GP Assen 2007

[mickey]

les reactions avant le debut des essais :

CASEY STONER

"At Donington we again proved that the Ducati has got more than just power. The bike and tyres are working well for me and we are competitive at pretty much every circuit. I'm really enjoying the races and I'm going to keep working at it like that because if you look start looking at the championship maybe you'll get too involved in it. I'm sure there's going to be some great races at Assen this year, but the new circuit is disappointing because the old layout was unbelievable, really good fun to ride. They even ruined what was probably my favourite corner in the world [De Bult], it was a great banked left-hander and now they've flattened it out and destroyed it. Anyway, we were quite competitive there last year. I think I came from 14th or 15th at the first corner to fight for the top three and I got fourth, so it was a really good race for us. I think this year we can go there with slightly higher expectations. The new Assen is really confusing for set-up, it's got flat corners, banked corners, long corners and tight little dinky corners, so it's really hard to find out what you need though you can pretty much go with any bike and it'll work. You have to find the right tyres that will last the race with the right amount of grip."

LORIS CAPIROSSI

"Assen is always interesting, I still like really it. The new layout isn't too bad, though the old one was much, much better, it was the best track in the world. There's no doubt that they've destroyed some of its character with the shorter layout but anyway it should be good for us and good for our bike. Of course, I've got bad memories from last year when I raced with the injuries I'd received at Barcelona. This year we go there in much better shape, with a good opportunity to get a good result. I may have crashed at Donington last Sunday but overall things are going much better for us now. Our front-end set-up is improving, which is very important for all the high-speed corner entries at Assen. We may also continue working with our new engine spec this weekend - we didn't get the chance to try it at Donington because the weather conditions kept changing. Although the new Assen is very different from the old layout you still need similar bike characteristics - you need stability, good brakes and good front-end feeling. I'm really looking forward to making up for the disappointment of Donington - we will work hard as always and I will do my best as always."

VALENTINO ROSSI

"I wasn't happy after the race on Sunday but we had a long meeting afterwards and we know what our problems are - now we need to fix them," said Rossi. "I'm happy to get the chance to ride again so soon and forget about the race at Donington because I was so disappointed to finish fourth at a circuit I love so much and have always done well at in the past.

"Assen is another of my favourite tracks and after riding injured there last year I want to get back to winning ways. It is a shame they had to change the circuit layout last year because they have removed the most exciting part of the track, which I still cannot understand. Anyway, it is like this and Assen is still a legendary place, with a great atmosphere and great fans. Hopefully we can make a good show for them and be competitive like we know we can be once again."

Colin Edwards

"It's weird because Assen holds my best MotoGP memory and also my worst!" reflects Edwards. "I know I should have won and I guess I gave Nicky Hayden the gift of a lifetime. I know and love the track, I won there loads of times in World Superbikes and the fans are fantastic - there's always a ton of Texas Tornado t-shirts and flags around the circuit, as there was at Donington, and that always gives you a great boost.

"I'm taking a lot of confidence from the weekend just gone because we worked really hard and found a setting for the dry and for the wet in a really limited amount of time. We think we've fixed the problems we've been having with the bike and from a personal point of view I was delighted to be back on the podium. The key now is to keep it going, make up for that disaster at Assen last year and carry some good form through to my home race at Laguna Seca in a few weeks' time."

Dani Pedrosa
“I’m looking forward to getting to Assen so quickly after Donington so that we can keep working towards the kind of result that I think we deserve. Donington went well at first. We were fast in the wet and in the dry and I was quite confident, but it didn’t work out for us in the race with the weather, tyres and track conditions and this is unfortunate. I hope we have dry conditions this weekend but it’s not unknown to have rain at Assen too! The layout of the new shorter circuit is not my favourite, but we come here with the experience from last year so I hope to get to a good pace quickly because it took me some time to work up to speed last year. The race was also quite difficult last year and I had some big battles with Melandri and Stoner. If things go according to plan I think we can get a good result here.”

Nicky Hayden
“I’ve got good memories from Assen last year. It was my first MotoGP victory away from home soil and that was a pretty special moment. This is a track I’ve really enjoyed in the past and I’ve had some good results here too. It’s quite a unique circuit, less so now since they made the changes for last year, but it’s still a cool track and has a different feel from most other circuits in the world. There were definitely some positives from last weekend at Donington in spite of the crash in the race, and we just need to build on them. We learned some important things with the bike set-up and being fast in the practice sessions gave me a lot of confidence. So this weekend we need to keep the momentum going and get a good set-up and another good grid position. And to say I need to get a good result this weekend is a bit of an understatement! We’ll see what happens. Hopefully it’ll be a good weekend for us. There’s not really a lot of pressure now so I’ll just try to go and have fun

[mickey]

Chris Vermeulen:
“I had a good result last weekend at Donington and would like to repeat that at Assen. We had a few issues in the race last year, but did manage to get in the top-10. I really like the track and I had a double-header win in World Superbikes in 2005 as well as setting pole position and the fastest lap of the day in the races, so I know my way around here as well as anyone. I am really looking forward to this weekend and we need to keep this run going!”

John Hopkins:
“I can’t wait to get to Assen, I love it there! I got my first pole last year and I know I could have had a better result in the race but we had some grip problems. I can’t see that happening again this year because Bridgestone has really stepped up and the tyres have worked well everywhere so far. The bike is also going great and we have shown that by being able to consistently run at the front in all conditions, so I can only see big things happening this weekend! I really want a dry race as I know the 800s will be fast at Assen and I certainly can’t wait to see what we can do around there!”

Alex Barros : “I was always fast and I obtained many good results on Assen track. In 2000 I won the race and in 2002 I achieved the second place on podium. For this year too I’m confident both because I believe in the work of my team and because we have at our disposal a very competitive package bike-tires. Despite of the numerous changes carried out on this track that have made it less spectacular in comparison with the past, I like it. Generally, I’m agree in making some modifications on circuits for reason of security, but in this case I can’t understand why people decided to alter the Dutch TT circuit, considered a sort of university of motorcycling.”

Alex Hofmann : “Even if the track is not as beautiful as it was in the past years, I like it, above all thanks to the fact that is really near to Germany and for me this will be like riding at home. Certainly there will be a lot of friends to support me and this makes me very happy. It is always a touching ride when you have a lot of fans, because the atmosphere becomes more exciting. I want to be good to confirm the top-ten I obtained in Donington and maybe be able to achieve a better result. I’m sure I can reach my aim.”

Shinya Nakano
“I think I’m probably one of the few riders who actually prefers the ‘new’ Assen circuit to the old one. I am sure it does have something to do with qualifying well in second position last year and then taking second place in the race! Obviously this will be the first time I’m riding at Assen with the new 800cc Honda MotoGP bike and the first time on Michelin tyres, but I think the track itself now really suits my style, so I’m hoping that we can get a good result. We think that the weather conditions will be similar to Donington, so we shouldn’t have too many surprises from last weekend.

[mickey]

Anthony West:
"J'aime le circuit d'Assen et j'y ai de bons souvenirs, c'est là que j'ai gagné ma première victoire en 250cc, en 2003. Avant le tracé était rapide et fluide, mais la première section a été modifiée et n'est plus aussi intéressante qu'avant. La dernière partie, celle que je préfère, est restée la même. Il y a des virages où l'on peut attaquer très fort et j'ai hâte de piloter sur ce circuit avec la Ninja ZX-RR. J'aimerais être dans le coup mais j'ai encore beaucoup à apprendre et il me faut un peu de temps. Mon but est de faire comme à Donington : progresser petit à petit, séance après séance. Je dois encore m'habituer à beaucoup de choses et cela va me prendre quelques temps, mais je me fais plaisir et c'est une expérience très positive !"

Randy de Puniet:
"On a à peine eu le temps de souffler après Donington et on se retrouve déjà à Assen pour le TT ! Depuis Barcelone, tout se passe bien et j'espère continuer sur ma lancée à Assen. Avant que le tracé ne soit modifié, c'était mon circuit préféré, mais même s'il a perdu un peu de son caractère, je l'aime toujours. Avant la première section était vraiment géniale, désormais elle est trop lente. L'an dernier la Ninja avait bien marché et le circuit semble convenir à la Kawasaki, comme l'avait prouvé le podium de Shinya. De mon côté je n'avais pas eu de chance - j'avais eu un souci de pneu avant lors du tour de chauffe et j'avais dû partir de la voie des stands. Mes blessures au genou et à l'épaule ne sont pas encore totalement guéries, mais ça va mieux au fil des jours. Nous avons déjà prouvé que nous pouvions finir dans le top 8 et ce sera encore notre objectif ce week-end.

[viriginie]

MARCO MELANDRI : « La course risque d’être difficile glissé. L’an passé je suis arrivé avec l'incident de Barcelone en tête et ça été vraiment dur. Cette année nous nous présentons dans une autre situation. Nous connaissons une période très difficile. Assen a toujours a été l'un de mes circuits préférés. Malheureusement avec les modifications de la piste j’ai perdu une partie de sa fascination : ils ont supprimés la partie la plus ancienne de du tracé traçage ».
TONI ELIAS : « Assen a toujours été mon circuit préféré, parce qu’il est technique et rapide. Malheureusement je n'ai jamais couru ici en MotoGP et je ne le sais pas dans le nouveau revêtement parce que je n'ai pas couru dans le bout les deux années. En 2005, j'ai déclaré forfait suite à une blessure à la main et l’an passé je suis tombé. Pour moi il sera donc tout nouveau. J'espère juste faire une belle course et pourquoi pas gagner ».

[vince]

Manifestement les modifications du tracé n'ont pas enchanté les pilotes...

Soi-dit en passant, la météo ne risque franchement pas d'être fameuse ce samedi!

[ca_roule]

La météo effectivement risque de pas mal chambouler les choses!
Pour résumer:
- Aujourd'hui ça devrait aller
- Demain il semble qu'il doive pleuvoir.
- Samedi devrait être mieux.
Ce qui veut dire que dans les petites catégories, ils ont interet à faire un bon temps de qualif aujourd'hui.

En motoGP les qualifs sans doute sous la pluie
la course sur le sec, on pourrait avoir une grille surprise et donc un début de GP très animé!

[Cycy]

Première séance d'essai libre et...Stoner est devant. Toutefois, Rossi est en embuscade à 46 (!!) millièmes de seconde. Suivent Hayden (qui confirme son retour en forme) et Edwards. J'espère qu'on va avoir droit à une belle bataille samedi avec Rossi devant Stoner pour changer

[GéantVert]

127 C.STONERDUCATI1'38"323+ 0"000+ 0"000166.7815 246 V.ROSSIYAMAHA FIAT1'38"369+ 0"046+ 0"046166.7029 31 N.HAYDENHONDA REPSOL1'38"507+ 0"184+ 0"138166.4730 45 C.EDWARDSYAMAHA FIAT1'38"739+ 0"416+ 0"232166.0722 566 A.HOFMANNDUCATI PRMAC D'ANTIN1'38"894+ 0"571+ 0"155165.8121 626 D.PEDROSAHONDA REPSOL1'39"045+ 0"722+ 0"151165.5625 714 R.DE PUNIETKAWASAKI1'39"139+ 0"816+ 0"094165.4022 84 A.BARROSDUCATI PRMAC D'ANTIN1'39"145+ 0"822+ 0"006165.3923 965 L.CAPIROSSIDUCATI1'39"327+ 1"004+ 0"182165.0918 1021 J.HOPKINSSUZUKI1'39"483+ 1"160+ 0"156164.8316 1133 M.MELANDRIHONDA GRESINI1'39"523+ 1"200+ 0"040164.7716 1224 T.ELIASHONDA GRESINI1'39"716+ 1"393+ 0"193164.4514 1371 C.VERMEULENSUZUKI1'39"930+ 1"607+ 0"214164.0922 147 C.CHECAHONDA LCR1'40"165+ 1"842+ 0"235163.7116 156 M.TAMADAYAMAHA TECH 31'40"182+ 1"859+ 0"017163.6826 1650 S.GUINTOLIYAMAHA TECH 31'40"324+ 2"001+ 0"142163.4516 1713 A.WESTKAWASAKI1'40"330+ 2"007+ 0"006163.4425 1856 S.NAKANOHONDA KONICA MINOLTA1'41"450+ 3"127+ 1"120161.648 1980 K.ROBERTSKR TEAM ROBERTS1'43"604+ 5"281+ 2"154158.2818

[Big Horn]

C'est vachement joli XJ600N

[nenete37]

Tony Elias s'est cassé le fémur ce matin. Il aurait peut être aussi une entorse du genou...
Les 2dernières années il n'avait déjà pas pris part à ce GP