SETE AND MELANDRI READY TO GO FOR IT AT ASSEN
DUTCH TT -MOTOGP OFFICIAL QUALIFYING
Sete Gibernau will start from second place and Marco Melandri
third in what promises to be a tense Dutch TT.
The final few minutes of today’s qualifying session
gave a sign of things to come, as did the pace set by the
day’s three fastest riders (Rossi, Gibernau and Melandri).
The grid positions were decided in a frantic final eight minutes,
with Sete the first to sit on pole before brief spells for
Rossi and Melandri.
The World Championship runner-up had a much better day today
thanks to the recovery of his Chief Mechanic Juan Martínez,
who spent yesterday in the circuit’s medical centre.
Sete, who has two consecutive podiums at Assen including victory
in 2003, is more motivated than ever to do well whilst Marco
has once again made his case for a potential first victory
in the seventh round of the season.
The Italian, who currently lies second in the championship
behind Valentino Ros! si, was the quickest rider in the three
free practice sessions. This morning he set a lap of 2’00”180,
signifying an improvement of two seconds over the three hours
of practice. Sete’s progress has been equally impressive,
improving by 2.5 seconds from the first to the final session.
SETE GIBERNAU (2nd, 1’59”247):
"Things were back to normal today. Juan, my chief mechanic,
had a physical problem yesterday but, thank God, the situation
was stabilised and today we noticed his presence. Yesterday
we were working a little bit in the dark because there was
no technical leader in the box, although I’d like to
thank all the boys for their calmness. I’m really looking
forward to this race, I’m sure it will be a body to
body fight until the end and I’ll be giving 100% all
the way.”
MARCO MELANDRI (3rd, 1’59”632):
"I’m happy with this position although at the same
time I’m a bit anno! yed right now that I didn’t
get the opportunity to make the most of my qualifying tyre.
Firstly I ran into Max Biaggi, who was going really slowly.
I tried for a second time but found him in the middle of the
track again and we touched. It’s a shame because I was
lapping really strongly, but it’s good to be on the
front row at this track because it’s one of my favourites.”
LAP TIMES
1. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 1’58”936
2. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0”311
3. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 0”696
4. Shinya Nakano (Jap/Kawasaki) + 0”824
5. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) + 0”848
6. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) + 1”070
7. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) + 1”200
8. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda) + 1”296
9. Max Biaggi (Ita/Honda) + 1”345
10. Alex Hofmann (Ger/Kawasaki) + 1”356
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