Dutch TT: MotoGP, Moto2, 125 Results

MotoGP Report

With Valentino Rossi, Hiroshi Aoyama and Marco Melandri out with crash injuries, Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo marked the 80th anniversary of the Dutch TT with an emphatic MotoGP win from pole position.

The Spaniard’s fourth motorcycle racing win of the season stretched his lead at the top of the championship standings to 47 points over today’s second place finisher, Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. Ducati’s Casey Stoner claimed third in today’s TIM TT Assen, securing his first visit to the podium this season.

Ben Spies and Pedrosa gained major benefits from good starts as both improved four places from their orginal Moto GP grid positions to slot into second and third place respectively, as Lorenzo led the field into the Haarbocht turn from pole position.

Lorenzo started to open up a very early lead and for the first couple of laps it looked like the Spaniard would race clear as he did at Silverstone, but Pedrosa and Stoner both passed Spies on lap three, before closing the gap on the leader.

Andrea Dovizioso passed Spies as well early in the race to move into fourth, and by the midway point he was a second ahead of the American, who in turn led sixth placed Randy de Puniet by just over 1.5s.

As Stoner struggled to find a way past Pedrosa, just as he had done six days ago at Silverstone, Lorenzo started to again edge away, extending his advantage little by little as the laps flew by. Further back Spies closed right up on Dovizioso and passed the Italian to move into fourth, with de Puniet also joining the three-way fight for fourth place

At the front Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner became further separated from one another, whilst de Puniet and Dovizioso fought intensely to the last lap, with the Frenchman out of the seat on more than one occasion, as he pushed his tyres to the limit.

Lorenzo eventually crossed the line 2.935s ahead of Pedrosa, but it quite wasn’t the easy win that many expected at Assen for the Spaniard.

Jorge Lorenzo says: “The race was a big more difficult than Silverstone, because Dani was so fast with the softer tyre early in the race. I went with the harder rear tyre, which I knew would come good towards the end, but even then I was sliding around quite a lot. Actually, I made a mistake at the chicane in the closing stages and nearly crashed, so I was quite glad to finish!”

Lorenzo celebrated the MotoGP race win by planting the usual ‘Lorenzoland’ flag in a gravel trap and then getting his entire team to sign a world cup football in parc ferme.

“The football was to celebrate my ‘hat-trick’ of wins at Assen; I’ve won here in all three classes now,” explained the championship leader.

Pedrosa’s second place was enough to elevate the Spaniard back to second in the championship standings, ahead of his Repsol Honda teammate, Andrea Dovizioso.

Dani Pedrosa says: “I’m surprised by this result, because we had a lot of problems in practice and I wasn’t expecting to be able to run this pace today. I knew the soft tyre would give me an advantage early on, so I pushed really hard, but then I started losing time through the first part of the circuit and lost touch with Lorenzo. I’m happy I’m second in the championship today, but I’m more pleased with second place in the race.”

Stoner finally took his first podium of the season in third aboard the Ducati. Spies finished fourth in another impressive display from the rookie, with Dovizioso edging out de Puniet for fifth with another overtake on the chicane just before the finish line.

Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards, Marco Simoncelli and Aleix Espargaró all took top-ten finishes. Marco Melandri was absent from the race after he dislocated his left shoulder in the second free practice session on Friday morning.

The result extended Lorenzo’s lead at the top of the Championship further and he now stands on 140 points after six rounds, having finished in the top two in every race. Pedrosa moved into second on 93 with his podium finish, ahead of teammate Dovizioso who is third on 89.

MotoGP Results:  Assen, Saturday, June 26, 2010

Moto2 Report

Andrea Iannone took his second win of the season from pole position today at Assen, after dominating qualifying and the race in a similar style to that which he displayed at Mugello, where he took his first victory in the new Moto2 class. The Italian topped every session this weekend aboard his Fimmco Speed Up machine, and was headed only briefly in the 24-lap race, which he won by just under five seconds from current championship leader, Toni Elias.

Ratthapark Wilairot got off to a flying start from his best-ever grid position of second and led into the first turn, Haarbocht. Toni Elías shot through from his place on the second row to take third into the first turn, as he stepped immediately into the contest. However, poleman Iannone quickly assumed the lead and started to open up a gap as he had done at Mugello.

Fonsi Nieto made a good start and was in the running early on, but held up the pursuing pack as he struggled to match their speed, and allowed Iannone to open up an unassailable advantage at the front of the race.

Fonsi Nieto says: “I got a good start, but I just didn’t have the engine to stay with the frontrunners,” said Nieto, after retiring from the race following a crash six laps into the race.

Elías moved up into second on lap three and began to try and close up what was already a 2.3s gap to Iannone, as Valentin Debise took a ride-through penalty due to a jumpstart. Anthony West returned to the pit lane for an adjustment to his MZ machine, before eventually retiring from the race three laps later when he lost the nut from the rear axle.

In fourth place and preparing to play an important role was Thomas Lüthi, whilst behind him Julián Simón, Jules Cluzel and Shoya Tomizawa battled for fifth. Arne Tode was the next crasher and was forced to retire from the race.

Meanwhile Elías and Wilairot continued to engage in a progressive battle for second place as they swapped places on a number of occasions, but all the while Lüthi was tracking the pair down as he narrowed the gap and soon caught up.

As Iannone rode a lonely race at the front Lüthi and Wilairot began to open up a fantastic duel for the final podium spot as they exchanged positions countless times, right up until the final lap.

Iannone eventually crossed the line 4.492s ahead of Elías, with Lüthi managing to hold onto third to complete the podium as Wilairot placed fourth. Tomizawa and Simón completed the top six, with a substantial eight-second gap back to seventh placed Cluzel who was followed by Mike di Meglio, Karel Abraham and Yuki Takahashi.

Elías extended his lead at the top of the Championship to 24 points as he moved onto 100, with Tomizawa (76) and Lüthi (74) maintaining second and third respectively. Iannone’s win moved him up to fourth on 67 points.

Absent from the race were Alex Debón and Axel Pons, who were both injured in Friday’s qualifying session.

Moto2 Results Assen, Saturday, June 26, 2010

125cc GP Report

Marc Marquez secured his third consecutive win of the season at the TIM TT Assen today, marking him out as a true contender for this year’s 125cc World Championship title.

The race got underway in brilliant sunshine and with the same pace he’s shown in qualifying to take pole position, Márquez got off to a blistering start, leading into the opening corner ahead of Bradley Smith, Nico Terol and Efrén Vázquez. Pol Espargaró, who led the Championship by a single point before the start of the race, dropped positions from his starting spot on the front row.

Espargaró rode hard to regain ground and on lap two he pushed through on both Vázquez and Smith to slot into third, but by the next lap Márquez and Terol were two seconds clear at the front of the race as they opened up what was to be a continually increasing gap.

Vázquez dropped out of the running when he crashed at Turn 15 on the fourth lap, as he struggled to match the pace of teammate Espargaró, and immediately after Esteve Rabat’s race was ended when he highsided off the Blusens Aprilia. Luca Marconi and Marco Ravaioli also joined the list of crashers as the race went on.

Márquez’s rhythm remained rapid as he and Terol battled it out at the front, but the race leader did have a moment on lap 15 when the front of his bike lifted off as he pushed it to the limit.

The race was then decided on lap 16 when the front two encountered a back marker in the form of wildcard rider Jerry van de Bunt. Márquez managed to pass the Dutchman without incident but Terol was not so fortunate, and had to force himself through on the inside line as Van de Bunt crashed. The momentary hold up allowed a two-second gap to be opened up by Márquez, and he did not relinquish the advantage.

From there Márquez guided his bike home for his third successive win, with Terol eventually crossing the line 2.332s adrift in second. Espargaró completed the podium a further five seconds back, with Smith fourth. Sandro Cortese was an additional 27 seconds back in fifth, with Randy Krummenacher, Danny Webb Luis Salom and Simone Grotzkyj all inside the top ten, which was completed by Jonas Folger, who had fought his way through from 32nd on the grid.

The result means that Márquez maintains third place in the Championship standings on 107 points, with Terol regaining the lead from Espargaró by moving onto 118 points, with the Tuenti Racing rider on 115 in second.

125 GP Assen, Saturday, June 26, 2010