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2008-06-28 Rider impressions after Assen race
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 Casey Stoner today made one step towards title defense, as he significantly reduced point deficit to Rossi and Pedrosa, showing form that will scare his rivals. Once again we had Casey Stoner in one class, while others were in 'second' class, so let's read what riders say about race we saw in Assen today.
Casey Stoner - 1st:
We knew we had the pace to win today but sometimes coming into race day that can make you even more nervous because you know the only thing that can go wrong is yourself! I was also worried about the weather and after watching the 125 race I thought it would be typical to start raining whilst I was in the lead. Thankfully that wasn't the case and I was able to get out front, put my head down and concentrate on doing the times we've been doing all weekend in dry conditions. I'm sorry Valentino crashed because this isn't necessarily the way I wanted to recover points on him, but at the end of the day we've had our fair share of bad luck this year too and racing is an unpredictable game. Now it seems fortune is favouring us but more than that I've really got to take my hat off to Ducati and to my team. They've been doing such a good job over the past few races to get us back on the pace again and make us consistently competitive, so I want to say 'thank you' to all of them.
Dani Pedrosa - 2nd:
I’m happy with this result because it was a difficult race and I’m happy to be in the World Championship lead once again, the 20 points we got here are very important. We’ve struggled a little bit during practice here, but my team have worked really hard, so a big thanks to all of them. Yesterday I was able to qualify on a MotoGP front row for the first time at Assen. Today I did my best in the race but unfortunately we couldn’t go with Casey because he was so fast. Now we need to keep working hard because we must try to close the gap over the next few races. Sachsenring is next. We had a great win there last year and we will try to do the same again this year.
Colin Edwards - 3rd:
Third is never a win, but this feels as good as one. I remember how disappointed I was with third in Le Mans and I feel much better with this after what happened. I thought I had a good start and was fifth or sixth when Valentino got tangled with Randy de Puniet and he crashed. I might have gone left but I knew Valentino was on the ground and I didn’t want to run over him or his bike and I just stopped. The next thing I know is I’m dead last and then Alex de Angelis went down soon after and I lost a bit more ground. I just decided to get my head and push. I thought I’d rather be in the gravel than riding round for eighth or ninth. I started picking guys off and before I knew it I was on the back of the group fighting for fourth. I just kept pushing myself to go faster and the next thing I’m fourth. I could see Nicky and Dani in the distance and all I did was ride as hard as I could and my Tech 3 guys gave me a great bike today. Michelin had some great tyres so I started to hammer away at Nicky. I thought if I kept applying pressure he might make a mistake and if I hadn’t kept pushing as hard as I did then I might not have been close enough to pounce on Nicky. I’d settled for third but as I came out of the chicane he was sat up, and I couldn’t believe it. I guess that’s karma corner after 2006. This place owed me something after I crashed a couple of years ago with my first win in sight, and I’m really happy with third just because in the way I achieved it. It’s hard to get on the podium at any time in MotoGP, so to do it from last is a great feeling.
Nicky Hayden - 4th:
Man, we had a pretty good race. Unfortunately this game can be cruel sometimes. To be so close to a really good result is tough, but we still finished, we made it across the line and still got some good points out of the deal, but it would’ve been nice to stand on the podium. The team certainly deserved it, they’ve worked really hard this weekend. I had a dash light come on at the start of the race, though it went off after the start. She finally quit right before the finish line. Nonetheless the bike is working good. Now they’ve got a week and a half to hopefully sort it out in Japan and we can keep moving on.
Andrea Dovizioso - 5th:
I’m very happy with this fifth place, I believe this is the maximum we could achieve today. I started well and in the early stages I was faster than some of the other riders, managing to stay in front, even though we started from the fourth row of the grid where usually it’s hard to recover and get with the leaders. Yesterday I thought we would be able to have a better rhythm, but our result today could not have been better. We struggle to fight for the podium positions and it seems that fourth or fifth is ‘our’ position in the race. We are working well and happy with the results, even if we want better!
Jorge Lorenzo - 6th:
I said yesterday that the most important thing for me today was to finish after everything that’s happened recently, so this is a good thing. However I am not happy about the race because it wasn’t fun today and I had some problems, although, as in the last few races, my bike became easier to ride towards the end of the race. I must just take comfort now in the fact that we have two weeks until the next round, and hopefully by then I will be feeling a lot better. We are trying to go step-by-step but of course I want to do better than this. Valentino was not so lucky today but I want to say well done to him for finishing and taking some important points.
Chris Vermeulen - 7th:
I got a good start and moved into a good position through the first two corners, but I was nearly involved in the crash and had to run wide causing me to almost lose the front. The bike worked really well in the beginning part of the race and I had a lot of grip from the Bridgestones. I felt like my pace was better than the guys in front and I could see them and thought I could get up to them, but once I got past and up into fourth the grip went off a bit and it became quite slippery out there. Unfortunately I lost a bit of time and dropped back a few positions, but I was still quite strong at the end of the race and managed to get back to seventh. Considering the problems we have had this weekend and losing a couple of sessions – one to problems on the first day and another to the rain – it is a decent result and we have managed to salvage something from it. Full congratulations to the team they did a great job again, and I’d like to say get well soon to Loris, I hope he is back at Sachsenring so he can give me a run for my money!
Shinya Nakano - 8th:
I’ve finished ninth for the last three races and our objective today was to improve on that! Eighth place isn’t a fantastic result, but the most positive thing about this race was the start. I got away really well and managed to get straight into a good pace. Unfortunately after a few laps my rhythm dropped off and I lost positions, from fourth back to seventh. I would have liked to finish higher but I’m still happy because eighth isn’t bad and I think we’ve taken a step forward today.
James Toseland - 9th:
We tried a completely different setting on the front and we had quite a few problems because riding was just not that comfortable for me. It is nice to get a finish under my belt and get a top ten to build on from here because there is no doubt we have got some work to do and we need to find a direction with the bike. The shorter bike seems to be a lot more sensitive to changes but the mixed weather is really killing us at the moment as we try and make some big progress. With all the wet time we are not moving forward in the dry. In the last six races there’s been a wet day and to only have one day to get the bike dialled in is difficult, even on tracks that I know. It is frustrating to watch and frustrating for me to be down in ninth position and I know I have got work to do. We are quite a way off with the setting and it is up to me to make it better. I’m not riding any worse than I was before but we have hit a bit of a brick wall. Sachsenring is another new track and I’ll have a think about where we are at over the next few days, watch some videos of the races so far and try and work out where we can improve.
Sylvain Guintoli – 10th:
I am happy for how it went the weekend overall and this is very important for us. I am sorry only because I thought I could have done better today. The race rhythm wasn’t the same of the past two days. I committed a mistake when I was behind Toseland and while trying to solve it I went out of the track losing some seconds. Without that mistake I would have surely finished in front of him if not even further up. It is strange because here and in Donington I registered my best lap times in the last five laps of the race: I have to find the way to be much more competitive since the first laps. I must thanks my technicians: they always gave their best and if today we made it to enter the top ten it’s also thanks to them.
Valentino Rossi - 11th:
After seven podiums in a row I made a mistake today – this is racing! I am very disappointed because we made a change to the set-up of the front and it worked very well, and I could tell from the warm-up lap that my bike was very good today. Unfortunately I made a mistake at the first left; I arrived too fast when the tyres were still cold, I was too hard on the brakes and I lost the rear. I am sincerely sorry to Randy de Puniet and all of his team. After the crash I had a bent handlebar and no gear shifter, but despite this I was able to do the third fastest lap time, 37.1! I know I could have been faster than Pedrosa today and, although it’s easy to say now, I think I could have fought with Stoner for the win. I am glad for these five points and although we have lost the lead we are not far behind Pedrosa. I am looking forward now to some more technical improvements for my bike and being fast, together with Bridgestone, at every track.
Toni Elias – 12th:
Today nothing went well. I didn’t enjoy it at all. We have to forget all we have done to do much better in the second part of the championship. With the Team, Ducati and Bridgestone I am sure we can do much better. The only consolation I have is that I finally made it to finish a race in Assen in the major class: I never made it for various unlucky reasons.
Marco Melandri - 13th:
It would have been good for me to have a wet race today. This morning things were going better and I was quite satisfied with the bike. Compared to yesterday the situation was much better, even though the front end still wasn't perfect. Unfortunately though you can't do anything about the weather, the race was run in the dry and the problems we've been having with the bike returned. I can't get it into the corner, I can't make it turn and I'm losing so much grip, especially with a full fuel tank. It was a very difficult race.
Anthony West - DNF:
I got a good start to the race, although it was difficult from so far back on the grid because the first turn is quite tight. I had made up a few places when Alex de Angelis highsided in front of me and I had to almost stop the machine to avoid hitting him. The bike was feeling good and in the next few laps I managed to pass a few people into 11th place. I was sure I could catch the group ahead of me and be well within the top ten, but we were lapping at a similar pace and with the incident at the start, I had to push just that little bit harder. Unfortunately I lost the front of the bike and crashed out, which is a real disappointment because we were quite strong today. The new engine upgrades have made a difference and we still have more grip than previously, despite struggling a little bit in places with cornering. We just need some luck on our side and, hopefully, we'll be fighting for good positions next time out at Sachsenring.
Alex De Angelis - DNF:
I started quite well but Valentino and De Puniet crashed in front of me coming onto the back straight and I had to slam the brakes on, allowing a couple of riders past. In the next corner I’d barely opened the throttle when the bike lost grip and threw me into the air. It was probably the tyre that wasn’t up to temperature and I just lost control, the rear came around and I crashed. Luckily I’m not hurt and I’m looking forward to the next race.
Randy De Puniet - DNF:
We deserve a lot better than this. Since the beginning of this weekend my pace was consistently fast and I could stay with the top five riders today. I made a very good start and was in the fifth position when Rossi crashed and I was ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’. We both went in the gravel but he rejoined the race. Probably he arrived too fast and lost the rear hitting my bike. I’m very disappointed because we could have fought for a good result here.
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