QUALIFYING

Yamaha Team Report
Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi took his fifth front row start of the 2008 season at Assen today, ahead of tomorrow's 60th Dutch TT.  The Italian missed out on pole by just 0.139 seconds and will share the front row with Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, his closest championship rivals.

The bright sunshine of yesterday gave way to bad weather this morning and the first session was run on a wet track, with Rossi finishing seventh.  The sun came out after lunch and the track was dry for qualifying, giving the team some time to continue with yesterday's work and refine their dry set-up.  During the last third of the session Rossi was able to improve with each of his Bridgestone qualifying tires and looked to be in with a chance of pole on his final flying lap, when a small problem in the final sector lost him his advantage.  Second place behind Stoner looked secure until a last-minute dash from Pedrosa relegated him to the outside of the front row, with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo two rows behind him in seventh.

Rain is a possibility tomorrow and with the weather at Assen generally changing extremely quickly, the team may have to wait until just before the race to make a final tire decision.  Tomorrow's 26-lap race will begin at 1400 CET.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rdTime: 1'35.659 Laps: 29:  "Like always, the front row is our target and so we are happy with this third position.  Anyway it's better than last year, when I was 11th! We made some small modifications with the qualifying tire and today everything seemed to work very well.  Now we hope that it will translate to the race tire, although of course we have to wait and see what the weather is like before we can make a choice, things change so quickly here! I was able to try for pole and I thought it was possible on the last lap, but unfortunately I had a small problem with the last tire.  Today we were all very close, closer than yesterday, but I think we still need to improve a bit more if we're going to be sure to be able to fight with Casey, so we will try to finalise things tomorrow morning."

Colin Edwards 6th 1.36.278 - 23 laps:  "The grip didn't seem to be quite as good as yesterday and the times on race tires weren't as good because of this morning's rain.  I put my first qualifier on and did a 36.2 and I thought 'awesome.' I told my team I could do a mid-35 because that first qualifier is always just getting used to the extra traction, so I was really confident and I expected to be on the front row. 

But on my next set of tires and it just never happened, most corners at this track are right-handers and I had an issue with the right side of the front tire.  It wasn't chatter and it is really strange.  I'm not blaming anybody but I can't remember the last time I had this problem.  But I couldn't go fast and I didn't have the same issue with the first set and I didn't change the bike. 

I wasn't too worried because I had another set and went out and it was the same problem but even worse on the left side of the front tire.  The right was perfect but I was struggling to get my knee on the ground on the left and it was weird.  We need to have a look at the data and talk it over with the guys but it has really thrown me because I'm not sure what caused it. 

But I'm ready for tomorrow whether it's raining or not.  I was pleased it rained this morning because we got the bike set-up good for the rain.  I can't complain too much being on the second row with some of the problems I had."

Race Preview
After a seventh podium in as many races for Valentino Rossi at Donington Park on Sunday, the Fiat Yamaha team take their title challenge straight to Assen this week for the second Grand Prix in just six days.  For 78 years the Dutch TT has been held on the final Saturday in June and despite the quick turnaround this year the tradition will be upheld, as the MotoGP World Championship paddock packs up and races against the clock across the North Sea from England to Holland.

It is a demanding but pleasurable trip for Rossi, who travels from one of his favorite and most successful circuits to a legendary venue where he has celebrated victory on six occasions - including four of the last six races there in the premier-class.  The Italian arrives at the ninth round of the season in great form, with an 11-point lead in the championship over Dani Pedrosa and having not missed the podium since the opening round of the season in Qatar and not finishing outside the top two since round three in Portugal.

Rossi's rookie Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo has dropped to fourth overall after a stressful run of races but the youngster remains in the championship hunt, 58 points off the summit and with conviction and courage back on his side after a confidence-inspiring ride to sixth place at Donington Park, having started from 17th on the grid.  A crash-strewn few weeks are now a distant memory for the youngster, who was back to his best in Great Britain and still has ten rounds left to enjoy and entertain before the end of the season.

One of the most technically and physically demanding circuits on the calendar for the MotoGP riders, Assen has barely a straight piece of tarmac in sight.  Handling is a major focal point due to high-speed chicanes and dramatic camber changes - the latter, in some places, resembling the profile of the public roads that the original circuit was based around - features that have traditionally favored the nimble YZR-M1.  Last year Rossi took a comfortable victory by 1.909 seconds over Casey Stoner in one of the highlights of his season after starting 11th, whilst Lorenzo also has a strong record there, having won the 250cc race for the past two seasons to add to a 125cc win in 2004. 

John Hopkins Out for Assen
Kawasaki's John Hopkins has been ruled out of tomorrow's Dutch TT at Assen, after sustaining a fractured left ankle and suspected compression injuries to his left knee in a high-speed crash during this afternoon's qualifying session. 

The 25-year-old Anglo-American lost the front of his Ninja ZX-RR under braking for the left-hander at turn 12, one of the fastest corners on the Assen circuit, in the closing minutes of the timed session.  Hopkins managed to separate himself from his sliding Ninja ZX-RR, but sustained the injuries to his left leg when he collided with the tire wall on the outside of the corner.

The initial assessment in the Clinica Mobile was that Hopkins would be out of action for at least 20 days, but the Kawasaki pilot will return to Los Angeles tomorrow for a further medical examination by Doctor Art Ting.  Only once full extent of his injuries is known will a decision be made as to whether Hopkins will return to action at the next race in Sachsenring, which takes place in just two weeks time.

Teammate Anthony West, who has struggled to recapture the form he found last time out at Donington Park, has suffered with cornering troubles around the technical 4.555km Circuit van Drenthe.  The 26-year old had looked strong throughout the wet practice this morning, but with the clouds clearing for the afternoon, the dry conditions brought no joy to the Australian racer.

Despite overcoming some of the traction problems that hampered him in the opening part of the season with a new base setting, a frustrated West has found it difficult to turn his Ninja ZX-RR at high speeds, leaving him on the sixth row of the grid in 16th position.

As the sole Kawasaki starter for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, West will be fighting to repeat the top ten finish he achieved last weekend at Donington Park.

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