Dutch TT - Preview
DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM DASHES TO DUTCH TT
The Ducati Marlboro Team dashes across the English Channel
for Saturday's Dutch TT, the fourth MotoGP event in just five
weekends and the 2007 World Championship's halfway point.
Casey Stoner's brilliant fifth win of the year in last Sunday's
damp British Grand Prix increased his series lead to 26 points
and takes him to Assen in good spirits. Team-mate Loris Capirossi
also goes into the Dutch race in optimistic mood, following
a hard-charging ride in Britain.
With eight races gone and ten to go, Ducati continues to
lead the constructors' World Championship and the Ducati Marlboro
Team is still ahead in the MotoGP teams' World Championship.
LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project director
"We go into this race feeling quite optimistic, aiming
to be competitive whatever the weather brings, because conditions
can be very changeable at Assen, just like they were at Donington.
Casey is riding brilliantly, his Donington victory was amazing.
Loris also rode a strong race at Donington, and even though
he fell we can see that he is feeling better on the bike and
growing in confidence. Assen is half distance in the season,
but we are not thinking about the championship, we are working
at it race by race, always aiming to take the maximum possible
from each weekend."
CASEY STONER, World Championship leader on 165 points
"At Donington we again proved that the Ducati has got
more than just power. The bike and tyres are working well
for me and we are competitive at pretty much every circuit.
I'm really enjoying the races and I'm going to keep working
at it like that because if you look start looking at the championship
maybe you'll get too involved in it. I'm sure there's going
to be some great races at Assen this year, but the new circuit
is disappointing because the old layout was unbelievable,
really good fun to ride. They even ruined what was probably
my favourite corner in the world [De Bult], it was a great
banked left-hander and now they've flattened it out and destroyed
it. Anyway, we were quite competitive there last year. I think
I came from 14th or 15th at the first corner to fight for
the top three and I got fourth, so it was a really good race
for us. I think this year we can go there with slightly higher
expectations. The new Assen is really confusing for set-up,
it's got flat corners, banked corners, long corners and tight
little dinky corners, so it's really hard to find out what
you need though you can pretty much go with any bike and it'll
work. You have to find the right tyres that will last the
race with the right amount of grip."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 9th overall on 57 points
"Assen is always interesting, I still like really it.
The new layout isn't too bad, though the old one was much,
much better, it was the best track in the world. There's no
doubt that they've destroyed some of its character with the
shorter layout but anyway it should be good for us and good
for our bike. Of course, I've got bad memories from last year
when I raced with the injuries I'd received at Barcelona.
This year we go there in much better shape, with a good opportunity
to get a good result. I may have crashed at Donington last
Sunday but overall things are going much better for us now.
Our front-end set-up is improving, which is very important
for all the high-speed corner entries at Assen. We may also
continue working with our new engine spec this weekend - we
didn't get the chance to try it at Donington because the weather
conditions kept changing. Although the new Assen is very different
from the old layout you still need similar bike characteristics
- you need stability, good brakes and good front-end feeling.
I'm really looking forward to making up for the disappointment
of Donington - we will work hard as always and I will do my
best as always."
THE TRACK
Assen is MotoGP's oldest racetrack, in fact it is the only
venue surviving from the motorcycle world championship's inaugural
1949 season. Last year Assen underwent huge change, with much
of the northern section lost to make way for a new entertainment
and leisure facility, called ‘TT World'.
But the remainder of the circuit remains the same as before,
which means it still offers a special challenge to MotoGP
riders. Unlike most racetracks, which feature wide straights
and mostly slow to medium-fast corners, Assen is a narrow,
meandering venue, dominated by high-speed corners and rapid
direction changes. Its surface is also special, because it
is crowned like a public road for improved drainage, whereas
other racetracks are flat. This greatly complicates riding,
since riders must cope with several changes of camber as they
enter and exit most of Assen's corners.
Lap record: Nicky Hayden (Honda), 1m 37.106s, 168.867km/h-104.929mph
2006 pole position: John Hopkins (Suzuki), 1m 36.411s
DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RIDER DATA LOGS
LORIS CAPIROSSI
Age: 34 (born 4 April 1973)
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP7
GP starts: 256 (86xMotoGP, 59x500, 84x250, 27x125)
GP victories: 28 (6xMotoGP, 2x500, 12x250, 8x125)
First GP victory: Britain, 1990 (125)
First GP: Japan, 1990 (125)
Pole positions: 41 (8xMotoGP, 5x500, 23x250, 5x125)
First pole: Australia, 1991 (125)
World Championships: 3 (125: 1990, 1991, 250: 1998)
Assen 2006 results: Grid: 15th. Race: 15th
CASEY STONER
Age: 21 (born 16 October 16 1985)
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP7
GP starts: 85 (24xMotoGP, 31x250, 30x125)
GP victories: 12 (5xMotoGP, 5x250, 2x125)
First GP victory: Valencia, 2003 (125)
First GP: Britain, 2001 (125)
Pole positions: 6 (2xMotoGP, 2x250, 2x125)
First pole: Netherlands, 2003 (125)
Assen 2006 results: Grid: 12th. Race: 4th
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