All posts tagged motogp assen
MotoGP Assen: Marco Simoncelli leads FP1 in the wet
As expected in this first MotoGP free practice at Assen all eyes were pointed on Valentino Rossi and the new GP11.1. While the session was fully wet and so it was difficult to see if all the new updates that Ducati have been marched out are the solution to the problems that have been plaguing the GP11 and Rossi, but something is working, because the Italian finished second in the practice, behind the always fast Marco Simoncelli and only 0.360s adrift, and looking for the first time since the season started finally at ease on his Ducati.
The third spot went strangely enough to Casey Stoner, strangely because we are used to seeing him dominate the weekend from the first practice, he was 0.491s from Simoncelli, but checking out his intermediate lap times he’s fast as usual. Team mate Andrea Dovizioso who was second at Silverstone in the same conditions as today took fourth.
Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo took fifth on his M1, sporting Yamaha’s special 50th Anniversary livery. Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow was sixth riding just days after undergoing collarbone surgery, while also recovering team mate Colin Edwards was seventh. Rookie Karel Abraham had another good showing on his Ducati taking eighth followed by Nicky Hayden who only has the Ducati step 2 and Ben Spies closed out the top ten.
Continue reading: MotoGP Assen: Marco Simoncelli leads FP1 in the wet
Dani Pedrosa to miss Assen GP, targeted return Mugello
Despite explicitly not saying so in his Repsol Honda blog, it seems like Dani Pedrosa has decided to skip this weekend’s Assen GP to continue his rehabilitation, after going through further surgery last Thursday to fix a bone fragment in his right collarbone.
“It’s been some days since the surgery and I feel much better. I don’t feel the pain I had before the operation and the evolution has been very good. I’ve already begun the rehabilitation and I am very positive. Every day I notice an improvement and this is very good because I really wish to get back on the bike as soon as possible. To be honest it will be very difficult for me to make it to Assen, but I really believe I will be okay for Mugello, so now I’m focused on working to get better every day and see how far I get. I want to return as soon as possible, but I want to do the right thing,” wrote the Repsol Honda rider.
After missing two GPs and ruling himself out of Assen, Pedrosa is targeting his return for the Italian GP at the Mugello July 3rd (where on Monday he should finally get the his first taste of the new Honda GP 1000cc bike, after missing the first test at Jerez in May).
With the Spaniard missing three GPs in a row, Honda is contractually be obliged to find a a replacement rider; so Hiroshi Aoyama has been lined up take his place at Assen, while HRC test rider, Kousuke Akiyoshi is stepping in to take Aoyama’s place in the San Carlo Honda Gresini Team.
Ducati to debut the GP11.1 at Assen
That Ducati is hard at work is testified by the number of tests and development work they’re still doing on the GP11 trying to help Valentino Rossi get around his highly disappointing season (rumors have it that sponsor Phillip Morris is not happy at all with the results of the highly paid Italian champion) so Ducati has decided to bring to this weekend’s Assen GP a new version of the GP11 dubbed the GP11.1.
The GP11.1 is fitted with Ducati’s new 2012 chassis and also features the DST (Ducati Seamless Transmission) that has been inspired by Honda’s initially controversial DCT (dual clutch transmission).
“We decided to make the GP11.1, which is an 800cc engine in a GP12 chassis, in order to accelerate development on next year’s bike, and also to provide our riders with a potentially better base for the current championship,” said Ducati’s technical boss Filippo Preziosi. “Considering that Valentino still hasn’t ever ridden the GP11.1, this decision could require some races for the team to completely take advantage of its potential, but we decided to move forward with it because we believe it’s an important step for our development process. The next-generation gearbox, on the other hand, is a solution that we think will be an immediate improvement. The Ducati Corse Department will continue studying further innovations, both for this year and for 2012.”
Cal Crutchlow will attempt to race at Assen
Cal Crutchlow was in serious doubt whether he’d be able take part in this weekend’s Assen GP after undergoing collarbone surgery just last week that left him in serious pain.
However, his pain level must have greatly diminished over these last few days and rehabilitation must be going well, because he’s tweeted “For update ! Yes I will ride at assen … see how I am on Thursday etc and go from there.”
With the Yamaha Tech3 rider attempting to ride the grid, will be back to sixteen riders with only Dani Pedrosa still uncertain whether he’ll be returning after missing the last two GP’s and undergoing a second surgery last Thursday.
It’ll also be interesting to see if Crutchlow will have anything to say to team mate Colin Edwards when he entertained fans at Silverstone with “I’d like to do her” referring to Crutchlow’s girlfriend Lucy.
Dani Pedrosa's second surgery deemed successful
Dani Pedrosa’s second surgery on his fractured collarbone has been deemed successful by Dr. Xavier Mir, Chief of the Pathology Unit of the Hand of Dexeus USP, and Dr. Cesar Garcia Madrid, vascular specialist of the Institute Planell at Teknon Medical Center who performed in conjunction the surgery on the Repsol Honda rider.
This second operation, his third this season, was to fix, by compression osteosynthesis, a small fragment of bone that had dislodged during the rehabilitation process, apparently this technique allows for faster consolidation and minimises the resting time, and according to Dr. Mir, Pedrosa can begin rehabilitation in the next 48 hours.
Whether the Spaniard will be up to taking part in next week’s round at Assen still remains to be seen and more news will probably be available on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.
Dani Pedrosa updates on recovery and still unsure for Assen GP
Dani Pedrosa updated the Repsol blog where he writes, and it seems that his slated return for the June 25th Assen GP, is looking somewhat bleak :
“I’d love to know if I’ll be in Assen or not, but it’s something I don’t know yet. Recovery is going somewhat slower than expected and I’m taking taking it day by day. Assen is still a week ahead and I do not know how I’ll be in a few days. I’m a little down, because I want to recover and return to racing, but the evolution of the injury escapes my desire and will. I’m doing everything I can to recover and I’m following medical advice 100%.”
Pedrosa injured his collarbone on May 17 after his controversial crash with Marco Simoncelli and has skipped two rounds so far and that inself has sparked a lot of rumors, with the main one being that the Repsol Honda rider re-injured himself just in some sort of training or domestic accident while he was recovering, which was hotly denied along with the rumor that Pedrosa would no longer race this season.
To try prove that something did happen to Pedrosa post surgery, Italian website Motorcorse even tracked down a picture of Pedrosa at a bowling alley on the eve of the announcement of his Catalunya GP pullout and subsequently also the Silverstone GP.
Ben Spies interview (w/video)
Interview Ben Spies from Racesport.nl on Vimeo.
The Iveco TT Assen is scheduled for June 25th and Yamaha is going to debut the special YZR-M1 WGP 50th Anniversary Edition livery and kick off a series of special events for their 50th anniversary in GP racing, so they had Ben Spies fly to the Dutch circuit on a private jet (is it his personal plane??) with mom Mary, team manager Mario Meregelli and Yamaha comunications manager William Favero to take part in a pre-event press conference.
Check out the video interview with Spies as he talks about his season so far.
Source | racesport.nl
Yamaha M1 50th Anniversary Special Edition for Assen and Laguna Seca (w/video)
Yamaha is celebrating its 50th Anniversary of World Championship Grand Prix racing this year and has decided to run this very special livery called the YZR-M1 WGP 50th Anniversary Edition for the upcoming Assen TT (June 25th) and Laguna Seca (July 24th) rounds.
Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and 2010 Rookie of the Year Ben Spies will unveil this livery during at a special event on Wednesday 22nd June close to the Assen circuit.
The unique red and white livery design pays homage to the iconic Yamaha Factory Racing liveries of the past with a modern twist. The red and white livery will be used by Yamaha Factory Racing team riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies. The colours will also appear on all Yamaha staff and team crew as well as the Yamaha Factory Racing team’s pit box.
Continue reading: Yamaha M1 50th Anniversary Special Edition for Assen and Laguna Seca (w/video)
MotoGP Assen Final Rider Quotes
Jorge Lorenzo was unstoppable at the TT Circuit Van Drenthe at Assen in today’s MotoGP race. ‘Porfuera’ now has four victories in five races, including today, and has 140 points and is leading by 47 points from second place Dani Pedrosa.
Check out what the riders had to say after the race:
Jorge Lorenzo - 1st
“This race was a bit more difficult than Silverstone because Dani was so fast with the softer tyre early on in the race and I had to really keep my concentration to stay in front of him at that point. I was confident that my harder Bridgestone tyre would help me later on and this was the case, so we made the right choice. It wasn’t easy though and at the end I was sliding quite a lot, in fact I made a mistake at the chicane and nearly crashed so I was quite glad to finish! I am really happy that I have won here in all three classes because it’s such a historic place and the football I had in Parc Ferme was to celebrate this ‘hat-trick.’ Thanks to all my Yamaha guys and also to Bridgestone for this win, we have a big lead in the championship so we can afford to stay calm and relaxed. Now we go to my home in Barcelona and I am excited about another chance to race in front of the Spanish fans.”
MotoGP Assen: Jorge Lorenzo Wins Again
If you were expecting a duel between Jorge Lorenzo and the rest of the aliens minus one at Assen, you can forget it, because the Fiat Yamaha rider got off the starting line never looking back until he crossed the finish line and taking his fourth win of the season.
Dani Pedrosa qualified only seventh, but as usual the Repsol Honda rider had a rocket start and at the first turn was already third behind Ben Spies, who ran second for several laps keeping Pedrosa at bay, until the Spaniard executed a perfect pass between the Mandeveen e Duikersloot and starting chasing after Lorenzo.
Pedrosa was able to close the lead at one point, but when the race entered the twelfth lap Lorenzo poured on the speed with his hard tire making the difference. Pedrosa would finish second and 2.935s behind his fellow countryman.
Casey Stoner was able to reach the two front runners and he was only 0.6s from Lorenzo, but his medium tires started to fade and out came his arm pump problems that further handicapped him, but it was a third place podium for the Australian and his first podium of the season and his last one was in October 2009 at Sepang.
Live pics from Assen: the paddock girls
For this behind the scenes at the MotoGP gallery I had to put myself in the shoes of my male colleagues. It’s in fact, not difficult to do because you can still think like a woman. If a brolly girl outfit is centred around a short vest, it’s all about the waist line, for example. Mostly though, there are an awful lot of legs in these pictures and not a lot of umbrellas. I have it on good authority that the Monster Tech 3 girls are the hottest, although the LCR Honda girl Lauren Vickers has been nominated by a colleague of mine as the number one brolly holder of the paddock. Enjoy the live paddock girl gallery from here at the MotoGP Assen.
MotoGP Assen: Lorenzo Fastest Also in Warm-Up
Fastest in both practices, fastest in qualifying and Jorge Lorenzo was also the fastest in this morning’s warm-up session at Assen. The Spaniard laid down a series of fast laps, five in the 1.35 mark and then four in the 1.34s and finally stopping the clock at 1′34″773.
Dani Pedrosa took second and after a difficult qualifying, he now has an excellent race pace and was just 0.151s from Lorenzo. Casey Stoner came in third, while Randy de Puniet slipped back to sixth but he’s second on this afternoon’s starting grid.
Ben Spies took fourth the same position, the same as his qualifying position and he was a little more than five tenths slower than Lorenzo and was followed by Andrea Dovizioso. Colin Edwards moved up the chart this morning to take seventh, while Aleix Espargaro came in eighth. Nicky Hayden took a big step backwards and finished in ninth. Marco Simoncelli closed out the top ten.
Continue reading: MotoGP Assen: Lorenzo Fastest Also in Warm-Up
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