Honda Racing:

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) was Honda’s top finisher in today’s Dutch MotoGP race, taking a hard-fought seventh-place finish after Repsol Honda team-mates Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso crashed out in separate incidents. Watched by the biggest Assen crowd in years, the race was won by reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who scored a dominant victory, his 100th in Grand Prix competition, over team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

Today’s 250 race was won by Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) after a thrilling duel with title rival Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) ended on the penultimate lap when Bautista rammed Aoyama and fell. The Japanese rider’s second victory of the year moved him back into the World Championship lead with seven rounds done.

Pedrosa had high hopes of scoring a podium finish in the MotoGP race after he had qualified second fastest, just 0.085 seconds off pole position. And the Spaniard was looking good in the early stages, contesting third place with Lorenzo. But on lap five Pedrosa lost the front at the first turn and slid off. Despite the tumble, which left him uninjured, Pedrosa believes that his team has taken a step forward with machine performance and is looking forward to the next races.

Team-mate Dovizioso took over fourth place after fighting his way through from seventh after a so-so start. The Italian was confident of another strong result but he ran out of luck on lap 11 when he slid off at turn one. He too walked away unhurt.

While Rossi ran away with the race the interest settled on a frantic seven-man battle for sixth place, featuring de Puniet, Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), James Toseland (Yamaha), Nick Hayden (Ducati), Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) and Mika Kallio (Ducati). Positions within the group changed constantly as the seven men fought for position through the challenging twists and turns of Assen, MotoGP’s most historic racetrack. There was little doubt that the finishing order would only be finalised during a last-lap sort-out and that is exactly what happened. Kallio crashed at the high-speed Hoge Heide section just a few hundred metres from the finish, then Elias and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) ran off the track at the final chicane, Elias crossing the line in eighth place, just metres ahead of Hayden and Capirossi. Elias had made an impressive charge through the pack, from 13th on lap four, but was penalised 20 seconds for his last-lap indiscretion at the chicane which put him in 12th place.

De Puniet had good reason to be satisfied with his seventh-place finish, especially since he might have finished higher up the order if he hadn’t been hit by both two rivals during the race.

De Angelis spent much of the 26 laps in the group battling for sixth, happy with recent improvements made to his RCV, but in the latter stages he lost some front grip and slipped back to a lonely tenth place. Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda), who broke a finger and hurt his back at Catalunya two weeks ago, took the last World Championship point in 15th place. Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) finished 16th in his second MotoGP race.

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 7th – said: “That was a thrilling and stressful race. My grid position did not help; I got a bad start but after the first corner I overtook a few riders and I was up to ninth by the end of the first lap. After that I caught a group of riders with faster engines and I could not pass them. Suddenly Toseland passed me after the back straight but he was on the limit and hit my machine. once again I had to push to catch the group and then Elias came past and hit me at turn three. However, I stayed focused and when Capirossi and Elias made a mistake in the last corner I was ready to take the chance to pass them. After a difficult time in qualifying we deserve this seventh place. My crew made a very good job on the electronics between the warm-up and the race.”

Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 10th, said: “From the first lap to about three quarter distance it was a good race for me, fighting in a group for seventh place. We’ve been working hard to find rear traction recently and made some progress at the Barcelona test that has helped us here and I think we have gathered more interesting data to help us move forward. Unfortunately it was the front tyre that we struggled with today. From about halfway through it was pretty worn and the front was folding on me more and more. I almost crashed on a few occasions so decided it was best to back off and settle for the position I was in. It is not exactly where we want to be but I think we are getting closer and I’m excited about taking this progress to America.”

Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 12th – said: “I’m happy because it looks like little by little we’re making progress. The problem here was that I qualified badly yesterday, I got a bad start today and a lost so much time at the start of the race fight with Sete [Gibernau], Talmacsi, Takahashi and Canepa. It was only three laps but it felt like a lifetime! Once I got free of them I was able to keep passing riders until there were three seconds of clear track in front of me to the second group, which I was able to close down. There were some really hard riders in that group and it was a lot of fun. I want to publicly apologise to Capirossi though because I was very late into the last chicane and ran us both off track. I feel bad for him but I just had to give it everything I had today. Race direction have decided to penalise me for it, which I have to accept, but the most important thing about today was the performance and not the result.”

Yuki Takahashi, Scot Honda: 15th – said: “I did not have had a perfect start. Moreover, in the very first part of the race I almost collided with another rider and was forced to take a wide line which lost me time. Mid-race, my back began to ache and then lap by lap I lost sensitivity in the finger I broke in Barcelona. I wanted to finish at any cost. I did it, and I’m satisfied. But not happy: I can do better, and I’ll do so in the next races.”

Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda: 16th – said: “The start was fun. I had practised my starts and I saw that I was good at that. So, we decided for a soft tyre for the rear and a medium tyre for the front. For ten laps I was able to stay with the other guys in my group. I’m very pleased with my race weekends in MotoGP so far; I’m improving race by race, day by day. Next, we are going to have a technical meeting to decide how to work on the setup for Laguna Seca.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: DNF, said: “At the beginning the race was going well and I was lapping with a fast pace – the same as in the practice sessions. Fourth place was looking on the cards and I believe that would have been an achievable and a reasonable result for us this weekend, so I’m very disappointed about the crash at Turn 1. I had a good start but I was trapped by a bunch of riders and it took me a few laps to get by them. Once I was past I was feeling quite comfortable, although I wasn’t sure I could catch Stoner. Then, while I was in the middle of the corner at the maximum lean I lost the front. I wasn’t on the brakes when it happened – we have to lean a long way over in the middle of the turn and that’s when it caught me out. The next race is only a week away so we have to put this result behind us and focus on Laguna. It’s a track I like and, in spite of today’s result, I’m confident when can get a good result there.”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: DNF – said: “The good news is that I didn’t hurt myself in the fall and, considering my recent run of luck with injuries, this is a big relief. But of course I’m disappointed with the result today because, even though it’s unlikely I could have won the race, I was feeling strong on the bike again and believe I could have made the podium. My feeling on the machine this weekend has been much better and I have been able to ride close to my maximum potential, so I was quite confident coming into this race. I made a fast start and found a good rhythm, so the crash was very unexpected – for the whole weekend I had no warning this might happen. Now we have to forget this race and remain positive and focused because we have been the best in the past and I believe we can be the best again. The whole team deserves better than this and I know we will work even harder to take the fight to our rivals, even though they are very strong. Laguna is the next race and we will go there with the same positive mood that we brought to Assen this weekend.”

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