Victory for Nicky Hayden in Assen, with Dani Pedrosa third, joining him on the podium.
Both Repsol Honda Team riders take the top positions of the overall standings with Hayden strengthening his lead. In the teams’ classification, the Repsol Honda Team consolidates the lead after the Dutch race.
Superb weekend for Repsol Honda Team riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa. After the Dutch Grand Prix, Hayden leaves Assen heading for England with his leadership in the overall standings more consolidated, thanks to the 42-points advantage he enjoys now. Second in the standings after finishing third today is team mate Dani Pedrosa, who is two points ahead of a group of riders -Capirossi, Rossi y Melandri-, all of them firm candidates for the world championship title.
The race started with Colin Edwards in the lead, quickly breaking up the pack with a consistent and fast pace. With his frantic pace, he took Nakano, Hopkins and Hayden. After the group of four Melandri created a block with a large group of riders who desperately saw how the leading pack opened a gap. Pedrosa and Stoner finally managed to overtake the Italian rider, but when they had, it was already too late to reach the leading pack. In the front, Edwards and Hayden were left alone, knowing that they would be fighting for the victory in the last laps, while Hopkins was loosing positions lap after lap and Nakano was riding all by himself controlling his third place on the podium.
The laps went by in Assen, with Edwards and Hayden in the lead getting ready for the final fight, while a similar situation was happening between Dani Pedrosa and Stoner fighting for the fourth place. But the last laps brought a lot of surprises; Hayden passed Edwards in the penultimate lap but a mistake allowed the rider from Texas to catch the rider from Kentucky and to pass him back. Hayden and Edwards entered the chicane before the finish together and went off the track. Edwards, opened the throttle on the grass and was thrown off the bike, leaving the victory to Hayden, who thus consolidates his position in the lead of the overall standings. Pedrosa was finally third, benefiting from Edwards’ crash, and moved up to the second position of the overall standings after this race. With this result, the Repsol Honda Team also strengthens the leading position in the teams’ standings with and advantage of 85 points over the second qualified Camel Yamaha Team.Bad day for the Repsol riders in the quarter-of-a-litre class. Right after the start everything looked as if they would have a good day, with Shuhei Aoyama third and Martín Cárdenas seventh after the first few corners.
However, luck turned its back on them and halfway the first lap, Cárdenas ended-up on the gravel involved in a multiple accident and Aoyama was set back to the last position of the group after the first lap. Cárdenas’ crash caused him the fracture of the left collar bone and the Colombian rider will travel to Barcelona to be treated immediately from his injury and be ready to reappear in Germany. Aoyama, twenty-fourth after the first lap, finally crossed the finish line twelfth after a consistent recovery during the race.In the 125cc, Bradley Smith missed out on the points again today. Just like in Barcelona six days ago, the British rider finished sixteenth on the Dutch track. Twenty-fourth after the first lap, the Repsol rider began overtaking riders moving up to sixteenth. Next week at his home Grand Prix – The British Grand Prix – Bradley has the clear objective of scoring at all costs.
Rider´s comments:
Nicky Hayden:
‘It was a wild one today and I definitely enjoyed it – it’s just a really good day for me. I’m proud to win for Repsol Honda and really proud to score Honda’s 200th win in the top class of Grand Prix too. My start wasn’t the best and I saw Colin up there and thought I’ve really got to try and get on the back of him because his race pace has been so good all weekend. I was just holding on for the whole race and knew I had to do something different. So I changed my lines a little bit in the middle part of the track that made a huge difference. At the end of the race I felt really good and really strong. Going into the last chicane he was going in so deep so I used a move I used on Hopkins earlier in the race. Honestly it wasn’t going to work and I caught neutral, but he ran off the track too. Huge thanks to my team and everyone working around me at Repsol Honda, and also to Michelin. I’ve been wearing my tyre on the rear pretty hard this weekend, but in the race they came through perfectly for me.’
Dani Pedrosa:
‘I lost a lot of time at the beginning of the race, especially battling with Melandri. At the start, on new tyres and with a full tank, it was very difficult for me to brake late. I will have to improve at the beginning of races because I am often struggling a little there. On the last lap Stoner tried to overtake me and in the last section I re-overtook him and we almost touched once so it was pretty close. Nicky and Colin’s pace was a bit faster than mine so I think third position is good for the team, and I was also lucky because Colin crashed at the last corner and gave me the final place on the podium. It wasn’t a perfect result for me today, but the Michelins worked well today so I’m happy about that. The championship is more open this year than normal, I’m new in this class so being in second place is very good, but I still have a lot to learn.’
Shuhei Aoyama:
‘What a lost chance. I made a good start but a rider touched me from behind on the first lap, he touched the left side of my bike and forced me off the track. Then, when I had managed to rejoin the race, another rider crashed right in front of me and I had to get off the track again. And during the touching and crashing the leading group had escaped and I was in a back position after the first laps. I only had the option to try to make up positions and that’s what I’ve been doing throughout the race. I hope to be luckier in England next weekend. Assen is already forgotten.’
Martín Cárdenas:
‘I made a good start, but in the fourth corner, a very narrow corner there was some confusion in front of me so I reduced speed and entered the corner to slow. I touched the clutch to regain some speed and crashed over the bike without touching any other rider. It was a good start but unfortunately I haven’t been able to make good use of it. My left collar bone is broken. Now I’m going back to Barcelona to see if I can be operated from the injury to recover as quickly as possible. I don’t know when I’ll be able to be back on the bike but I don’t think that I’ll be able to do it before Germany.’
Bradley Smith:
‘Another sixteenth& I’m happy for the sixteenth position but I’m not happy because I missed out on the points again. I was really excited on the first three laps trying to get away with the group. Then I run into the back of a rider which just upset me and then my mind was completely away, I was really nervous and frightened and tried to pass people and more and more people came past and suddenly I decided that I just got to go. And then as soon as I sat down to do it I got in front of the group and went straight into the forty-sixes, putting consistent lap times. It’s actually about all what could have been. Obviously finishing among the top fifteen is not easy but it would have definitely been possible looking at the riders that actually did. I’m a bit disappointed but I hope to get my first points at the home Grand Prix.’
Standings:
MotoGP
- N.Hayden (Honda) 42’27.404
- S. Nakano (Kawasaki) 42’32.288
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) 42’34.929
- C.Stoner (Honda) 42’34.959
- K.Roberts (KR) 42’35.482
Mundial MotoGP
- N.Hayden, 144 points
- D.Pedrosa, 102
- L.Capirossi, 100
- V.Rossi, 98
- M.Melandri, 98
250
- J.Lorenzo (Aprilia) 40’30.770
- A.de Angelis (Aprilia) 40’38.938
- A. Dovizioso (Honda) 40’39.011
- A.Debón (Aprilia) 41’02.645
- R.Locatelli (Aprilia) 41’05.4561
- S.Aoyama (Honda) 41’36.597
NC. M.Cardenas (Honda)
Mundial 250
- A.Dovizioso, 149 puntos
- J.Lorenzo, 133
- Y. Takahashi, 99
- H.Aoyama, 92
- A.de Angelis, 91
11. S.Aoyama, 38
125
- M.Kallio (KTM) 38’51.450
- S.Gadea (Aprilia) 38’51.572
- A.Bautista (Aprilia) 38’51.578
- S.Corsi (Gilera) 38’58.243
- L.Pesek (Derbi) 38’58.278
16. B.Smith (Honda) 39’28.912
Mundial 125
- A.Bautista, 160 puntos
- M.Kallio, 113
- S.Gadea, 103
- H.Faubel, 97
- M.Pasini, 96
