Motourage

IntentsGP Ltd, provider a hassle-free premier-class camping service at European motorsport events for race fans, have announced a MotoGP competition:

For a chance to win two free weekend tickets to either the Silverstone or Assen MotoGP worth £140, simply visit the contest website and answer three questions. The winner will be randomly selected from all correct entries. In addition, every correct entry will win a £20 voucher for use against one of their accommodation packages in 2011.

The competition runs from now until May 5.

IntentsGP Ltd started up in 2009 by two motorsport enthusiasts and is based near Bristol, UK. Having camped at a number of motorsport events over the years, they saw there was a need to provide hassle-free, high quality and affordable accommodation.

Follow IntentsGP on Twitter.

Lorenzo extends championship lead with win at Assen

Jorge Lorenzo put in another textbook performance at Assen on Saturday, leaving his rivals trailing as he led from the front to win the 80th Dutch TT and take his fourth victory of the season. In doing so he becomes only the seventh rider in history to have won in three or more classes at the historic racetrack, with 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP wins to his name. Meanwhile Tech 3 Yamaha rider Ben Spies ensured that there were still two Yamahas in the top four, despite the absence of Valentino Rossi, with another brilliant performance to back up his maiden podium last week.

Lorenzo had looked the man to beat all weekend after topping both practice and qualifying, and he got a great start from pole position and quickly pulled out a second’s gap. But, by lap five, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner were looming large behind him, and for a few laps it looked as if a tense three-way battle was in the offing. However Lorenzo’s choice of the harder Bridgestone tire soon began to pay off and, with a lighter fuel load by mid-race distance, he was able to step things up a notch and gave himself an unassailable lead, crossing the line 2.935 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, with Stoner third and Spies fourth.

The Fiat Yamaha man’s second win on the bounce sees him extend his championship lead to an impressive 47 points from Pedrosa, while Rossi remains fourth in the standings. The next round comes in just a week’s time at Barcelona in Spain, when Wataru Yoshikawa will join the Fiat Yamaha Team to fill in until Rossi is back on board his M1.

Jorge Lorenzo – 1st, Time: 41’18.629
“This race was a bit more difficult than Silverstone because Dani was so fast with the softer tire early on in the race and I had to really keep my concentration to stay in front of him at that point. I was confident that my harder Bridgestone tire would help me later on and this was the case, so we made the right choice. It wasn’t easy though and at the end I was sliding quite a lot, in fact I made a mistake at the chicane and nearly crashed so I was quite glad to finish! I am really happy that I have won here in all three classes because it’s such a historic place and the football I had in Parc Ferme was to celebrate this ‘hat-trick.’ Thanks to all my Yamaha guys and also to Bridgestone for this win, we have a big lead in the championship so we can afford to stay calm and relaxed. Now we go to my home in Barcelona and I am excited about another chance to race in front of the Spanish fans.”
Read more…

FTR Moto and the FIMMCO Speed Up Team enjoyed a second win of the year in the inaugural Moto2 World Championship as sensational Italian rider Andrea Iannone repeated his victory of three weeks ago at Mugello, Italy by dominating today’s sixth round at Assen in Holland.

Iannone grabbed the lead a third of the way into the opening lap then extended his lead to 9.0s by lap 17 of the 24-lap race. He eventually crossed the finish line with a winning margin of 4.4s on the M210 and is now up to fourth place in the World Championship, just 33 points behind leader Toni Elias – runner-up at Assen today.

“The win today feels better than my win in Mugello,” said Iannone who, as he did in Mugello, started the race today from pole position. He added: “It was a tough race; I had to keep pushing hard to keep the lead. I have to thank the mechanics and Luca Boscoscuro. Now we must keep focused and do the same job next week at the Catalunya round.”

Czech Republic rider Karel Abraham enjoyed a career-best finish of ninth place after being locked in a battle for seventh on his Cardion AB Motoracing Team FTR M210. Abraham’s seven points for ninth moved him up six places in the Championship table to 22nd.

Iannone’s FIMMCO Speed Up team-mate Gabor Talmacsi bounced back from a heavy fall in qualifying on Friday to take his fifth points-scoring finish from six rounds with 13th place. Talmacsi sits joint ninth in the World Championship with luckless Aeroport de Castello-Ajo Team rider Alex Debon who was unable to start after a qualifying crash on Friday.

FTR’s Steve Bones commented: “Andrea was sensational today, as he was in Mugello. All three of our machines that started finished in the points and Karel Abraham’s performance – in only his fourth race on the machine – was superb and he was the fastest rider through the speed trap at 163mph so we’re leaving Holland and heading to Spain with plenty of optimism.”

Fimmco Speed Up rider Andrea Iannone is celebrating a second pole position in three rounds as the Italian recorded the fastest time in qualifying for Saturday’s sixth round of the Moto2 World Championship at the Assen circuit in the north of Holland.

Iannone started from pole position then won the fourth round at Mugello in Italy three weeks ago and will be looking to do the same tomorrow after being fastest throughout practice and qualifying.

Fellow FTR rider Alex Debon was leading the qualifying session when he became involved in an incident with a slower rider. Debon fell from the Aeroport de Castello-Ajo M210 and the luckless Spaniard suffered a broken right collarbone. The crash rules Debon out of tomorrow’s Assen race even though he qualified in third place on the front row.

Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham continues to adapt to the FTR M210 after switching to the Buckingham, England-built chassis for the Le Mans, France third round last month. Abraham was constantly in the top 10 throughout practice and qualifying but a crash-ridden finish to qualifying left the Czech Republic rider in 12th place, completing the third row of the grid.

Iannone’s teammate Gabor Talmacsi – again a front-runner throughout practice – will start from 23rd place after crashing out of qualifying, escaping injury.

FTR’s Steve Bones
“We’re working hard with Andrea Iannone as he still has some set-up issues but his time in qualifying was impressive and I’m sure he’ll believe he can win tomorrow. It was a real shame for Alex Debon as he’d made some changes prior to the qualifying session and on his third lap out set the time that was eventually to be good enough for third place on the grid. Karel Abraham is impressing every week as he gets used to the FTR M210 and we’re hoping he can push for a top 10 finish tomorrow. After the injury to Alex Debon I’m pleased that Gabor Talmacsi is OK to race following his crash. His machine needs some attention but that can be easily fixed.”

Rizla Suzuki racers Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista will start side-by-side on the fourth row of the grid for tomorrow’s MotoGP Dutch TT at Assen in the Netherlands.

Bautista (1’36.344, 28 laps) produced his best qualifying performance of the season to put his bike next to Capirossi on the fourth row in 12th place. Despite still struggling with his shoulder injury – that has manifested itself to a greater extent than at Silverstone – he continued to make improvements to his lap times before setting his best time on his penultimate lap of the day. Bautista is in a confident mood for tomorrow’s 26-lap race as he goes in search of his best finish in a MotoGP race to match today’s qualifying.

Capirossi (P11, 1’35.664, 29 laps) made progressive steps with his Suzuki GSV-R today, but the Italian is still looking for the optimum setting for his machine that will enable him to get the best out of himself and the bike here at Assen. He is still sure that he can run in a higher position and will be out to prove that when tomorrow’s race gets underway.

Today’s qualifying was held in warm and sunny conditions with track temperatures reaching 107ºF. Jorge Lorenzo on his factory Yamaha took his second successive pole position of the season.

Tomorrow’s race is the only event on the Grand Prix calendar to be held on a Saturday and proceedings will commence at 2pm local time (Noon GMT, 8am EDT) for the 80th running of the historic Dutch TT.

Álvaro Bautista:
“This morning I had some problems with my left arm and I felt quite a lot of pain. I think it is because this track is very physical and requires a lot more work with my arm. For this afternoon I took some pain-killers, but it was still very uncomfortable so I tried to take things a bit easier, so I could save myself for the race tomorrow. We resolved some of the problems we had from yesterday and made some improvements, but we are still not quite there. I still have some problems changing direction as I feel that the bike is very heavy because I don’t have the strength in my arm. We still have some small things to try in warm-up to make some small steps to make things better. I want to start well and stay with a good group and be able to push more as the race goes on. I hope the pain doesn’t get any worse during the race and I can enjoy it. I am confident that I can make a good result, but the main thing is to enjoy riding the bike.”

Loris Capirossi:
“I don’t really know what to say today! We did change the bike a bit to alter the way the weight transfers and this gave us a bit of traction back, but still we are not competitive enough. It seems if we improve the rear we are losing out on the front. We just cannot find the best solution and all the guys are working so hard to make things better. We improved the electronics this afternoon and I am happy that we have made a step there. We hope that we can make a small step in the morning because we don’t want to start making big changes to the bike now. We’re still confident we can run higher than the qualifying position and we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“There is no great satisfaction to be taken from the result today, but after the Silverstone weekend at least we can say that we have made a start to rebuilding the season. Loris is only 0.9 seconds off the front row and while that gap is too big, it’s a lot smaller than it was a week ago. Unfortunately Álvaro is struggling more with his injury than he was last week and despite showing good potential in some parts of the track, he is struggling in the important fast changes of direction – both with the bike setting and his injury – so the team will be working hard tonight to make it easier for the race tomorrow. Our target for tomorrow is not too far-fetched – we’d like to see both riders finish the Grand Prix, score some points and take a better platform on to Catalunya next weekend.”

Tim TT Assen Qualifying Practice Classification:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’34.515: 2. Randy de Puniet (Honda) +0.282: 3. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.288: 4. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +0.411: 5. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +0.484: 11. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.149: 12. ÁLVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.829:

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has shaken off the blues from Silverstone last week and started this weekend’s Dutch TT at Assen on a more positive note.

Loris Capirossi (P13, 1’36.786, 27 laps) and Alvaro Bautista (P15, 1’37.384, 25 laps) both used the information they had from Silverstone to good effect as they set about closing the time gap between themselves and the rest of the pack. Capirossi’s team made fundamental changes to his Suzuki GSV-R and he was able to reap the benefits as his lap times improved and the team were able to see a clear direction to go for the rest of the weekend.

Bautista is still struggling with his shoulder injury, especially on the physically-demanding 4,542m Assen circuit. He did improve both his bike’s setting and his lap-times during the session and is confident that the stronger he gets, the quicker he will get.

Today’s’ practice was held in dry and sunny conditions with air temperatures getting up to 27ºC, helping to generate more grip for both Rizla Suzuki riders as the track temperature rose to 44ºC. World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo set the quickest time of the day.

Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon. The 80th running of the Dutch TT takes place on Saturday 26th June at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:
“The temperature has been much warmer here and we have started to use a different setting to make the tire work for us. We have got a better feeling today, but it still needs to improve a bit. We used a shorter bike today than usual to try and get more grip on the back and this did help. Tomorrow we will try to make the bike go a bit quicker overall, because at some points we are struggling. We were also a bit too soft on the spring so we will change that for tomorrow. I am much happier than I was in Silverstone, my position is not so good today, but I know we can improve a lot.”

Alvaro Bautista:
“We started with the same setting that we finished with at Silverstone to try and get more grip on the back and I think we still need to work quite hard because I don’t have a good feeling in the front, so we must improve on this. This track is harder and more demanding to ride than last week for my shoulder. I still need a more strength and I feel a bit more tired than I did in Silverstone. After some more practice – and with the bike getting better – it should be less effort to ride and I will be able to improve my times. We still have to work hard and do our best step-by-step.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Given how far away we were at Silverstone and the extreme difficulty faced that weekend, the first hour of running here at Assen has been a lot more positive. The lap-time and the consistency is a lot closer to the group from fifth to 10th position, which is where we believe Loris and the bike can be, as we strive to rebuild our season. We’ve had to take a different direction here, so the bike has at the moment, a different feeling for both riders. That being the case, we should be able to take some significant steps tomorrow and improve our potential. The feeling in the camp is certainly more positive than it was last weekend and we’re looking to get our season going here in Assen.”

Tim TT Assen Free Practice Classification: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’35.169: 2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.011: 3. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +0.517: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.530: 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +0.699. 13. Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP)) +1.617. 15. Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +2.215.

Team Suzuki Alstare rider Leon Haslam recovered from a disappointing 11th place in race one of the Assen World Superbike Championship fourth round in Holland today to take runner-up spot in race two and extend his World Championship lead.

His main rivals – Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) – were unable to fully capitalize on his lower-than-normal placing in the opener, and Biaggi now trails the GSX-R1000-mounted Brit by 20 points.

Haslam’s position in the first race was a result of a loss of air pressure in his front tire which meant he couldn’t push hard at all: At first he thought it was a brake problem, but he kept going and collected five valuable Championship points. Jonathan Rea (Honda) won the race, with fellow Britons James Toseland (Yamaha) and Leon Camier (Aprilia) second and third.

Race two was an absolute scorcher – one of the best in World Superbike history: Rea won it, but only after the ‘Mother of Battles’ with Haslam, Troy Corser and Toseland, which saw plenty of close contact involving elbows and handlebars.

As Haslam celebrated extending his lead in the series, it was not such a good day for team mate Sylvain Guintoli: The Frenchman hardly recovered from his position in qualifying and never found his rhythm in either of today’s 22-lap races, finishing 14th in race one and 13th in race two.

Leon Haslam – Race 1: 11th, Race 2: 2nd:
“Today was very, very hard, but I am happy because I have extended my lead in the series. In race one I had a problem with the front end and was struggling in 16th after five laps. I wasn’t sure if it was a brake problem, but when the bike was checked over after the race, the team discovered that air had escaped from the front tire. It was a real struggle to keep going especially when I was with a couple of other riders, but I was determined to bring the bike home one way or another. The team changed the front discs and pads – in case they were part of the problem – for race two and I was able to do a normal race. It was a fantastic race, with plenty of close contact. Elbows were everywhere and we were close enough to touch each other’s handlebars. It was very hard, but fair, and we all enjoyed it a lot. It must have been great for the fans and of course, having both podiums filled by Brits was also great.”

Sylvain Guintoli – Race 1: 14th, Race 2: 13th:
“This was a weekend to forget and I don’t really even want to think about it anymore. It didn’t start well and never really improved, although it did get a bit better yesterday and I might have been able to rescue something if I had managed to find my rhythm today. But I didn’t, and having a problem with another rider in race two didn’t help either: I’m not sure if it was Sykes or Lanzi but there was an impact and that affected the steering of my bike. I was lucky not to crash but I thought I might as well keep going and see what happened. The steering felt strange and I just couldn’t push any harder. I think it’s better I forget today and start thinking about the next race in Monza, because that is something positive.”

World Superbike results:

Race 1:
1 Jonathan Rea (GBR-Honda), 2 James Toseland (GBR-Yamaha), 3 Leon Camier (GBR-Aprilia), 4 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati), 5 Troy Corser (AUS-BMW), 6 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia). 11 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare). 14 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare).

Race 2:
1 Rea, 2 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare), 3 Toseland, 4 Biaggi, 5 Troy Corser (AUS-BMW Motorrad Motorsport), 6 Checa. 13 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare).

Championship Points:
1 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare) 148, 2 Biaggi 128, 3 Rea 110, 4 Checa 103, 5 Toseland 86, 6 Haga 85, 7 Troy Corser (AUS-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 68, 8 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) 55.

Yamaha Sterilgarda rider James Toseland made every lap count in Assen on Sunday, storming to two podium finishes and claiming hard-earned points that move him up the World Superbike Championship table. The first race saw the British rider tear through the pack from his tenth-place grid start position, making short work of his competitors with clean decisive overtakes, making up eight places to sit in second by just past mid-race point behind leader Jonathan Rea. An inspired overtake three laps to the end on the penultimate corner saw him temporarily lead the race, however Rea was able to get past at the end of the start straight, securing the win just 1.1 seconds ahead of Toseland. Team-mate Cal Crutchlow had a great start, making it up to sixth on the first corner before a bunched up pack of riders pushed him wide, dropping him to 13th initially. He fought back with a determined push and was the fastest lapping rider mid way through. He finally crossed the line in eighth having made up five positions on the tricky to overtake circuit.

Race two and again Toseland charged through the pack, making fifth position by lap seven. He spent several laps following a furious battle in the top four between Haslam, Rea, Corser and Camier before slipping through and fighting his own battle to take third. Positions changed several times in the tightly bunched pack however he held onto third over the line for his second podium of the day. Team mate Crutchlow had a less fortunate race, with a technical issue with the rear suspension forcing an early retirement.
Toseland now heads to the next round in Monza having climbed to fifth position in the standings on 86 points, just 17 behind Carlos Checa in fourth. Team-mate Crutchlow remains in tenth position just four points behind Michel Fabrizio in ninth.

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (2nd, 3rd):
“We’ve had another tough weekend, especially Friday and Saturday, but we’ve pulled through. Once again the team has worked fantastically well, especially this morning, we had a new linkage system on the rear end just to try and sort some issues and it seems to have worked. It’s been a long weekend but to come from tenth on the grid and get a second and a third, two podiums is just a great result for me and the team. It’s been coming slowly, we’ve come from far behind in the first two races so it’s fantastic to be up there at the front and fighting. There are a lot of Brits out there, and we’re all racing at the front and doing a great job, everybody deserves to be in it. I’ve had great support from my family and friends and want to thank everyone for supporting me in getting back to where I should be.”

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (8th, DNF):
“It’s been a very frustrating end to the weekend for me, I know I had the pace to achieve really good results and be up there fighting with the front guys in both races. I made a good start in the first but lost a lot of places on the first corner when the pack pushed me wide, but fought back and was one of the fastest riders on the track mid-race. Race two was even more frustrating as I was determined and ready to fight for a podium. Unfortunately the technical issue was out of my control so there was nothing I could do.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager:
“We had a great result today, especially considering how we got it, after a lot of challenges over the last two days. James also put all his heart into his racing today. I’m sorry for Cal; I think he had the ability to have a great two races, especially in the second one. Unfortunately we had a technical issue, we don’t know what yet but we will figure it out. We’ve made big advances with our electronics and also with our chassis which could be seen with James’s performance. We are now getting to a point where we have a very competitive bike with a set up that works on different tracks, but obviously we will continue to work for the next level. We head to Misano for testing next week motivated to keep on improving. A big thank you to all the team and the riders who worked so hard this weekend.”

In the European Superstock 600 Championship MRS Racing rider Jeremy Guarnoni took an impressive second place podium finish, less than two hundredths of a second off the front and earning 20 championship points on his Yamaha R6. He maintains his position as the championship leader, 11 points ahead of his closest rival after three rounds.

Circuit Length: 4542
Temp: 20
Crowd: 78000
Weather: Sunny
Lap Record: 2’04.685 (Chris Vermeulen, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’34.944 (Jonathan Rea, 25/04/2010)
Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga

2010 WSBK The Netherlands – Assen 4/25/2010
Race 1 – 22 Laps
Position	Rider	Manufacturer	Nation	Total Time
1	Jonathan Rea	Honda	GBR	35’38.483
2	James Toseland	Yamaha	GBR	0’01.106
3	Leon Camier	Aprilia	GBR	0’01.249
4	Carlos Checa	Ducati	ESP	0’01.548
5	Troy Corser	BMW	AUS	0’02.738
6	Max Biaggi	Aprilia	ITA	0’02.813
7	Jakub Smrz	Ducati	CZE	0’06.296
8	Cal Crutchlow	Yamaha	GBR	0’12.022
9	Shane Byrne	Ducati	GBR	0’12.146
10	Noriyuki Haga	Ducati	JPN	0’19.753
11	Leon Haslam	Suzuki	GBR	0’22.204
12	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki	GBR	0’22.282
13	Michel Fabrizio	Ducati	ITA	0’22.780
14	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki	FRA	0’23.364
15	Luca Scassa	Ducati	ITA	0’37.097
Race 2 – 22 Laps
Position	Rider	Manufacturer	Nation	Total Time
1	Jonathan Rea	Honda	GBR	35’43.137
2	Leon Haslam	Suzuki	GBR	0’01.942
3	James Toseland	Yamaha	GBR	0’03.928
4	Max Biaggi	Aprilia	ITA	0’04.067
5	Troy Corser	BMW	AUS	0’04.176
6	Carlos Checa	Ducati	ESP	0’04.525
7	Jakub Smrz	Ducati	CZE	0’04.682
8	Shane Byrne	Ducati	GBR	0’07.698
9	Max Neukirchner	Honda	GER	0’09.903
10	Ruben Xaus	BMW	ESP	0’11.465
11	Luca Scassa	Ducati	ITA	0’15.489
12	Michel Fabrizio	Ducati	ITA	0’23.604
13	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki	FRA	0’29.085
14	Chris Vermeulen	Kawasaki	AUS	0’35.401
15	Matteo Baiocco	Kawasaki	ITA	0’44.330
Best Lap
Rider	Manufacturer	Nation	Total Time
Carlos Checa	Ducati	ESP	1’36.413
Rider Standings		4/25/2010
Position	Rider	Manufacturer	Nation	Points
1	Leon Haslam	Suzuki	GBR	148
2	Max Biaggi	Aprilia	ITA	128
3	Jonathan Rea	Honda	GBR	110
4	Carlos Checa	Ducati	ESP	103
5	James Toseland	Yamaha	GBR	86
6	Noriyuki Haga	Ducati	JPN	85
7	Troy Corser	BMW	AUS	68
8	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki	FRA	55
9	Michel Fabrizio	Ducati	ITA	53
10	Cal Crutchlow	Yamaha	GBR	49
11	Leon Camier	Aprilia	GBR	48
12	Shane Byrne	Ducati	GBR	48
13	Jakub Smrz	Ducati	CZE	38
14	Lorenzo Lanzi	Ducati	ITA	26
15	Ruben Xaus	BMW	ESP	25
Manufacturer Standings		4/25/2010
Position	Manufacturer	Points
1	Suzuki	148
2	Aprilia	134
3	Ducati	130
4	Honda	111
5	Yamaha	93
6	BMW	69
7	Kawasaki	19

The Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team head to Assen this week for round four of the World Superbike Championship. The team prepare for the Dutch round with renewed confidence following rider James Toseland’s first podium of the year last week in Valencia and a second Superpole of the season by Cal Crutchlow, signaling both sides of the garage have made significant improvements in making use of the increased performance of the 2010 WSB R1. Toseland’s podium in particular was key in moving him several places up the championship table; he arrives in Assen now sixth in the standings and looking to go higher this weekend.

Assen is an historic race circuit, although road racing started in the area in 1925, the closed circuit itself was first located there in 1955. It’s undergone a number of changes since that day, including a major redesign in 2006, with the exception of the finish line which has never moved. The typical characteristics of the track include fast flat out corners and slow corners. For this year a change to the back section of the track with a fast flowing corner means the circuit is now even faster, with national classes already seeing a two second a lap quicker time over the circuit.

James Toseland

“I’ve always loved racing at Assen,” said James Toseland. “I’ve had some good results and always gone well there. I’ve won on the Ducati and on the Honda so it would be great to get a win on the Yamaha as well. The bike has come on again from Portugal to Valencia and we knew from the last round what we needed to improve for Assen. We’ve had to do a lot of work to get competitive but on the positive side there’s still room for more and we’re not far from the front. We can improve quite a lot more and we’re going to be a strong package. On a personal side I always try hard, after the Australia crash where I broke my hand, then my mistake in qualifying in Portugal and missing out on the last Superpole session in Valencia by a thousandth of a second I thought I was going to have one of those seasons. But to go from ninth to third and be up there fighting at the front was a massive boost of confidence for me and the garage so it was good to reward the hard work of the team with a result.”

Cal Crutchlow

“I had a good race in Assen last year in Supersport,” said Cal Crutchlow, “but it’s going to be difficult this weekend as a couple of other teams have tested there already with the new circuit changes including the new faster section at the back. Hopefully in the first free practice we’ll get to grips with it. There are some new changes coming this weekend with the bike so let’s hope we’ve made some progress and see how we get on.”

Assen technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland’s Crew Chief:
“We managed to make a major breakthrough at Valencia, and are looking for further improvement. We found a good base engine map with a user friendly torque delivery. We also found a traction control setting that uses ignition cut, allowing James to control the spin of the rear tire. We were on the dyno as early as Monday morning after Valencia to progress further with areas of our electronics. At Assen we will concentrate on tire life, especially for warmer conditions, as this was an area we suffered in Valencia. Assen has numerous changes of direction, some at very high speeds so we will be also working on making a quick but stable bike. We will be looking to be on the podium both races as we can’t afford to lose any more points for the championship!”

Assen technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow’s Crew Chief:
“Assen has more grip than Valencia so it should suit our bike better than the last track. Assen has fast sweeping corners which are banked so you have to set up the bike to suit these areas. The rear end needs enough damping support and spring rate to keep it under control in the long fast corners. We will also try a new clutch to improve our starts which is arriving from Japan. We will also try some new electronic adjustments to help with Cal’s starts from the line using the launch control system; these include new ignition mappings for Cal’s engine management system.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager:
“I think Assen can be a good weekend for us, the characteristics of the track are well suited to our bikes, which is an advantage we have to make the most of. The developments focused on our electronics areas from the last two races have been steadily progressing forwards which gives me a confidence that we can achieve some good results with both James and Cal. The step forwards with our mapping means we should be able to deliver better corner exits for both riders, and the new clutch we’ll be trying this weekend will hopefully mean we can get them off the line quicker to stay at the front in the crucial first corner.”