MotoGP – The Dutch Grand Prix turn-based –

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The Dutch Grand Prix turn-based

MotoGP - The Dutch Grand Prix turn based -

The track is well watered in the morning for free practice and then spends the afternoon qualifying wet for the 125s, drying for the MotoGP and dry for the 250s and the three races. Turn by turn.

The vagaries of the weather, as usual, disrupted the tests: tornado warning the day before the tests, showers during the first session on Thursday, then improvement on Friday. The track, well watered on Saturday morning for free practice, spends the afternoon for qualifying practice from wet for the 125 to drying for the MotoGP, then dry for the 250.

125

It was Casey Stoner who took pole, a first for a KTM. In these very tricky conditions, the gaps in qualifying are very important. Nieto 2nd’s time is 0.45 s, Dovizioso 3rd is 1.38 and Jenkner who completes the first row is 1.57! In 2nd place, Locatelli, Ui, Lorenzo and Corsi are between 2 and 3 seconds behind the Australian’s time! Barbera, winner in Catalonia and set the fastest time yesterday, is just 13th at more than 4 seconds, just ahead of Mike Di Meglio 16th at 4.5 seconds. The choice of tires was crucial in achieving the lap times and the best people dared to change during the session. The tests having been carried out on a wet to soggy track, if the race takes place in the dry, we risk having surprises … In the morning during the warm-up, it is Lorenzo who is the fastest in front of Simoncelli, Locatelli , Jenkner, Toth, Dovizioso and Barbera. Stoner, the poleman, does "only" the 12th fastest time and Di Meglio sets the 20th time.

Departure

Finally the weather is good and the sun is even appearing in the sky over Assen. Stoner got the best start, followed by Locatelli, Dovizioso, Corsi, Kallio, Giansanti, Simoncelli, Jenkner, Lorenzo, Nieto, Di Meglio who finally got off, Ui and Barbera. Halfway through, Locatelli took the lead from Stoner, Kallio passed 4th ahead of Corsi, Barbera passed Di Meglio and Ui. Locatelli took a few steps ahead of Stoner, Giansanti passed 5th ahead of Corsi, Jenkner who passed Simoncelli, and Lorenzo. Pasini overtook Di Meglio. After the first lap, Locatelli leads ahead of Stoner, Dovizioso and Kallio who swap for 3rd place are a few lengths away, Jenkner, Giansanti, Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Barbera, Nieto, Simoncelli and Pasini are grouped together. Further on, Ui, Di Meglio and Simon seem already off the hook.

In the 2nd lap, Locatelli and Stoner still have a few lengths behind Kallio, Dovizioso, Jenkner, Lorenzo, author of the best lap, who redid the junction by bringing back Giansanti, Corsi, Barbera, Simoncelli, Nieto and Pasini. On lap 3, Locatelli and Stoner lead alone, followed by Kallio, Lorenzo again setting the best time, Dovizioso, Jenkner who let Giansanti go 1.2 seconds behind the German. Lorenzo continued his ascent and passed Kallio who resisted and regained his 3rd place. Lorenzo passes him by, signaling him to drive faster and that he can get back on the first! On the 4th lap, Lorenzo slightly detaches himself from Kallio, Jenkner and Dovizioso. A little further on, Barbera, Simoncelli and Giansanti are together. Behind, it stretches more and more. The hole is made behind Corsi. Ui, Di Meglio, Simon and Pellini are released.

In the next round, Lorenzo made the junction with the two leaders. Dovizioso took 3rd place from Kallio ahead of Jenkner and accelerated his pace so as not to let the leaders slip away. Lorenzo passes 2nd in front of Stoner before the 6th pass. Lorenzo took the lead in the draw, but Locatelli took the lead immediately. Lorenzo insisted and passed Locatelli again under braking. Locatelli goes back a few bends further. Dovizioso got back up, driving a few tenths faster than the leader. In the 7th lap, Mike Di Meglio is 13th and improves his lap times, Dovizioso always comes back, bringing back Kallio, Jenkner, Nieto, Barbera, Simoncelli and Giansanti in that order. Ui and Borsoi return to the pits. On the 8th lap, Kallio 5th made the fastest lap in the race. With Dovizioso and Jenkner, they slightly let go of Nieto and Barbera who are struggling to keep up. The positions stretched further and further on the 9th lap, with Dovizioso coming back strong from the top three, bringing in Kallio and Jenkner. The junction is made in this lap: the leading group is now six drivers, Lorenzo taking the lead from Locatelli. In the 10th lap, we therefore have the six leaders, then Barbera and Nieto a few lengths away, then even further Simoncelli and Giansanti. Di Meglio is 13th, 17 seconds behind the leaders. Lorenzo tries to get away, but Locatelli and Stoner follow well, Kallio, Dovizioso and Jenkner dropping a few lengths on lap 12. Locatelli takes the lead and tries to escape again, but Lorenzo sticks to his wheel.

On the 13th pass, the aspiration brings the six men back together. Dovizioso returned to 4th in front of Kallio who seemed to be struggling with Jenkner in his wheel. In the 4th lap, the four leaders left behind Kallio and Jenkner together, Barbera and Nieto still driving in a 7th and 8th duo. All these beautiful people take a turn on Marketa Janakova, a 16 year old Czech girl and far from ridiculous wild card! Lorenzo attacked and took the lead, followed by Dovizioso, but Locatelli came back before the start of the 15th straight line. Dovizioso came back to 2nd a few turns later! Kallio is forced to retire. At the start of the last lap, Lorenzo leads in front of Dovizioso, Stoner and Locatelli who from the leader in the previous lap finds himself in 4th! At the first braking, Locatelli goes back to 3rd. Lorenzo on the attack comes out wide on the right and goes into the grass! But he did not let go of the gas, and returned to the track, forcing Dovizioso to pull aside and pass through the grass in his turn but in the lead, Locatelli passing through the other side! Stoner also tried to take advantage, but after touching it was Lorenzo who kept the upper hand over the Australian. But Stoner stings Lorenzo inside in the pin on the left! Locatelli attacks and passes Dovizioso, followed by Stoner.

Photo O. BERGAMASCHI

Lorenzo, who delays his braking, passes Dovizioso and Stoner in the same incredible attack, surprising Stoner who sees Dovizioso pass again! Suddenly, Locatelli took 20 meters ahead, but Lorenzo attacked like a madman with his nose in the bubble, persisted and took the lead, winning with incredible gusto over Locatelli, Stoner completing the podium ahead of Dovizioso: what a final! Jenkner passed 4th alone, then Barbera, Simoncelli, Nieto and Giansanti. Di Meglio finished 12th behind Toth and Pasini. In the championship, Locatelli made a good deal, Dovizioso is still provisional leader with 109 points, Italian team-mate De Puniet returns to 93, then Barbera 84 tied with Stoner. Nieto is 5th with 63, Lorenzo and Jenkner 58. Mike Di Meglio is 12th with 23 points.

250

Porto took pole in the dry with a magnificent time, relegating Pedrosa 2nd to 0.78 seconds, Randy De Puniet 3rd to 0.86 and Elias 4th to 1.17! In the second row we find in the order Poggiali, De Angelis, Rolfo and Olive. Guintoli qualified 16th at 3.2 seconds, Vincent 18th at 3.8, Bataille 19th at 4 seconds, Marchand 23rd at 4.7, Nigon 24th at 5.8 and Lefort 26th at 7.2. In the warm up, Porto confirmed their dominance ahead of Pedrosa, Elias, De Angelis, Poggiali, De Puniet, Rolfo and Nieto. Guintoli sets the 11th time in the morning, Bataille 14th, Marchand 21st, Vincent 23rd, Nigon 24th and Lefort 27th.

Departure

Porto got off to the best start, De Puniet by their side, while Pedrosa remained glued to the line and was passed, luckily without damage by almost everyone! Porto, De Puniet and Nieto start in front, followed by De Angelis, Rolfo, Aoyama, Elias, West, Poggiali, Olive, Debon, Bataille, Battaini, Vincent, Matsudo, Baldolini, Davies and Guintoli. Pedrosa is still behind them! Elias passed 6th ahead of Aoyama, Pedrosa passed 17th ahead of Guintoli. Porto took a few steps ahead of Randy and Nieto who took second on the line. Pedrosa came back 12th! Bataille is 14th, Vincent 16th, Guintoli 19th, Marchand 21st, Nigon 24th. Nieto misses and goes into the grass, De Puniet takes the opportunity to get back to 2nd, 1.5 seconds behind Porto. Rolfo also passed Nieto. Pedrosa is 9th in the wheels of Poggiali! Randy attacks not to let Porto go and distances Elias and the group of pursuers in which Pedrosa is the fastest. He quickly passes Poggiali, then West. Always on the attack, he stings Rolfo under braking: it is he who puts on the show with his magnificent comeback! Nieto is "swallowed" in the wake.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

On the third lap, De Puniet had the best lap. Elias passes 3rd in front of De Angelis, then Pedrosa, Nieto, Rolfo, West and Poggiali. On lap 4, Randy always came back to Porto but it was Pedrosa who set the best time. Almost all of them speed up and improve. In front, Randy has practically joined Porto. West passed 7th ahead of Nieto. On the 4th lap, De Puniet was one second behind Porto and Nigon retired. Bataille is 17th, Guintoli 18th, Marchand 20th and Vincent 21st. Pedrosa passed 4th in front of De Angelis, while a few drops of rain began to fall … Guintoli retired in his turn.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

On the 5th lap, Randy almost returned to Porto’s wheels, Elias improved, Pedrosa came back bringing De Angelis back. Arnaud Vincent gives up! In the 6th lap, De Puniet took the lead, Pedrosa, who passed Elias, and De Angelis also picked up. Bataille is 16th, Marchand 17th. Gregory Lefort returns, but the consequences of his collarbone operation are still painful, he spares for Brazil. In the 9th lap, De Puniet, Porto, Pedrosa, Elias and De Angelis are still grouped together. Further on, West takes Nieto and Rolfo, Poggiali is let loose. Elias attacks and passes Pedrosa in 3rd position.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

On the 10th lap, Porto took the lead again ahead of Randy, De Angelis seemed to be struggling. Porto picked up the pace, Elias attacked and passed De Puniet. On the 11th lap, Porto, who had the fastest lap in the race, took his distance, Elias, De Puniet, Pedrosa and De Angelis were dropped. West 6th improves his times and distance Nieto and Rolfo. Pedrosa passed 3rd in front of De Puniet who seemed to be struggling. In the process, Pedrosa passes 2nd in front of Elias. At the 12th crossing on the line, Porto improved again the race record Pedrosa, Elias and De Puniet regrouped, Randy even passing 3rd in front of Elias. Pedrosa accelerates again and even manages to close the gap on Porto! On lap 14, De Puniet and Elias improved their own lap times and climbed Pedrosa. De Angelis is let loose. Rolfo passed 7th ahead of Nieto. Porto, who sensed the threat, accelerates again and relegates Pedrosa to 2 seconds.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

On lap 15, Porto were 2.4 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, 2.9 over De Puniet and Elias, 6 over De Angelis and 13 over West, only 6th. Elias attacked and passed 3rd in front of De Puniet who obviously did not manage to counter him. In the 16th lap, the positions are marked, Randy is let go by Elias. At the start of the last lap, Pedrosa sets the race record, attacking to the end even if the fight is desperate: what a panache! While Nieto still makes his own, passing Rolfo on a maneuver at the very least limit which even allows Poggiali to come back 7th by passing the two men! Once again, Fonsi Nieto shows a reckless driving style, despite the warning he has already received for the same reason !

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

Porto crossed the finish line as a big winner ahead of Pedrosa alone 2nd, Elias alone 3rd, De Puniet alone 4th, De Angelis alone 5th ahead of West alone 6th and first private. Eric Bataille takes 2 points from 14th place and Hugo Marchand finishes 18th: massacre among French pilots !

In the championship, Randy is still the leader with 111 points, just a small point ahead of Pedrosa 110, while Porto 88 climbs up to the lead. Elias is 4th with 70 points ahead of Nieto 64 and De Angelis 51.

MotoGP

Rossi once again took care of his opponents during qualifying and like Porto in 250, relegated them far from his time! Thus, Checa, who dominated this session, is finally 0.68 seconds behind Dottore’s qualifying time, Gibernau 3rd is 1.1 seconds. The second line is formed by Melandri, Nakano and Barros. Surprise: the first six bikes are three Yamaha (including the two best times!), Two Honda and a Kawasaki! Roberts, Tamada and Xaus – who confirms his good mood this season – form the third row. In 4th place we find Hoffmann and Hopkins and finally Biaggi, the big loser of these tests, these three pilots being 2.8 seconds behind Vale’s stopwatch….

During the warm up, Rossi is still ahead of Gibernau, Checa, Edwards, Hayden, Barros, Roberts, Hodgson and Capirossi. Biaggi decidedly in delicacy this weekend, made the 15th time in the warm up at 2 seconds … For his birthday and his 100th start in the premier class, the Roman would certainly have preferred to appear better to celebrate it with dignity! Barros, he leaves for his 200th GP in this category, a record !

Departure

Very good start for Checa to take the lead, Gibernau and Rossi side by side, Rossi taking advantage at the first corner. But Gibernau immediately returned and even took the lead ahead of Checa in the momentum. Barros, Biaggi, Melandri, Xaus, Hopkins and Capirossi follow in that order.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

Rossi passes 2nd in front of Checa, Melandri passes 5th in front of Biaggi who crosses again and remains 5th. On the first pass, Gibernau, Rossi, Checa and Barros pass together, slightly ahead of Biaggi, Melandri, Xaus, then Hopkins and Capirossi. Barros passes 3rd in front of Checa just before the 3rd passage on the line. Melandri and Biaggi come and go again, picking up leaders! Biaggi on the attack comes out in the grass, without damage…

On lap 4, Gibernau and Rossi, who set the fastest lap, took a few lengths over Barros and Checa, themselves ahead of the Biaggi-Melandri-Xaus trio, preceding the other Capirossi-Nakano-Edwards trio. Barros pushes ahead in this round and returns to Rossi and Gibernau.

On the 4th lap, Barros made the best lap and put the leaders back together. Biaggi and Melandri are still fighting for 5th place, Xaus behind them. In the 5th lap, Barros is in contact with Rossi. Melandri passed Biaggi for 5th place. However, on the 7th lap, Biaggi set the best time and came back strong with Melandri on Checa, Xaus at 2 or 3 lengths. Melandri passed 4th in front of Checa, Biaggi on the heels of the Spaniard. On the 8th lap, it was Rossi who set the best time! On the next pass, Barros manages to pass 2nd in front of Rossi in the straight line! Biaggi passed 5th in front of Checa, Melandri driving alone 4th.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

At the start of the 10th straight, Rossi passed Barros under braking, but the Brazilian took 2nd place in the straight. Unfortunately for him, wanting to delay his braking to counter Rossi, he loses control of his RCV and falls heavily! Rossi therefore becomes 2nd again with a few lengths behind Gibernau, Melandri rolls alone 3rd, Biaggi alone 4th. On the next lap, Melandri misses herself, pulls into the gravel, manages to get back on the track without falling, but sees Biaggi on her heels again! In the lead, Rossi on offense came back to Gibernau’s wheel. At the 13th lap, Gibernau and Rossi pass wheel to wheel, Melandri and Biaggi at 5 seconds then Checa, Xaus, Hayden, Edwards and Capirossi in a more stretched way. Xaus and Hayden walk past Checa. In the lead, Gibernau seems more comfortable in the fast parts, Rossi coming back in the more sinuous, but still staying in contact and seeming to test possible trajectories…

In the 15th lap, Gibernau and Rossi were 5.5 seconds ahead of Melandri and Biaggi, 7.6 over Hayden and 8.4 over Edwards and Xaus who missed each other slightly! On the 16th lap, Gibernau, who had just set the best time, still did not manage to let go of Rossi! On the next lap, Rossi sticks Gibernau without managing to pass, as does Biaggi on Melandri. Capirossi passed Checa in 8th position. In this penultimate lap, Biaggi attacks and passes Melandri who passes again, but Biaggi insists, again countered by Melandri !

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

In the lead, Rossi set the race record, achieving 1’59.472 while Gibernau did 1’59.473! Huge mano to mano! Rossi attacks inside the hairpin on the left, comes out wide, slides forward, almost falls but manages to stay on his wheels, Gibernau by his side! He Dottore comes out stronger than Gibernau who also almost fell. The two men touched each other during the maneuver and Gibernau’s front fender forfeited! Rossi turns to judge the gap and holds it down to win once again in front of Gibernau! Melandri takes 3rd and completes the podium with a second Yamaha! Biaggi is 4th, Hayden 5th, Edwards 6th, Xaus 7th and Capirossi 8th.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

In the championship, it is of course Rossi who does the right thing, tied with Gibernau for 126 points, but the Italian is the only leader thanks to his four victories, three of them in a row! Biaggi with 93 points is left behind, and what about Checa and his 56 points, which sees Melandri and Edwards point tied with 54! Worse still, to complete Honda’s rout, Yamaha goes to the top of the constructors’ standings with 133 points against 130 for Honda … Rossi is definitely an incredible rider, who tells the Italian press that what Honda lacks is ‘is … himself !

J. ARSOUILLE

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