. Both Dovizioso and Aoyama had to be medicated at the Clinica Mobile, but both were able to return to track, battered and bruised. The Italian and Japanese riders’ finished the session in 8th and 15th.

The leader of the field was again Marco Simoncelli who was the fastest in yesterday’s wet conditions and also in the dry posting a best lap of 1.36.419 and he was followed by Casey Stoner who was just 0.193s adrift despite his crash.

Continue reading: MotoGP Assen: Marco Simoncelli continues to lead also in FP2

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Marco Simoncelli was the fastest rider of a very short day for MotoGP action at Assen. All the FP2 sessions were cancelled due to an oil spill that left the track like the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez and tomorrow’s FP3 will now be lengthened to a 90 minute session to recoup the lost time.

Here’s what all the riders had to say, which was mainly about the wet weather and the oil spill, and probably the most interesting thing was Colin Edwards saying, ” I sneezed in bed last night and didn’t cry for the first time in about three weeks, so that’s a bonus.” and we’ve found out that Pramac Ducati has received new frames.

Marco Simoncelli - 1st

“It is a shame that we couldn’t ride this afternoon because of the track conditions but we will be able to make up for it with the extra time tomorrow. This morning I went very well on a very wet track and we were able to get valuable data and a feeling for the track. I am happy and I can’t wait for tomorrow to get back on the bike. We will try something with the front-end set-up and some electronic solutions but already we have good traction and stability on the rear.”

Continue reading: MotoGP Assen Thursday riders recap

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