After a late start to the year MotoGP is now in full swing for 2010 with Saturday’s Dutch TT following on from last weekend’s British GP and the Catalan GP next weekend.
This three race period will be crucial in determining the championship and with Jorge Lorenzo fresh from his dominant performance at Silverstone the Spaniard will start as a red hot favourite this weekend. Lorenzo is a three time winner Dutch TT winner in the smaller classes and will look to win in the premier class for the first time.
As usual the most likely pursuers of Lorenzo will be Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. The 2002 125cc race marked Pedrosa’s first ever GP victory as he dominated the race from pole position in beating then reigning world champion Manuel Poggiali. He has since added another four podiums at the circuit as well as numerous front row starts.
Stoner has had four podiums at Assen including a victory in 2007 when he led home Valentino Rossi for the win. The Ducati rider has been on each step of the podium the last years at Assen and will be looking to put to bed his poor start to the year on this circuit where a rider can overcome the shortfalls of his bike.
The Circuit
“The Cathedral” has long been viewed as the home of traditional Grand Prix motorcycle racing. It has been a venue for MotoGP since the inception of the championship in 1949 and still maintains the character of a road venue even though it is now closed course.
Assen is the greatest challenge that a rider faces all year in MotoGP. With numerous off camber corner, high speed straights and the challenging fast sweeping bends that end the lap riders love this circuit. Assen is unlike any other on the calendar and every rider wants to be able to put on their CV as Dutch TT winner.
Historic moments that are long etched into the memory of fans have occurred at numerous places throughout the circuit but one of the most recent was during last season’s 250cc race when Alvaro Bautista and Hiroshi Aoyama clashed at the final turn. Aoyama managed to crawl across the line for the victory ahead of Hector Barbara.
Other notable moments from the past included Barry Sheene taking his first GP victory in the 1975 500cc race. In 1977 Giacomo Agostini gave MV Augusta its final victory in the 350cc class. The 1985 edition also saw the last time that a machine with less than four cylinders won a premier class race, Randy Mamola won the 500cc race on a Honda triple.
1992 will long be remembered for Australian Mick Doohan’s crash that almost left the future five times world champion as an amputee. Future world champion Alex Criville gave Spain its first ever premier class victory in that year’s race.
Marco Malandri became the youngest ever GP winner in 1998 when he beat Kazuto Sakato by just 0.028 seconds in the 125cc race. The Italian held the record until current Moto2 rider Scott Redding won the British GP in 2008. Last year’s race saw Valentino Rossi win his 100th Grand Prix and the ever charismatic Italian displayed a banner with each an image of his victories displayed.
Who will be the contenders for MotoGP?
Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo will start as a clear favourite but Stoner and Pedrosa are sure to challenge. Andrea Dovizioso is second in the title race but the Italian has struggled at Assen in the past with only a solitary podium and a brace of front row starts to his name.
Randy de Puniet was undoubtedly one of the surprises of Silverstone and the LCR Honda rider will be looking to add to that this weekend. The Frenchman has qualified well here in the past but his race performances are average.
Former world champion Nicky Hayden won at Assen during his championship year of 2006. Hayden’s victory will be remembered as the 200th premier class victory for Honda and the dramatic fall of Colin Edwards at the last corner. Hayden has been impressive this season matching Casey Stoner’s pace in practice and racing well with four fourth positions to his name thus far. This could be the weekend where Hayden springs a surprise and manages to finish on the podium.
Who will be the challengers in the smaller class?
The Moto2 class boasts four previous winners of Dutch TT’s with past 125cc winners Toni Elias in 2001, Mattia Pasini in 2007 and double winner Gabor Talmaschi in 2005 and 2008. The 2008 race was stopped after it started raining and Talmaschi won the five lap restarted race by .0128 seconds. The only 250cc winner still racing outside of MotoGP is Anthony West, winner of a rain sodden 2003 race.
It’s unlikely that West, Talmaschi or Pasini will be present at the front of the field this weekend but the beauty of Moto2 is that on any day any rider can compete at the front of the field. Elias struggled at Silverstone but still holds a commanding 15 point lead in the title chase and the Spaniard is sure to be invigorated by returning to the scene of his first GP victory. The Gresini rider knows that he will have to be on form this weekend though otherwise by next weekend’s Catalan GP he could be under pressure in both the title chase and also from the home fans.
Aspar rider Julian Simon followed home Sergio Gadea in last year’s 125cc race and the two riders are well placed in the Moto2 championship to close the gap on Elias this weekend with strong showings. Simon, the reigning 125cc title holder is in fourth and Gadea in sixth as they enter this weekend’s race.
British GP winner Jules Cluzel has never scored at point at Assen but the Frenchman will be very dangerous this weekend as he looks to build on his Silverstone success. Cluzel has showed a lot of promise in the last year and his first ever GP success is sure to give him confidence with which he will look to build a tilt on the title around.
Simone Corsi will look to put his crash at Silverstone behind him and build on a run of form at Assen that has seen him qualify well in recent years and finish on the podium in 2008. Javier Simeon will race again this weekend and the youngster has been very impressive for the Holiday Gym team. Switzerland’s Thomas Luthi has raced well this year and finds himself in third in the championship, the former 125cc world champion has shown good form at Assen and his second place in 2008 was his best GP result in the 250cc class but the change to Moto2 has clearly helped him and after finishing as runner up at Silverstone the Swiss rider will look to go one better this weekend.
In the 125cc class Marc Marques became the youngest ever back to back winner in GP history as the 17 year old Spaniard closed in on compatriots Pol Espargaro and Nico Terol at the head of the championship. Marquez knows that the straight-line speed advantage that his Derbi has will be crucial this weekend.
The 125cc class has been home to some of the best racing seen in years with the battles for victory exceptionally close at each race, including Silverstone where Espargaro and Marquez clashed three times on the final lap. Assen always produces close racing and the expectation will be for just that in this year’s 125 race. Last year’s vice champion was Bradley Smith and in Italy and Britain he showed that he can still compete at the front of the field. This weekend will be crucial if he is to have any chance of catching the Spaniards in the title chase.
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