2013/6/29

Bravo Rossi, congratulations Lorenzo!

Valentino Rossi has won the Iveco TT Assen, picking up his 80th victory in the MotoGP™ premier class and his first since the Malaysian Grand Prix of 2010. The nine-time World Champion shared the podium with Marc Marquez and pole-sitter Cal Crutchlow, with Jorge Lorenzo finishing fifth despite a broken collarbone. 

Lorenzo generated many of the headlines before the race, having been cleared to race less than four hours before the start and having travelled back from an operation in Barcelona. Rossi¢s afternoon started from fourth on the grid. A decisive pass on LCR Honda MotoGP¢s Stefan Bradl saw the Yamaha rise to third in a very strong move at the chicane as the first lap came to a close. The Italian then proceeded to hunt down the Hondas, dispatching of Marquez on Lap 4 and Pedrosa on Lap 6 in what was a similar move to that of 2007. He would go on to take an emotional victory by 2.1 seconds. 


Marquez¢s second place boosts his championship situation, finishing ahead of both Pedrosa and Lorenzo. Having sealed his first front row starting position since Le Mans, the 20-year-old rookie ran third but caught Pedrosa on the 18th lap; his first attempt to overtake failed, but the reigning Moto2™ champion made the most of his next opportunity and seized second spot on the drag to the first corner. Pedrosa would fall back one more place before the chequered flag, losing out to Monster Yamaha Tech 3¢s Crutchlow who was fortunate to avoid a crash when he touched Marquez¢s rear wheel on the final lap. Although fourth is Pedrosa¢s worst result since Round 1 in Qatar, he still extends his championship lead by two points. 


Lorenzo was mightily relieved to have scored 11 points, having suffered a heavy crash on Thursday before being operated on in the early hours of Friday morning. He arrived back at Assen on Friday afternoon and was given the green light to race after 11 o¢clock this morning. Having risen to the top five from 12th on the grid by only the second lap, he ran as high as fourth but fell back as pain began to kick in. Sixth place went to Bradl, who, from his first ever MotoGP front row, had briefly snatched second at the start, whereas GO&FUN Honda Gresini¢s Alvaro Bautista overhauled leading CRT rider, Power Electronics Aspar¢s Aleix Espargaro, for seventh with six laps to go. On the final lap Ducati Team¢s Nicky Hayden lost two places and fell to 11th, dropping behind Tech 3¢s Bradley Smith and his own teammate Andrea Dovizioso.
Valentino Rossi¢s success is his first since returning to Yamaha and, as well as being his 80th win in the top tier, is his 106th career victory and eighth at Assen.

Comment: This was a great and comfortable victory for Rossi. Millions of fans will be happier tonight, it was about time concerning the sport. However, will this be continued? Time will tell. 
From another point of view, Lorenzo¢s risky decision to race just after a collarbone operation was completely justified. His 5th position to the finish today, preserved totally his chances to winning the 2014 Championship. Of course Pedrosa¢s poor performance helped him a lot. However Lorenzo brings the power of will of a motoGP athlete and his commitment for the best result to a new level. After all, this is the meaning of that Spartan figure on his helmet. 



IVECO TT ASSEN MotoGP Race Classification 2013 
Assen, Saturday, June 29, 2013 
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap 
1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 171.0 41'25.202 
2 20 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 170.9 +2.170 
3 16 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 170.7 +4.073 
4 13 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 170.5 +7.832 
5 11 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 170.0 +15.510 
6 10 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 169.1 +27.519 
7 9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 168.9 +31.598 
8 8 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 168.8 +32.405 
9 7 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 168.7 +33.751 
10 6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 168.7 +33.801 ` 

MotoGP World Standing 2013 

 Pos.   Rider  Bike  Nation  Points
 1  Dani PEDROSA  Honda  SPA 136
 2  Jorge LORENZO   Yamaha  SPA 127
 3  Marc MARQUEZ  Honda  SPA 113
 4  Cal CRUTCHLOW  Yamaha  GBR  87
 5  Valentino ROSSI  Yamaha  ITA  85
 6  Andrea DOVIZIOSO   Ducati  ITA  65
 7  Stefan BRADL  Honda   GER  51
 8  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati  USA  50
 9  Alvaro BAUTISTA  Honda  SPA  47
 10  Aleix ESPARGARO  ART  SPA  44





2013/6/28

Career-first pole for Cal Crutchlow as Jorge Lorenzo returns to Assen
Britain¢s Cal Crutchlow will start from his first ever GP pole position for Saturday¢s Iveco TT Assen. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider will share the front row with Repsol Honda Team¢s Marc Marquez and LCR Honda MotoGP¢s Stefan Bradl. 

World Champion Jorge Lorenzo missed qualifying after his crash on Thursday, however following an overnight operation has returned to Assen to undergo a fitness test tomorrow morning before Warm Up for a possible return. A truly dramatic qualifying session for the 65th World Championship Dutch TT concluded with several riders grabbing provisional pole position, only to be demoted by their rivals just moments later. Rain had fallen earlier in the day but would not disrupt the grid-deciding period. 

Yamaha Factory Racing¢s Valentino Rossi, Bradl and Marquez all provisionally held the top spot before Crutchlow delivered the pole time of 1¢34.398 to become the first British MotoGP™ pole-sitter since Jeremy McWilliams at Phillip Island in 2002. Behind him, Marquez qualified in the top three for the first time since Le Mans and 2011 Moto2™ title winner Bradl sealed his first front row start in the premier class. Marquez crashed in the morning session, breaking a finger and a toe, although he will be racing tomorrow. Honda¢s Dani Pedrosa had looked likely to collect his third consecutive pole, but crashed at De Bult with six and a half minutes remaining and would tumble to fifth. 

Rossi qualified fourth, his best qualifying this year, whereas Tech 3¢s Bradley Smith will line up behind Pedrosa in sixth – also his best grid position to date. The third row will be headed up by Power Electronics Aspar¢s Aleix Espargaro, who further raised the bar as the best ever CRT qualifier. It was also a positive day for teammate Randy de Puniet, who was quickest in Q1 and will start ninth.




IVECO TT ASSEN MotoGP Qualifying Nr. 2 Classification 2013 Assen, 
Friday, June 28, 2013 
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 
1 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 302.0 1'34.398
2 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 305.0 1'34.755 0.357 / 0.357 
3 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 302.9 1'34.878 0.480 / 0.123 
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 299.4 1'34.974 0.576 / 0.096 
5 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 305.6 1'35.006 0.608 / 0.032 
6 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 301.2 1'35.454 1.056 / 0.448 
7 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 290.3 1'35.500 1.102 / 0.046 
8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 301.9 1'35.508 1.110 / 0.008 
9 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 289.4 1'35.622 1.224 / 0.114 
10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 302.2 1'35.908 1.510 / 0.286


2013/6/27
Fastest lap and broken collarbone for Lorenzo in Assen

Standings

 Pos.   Rider  Bike  Nation  Points
 1  Dani PEDROSA  Honda  SPA  123
 2  Jorge LORENZO   Yamaha  SPA 116
 3  Marc MARQUEZ  Honda  SPA  93
 4  Cal CRUTCHLOW  Yamaha  GBR  71
 5  Valentino ROSSI  Yamaha  ITA  60
 6  Andrea DOVIZIOSO   Ducati  ITA  59
 7  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati  USA  45
 8  Stefan BRADL  Honda  GER  41
 9  Alvaro BAUTISTA  Honda  SPA  38
 10  Aleix ESPARGARO  ART  SPA  36




Yamaha Factory Racing¢s Jorge Lorenzo was both the fastest and unluckiest man on the first day of practice at the Iveco TT Assen, as he set the pace in the early dry session, before breaking his collarbone in the wet afternoon practice. Lorenzo will be operated today, missing this round of the Championship.

 

The World Champion¢s day was brought to an abrupt end when he suffered a high-speed accident and broke his left collarbone in the rain-affected afternoon session. Lorenzo registered a best lap time of 1¢53.263 in the morning period, leading the way from Monster Yamaha Tech 3¢s Cal Crutchlow and Repsol Honda Team¢s Marc Marquez in what would prove to be the only all-dry MotoGP™ session of the day. Marquez would go on to top the second session, but was 14 seconds off Lorenzo¢s earlier best as the forecast showers finally struck the historic Dutch venue. 

The crash for Lorenzo came at the rapid Hoge Heide section running up to Ramshoek, which precedes the Geert Timmer chicane at the end of the lap. The Mallorcan was taken to the circuit¢s medical centre and provided with painkillers, having been caught out by standing water before landing heavily on his left shoulder. The fractured collarbone was confirmed less than ten minutes after the session ended. He will now remain under observation in a Dutch hospital where a CT scan will be carried out, and his situation further assessed. 

Behind the leading trio, Lorenzo¢s teammate Valentino Rossi finished fourth quickest, ahead of Repsol¢s Dani Pedrosa, an impressive Aleix Espargaro for the Power Electronics Aspar squad, LCR Honda MotoGP¢s Stefan Bradl, GO&FUN Gresini¢s Alvaro Bautista, Pramac Racing stand-in rider Michele Pirro and Tech 3¢s Bradley Smith. 

Wet form was tough to gauge in the afternoon as the track was drying at a rapid pace in the final few minutes, with the likes of Crutchlow sitting out the final bit in a bid to avoid any potential crashes. It did however propel some lesser-known names into the top ten, with Came IodaRacing Project¢s Danilo Petrucci, as well as PBM¢s Yonny Hernandez and Michael Laverty finishing from eighth upwards.
 


IVECO TT ASSEN MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 2 Classification 2013 Assen, 
Thursday, June 27, 2013 
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.. 
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 282.0 1'47.617
2 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 285.8 1'47.869 0.252 / 0.252 
3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 289.9 1'48.240 0.623 / 0.371 
4 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 281.5 1'48.594 0.977 / 0.354 
5 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 290.6 1'48.682 1.065 / 0.088 
6 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 290.0 1'48.682 1.065 
7 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 288.3 1'48.761 1.144 / 0.079 
8 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 280.4 1'49.031 1.414 / 0.270 
9 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Paul Bird Motorsport ART 273.0 1'49.129 1.512 / 0.098 
10 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 273.6 1'49.438 1.821 / 0.309