MotoGP riders recount their Assen TT experiences
MotoGP 2017 – Round Eight – Assen – Images by AJRN
Valentino Rossi – P1
“I‘m so happy, and for different reasons, because it‘s a very important victory for the championship, but especially the feeling of coming back to the number one spot after one year is fantastic. Sincerely, I race with motorcycles for this feeling: for what I feel in the five or six final laps of the race. That‘s always great and especially after a year without a victory. It was a great race and a great battle with Petrucci and everybody else. I‘m also happy from a technical point of view, because we worked a lot on the bike and we changed the chassis and now I feel like I can ride the bike more in my own manner, in a better way. Everything is open and this year we discovered that, from one track to the other, the situation can change a lot. We have to wait for next week and try to be competitive also at the Sachsenring.”
Danilo Petrucci – P2
“It’s a great result. I am very happy for this P2 although I have to admit that for a long time I had the taste of victory in my mouth. I was convinced I could pass Valentino in the last lap. Everything was set for the overtake but unfortunately I struggled to pass Rins and Barberà who were lapped. It’s a pity. I am sure, however, that tomorrow morning I will realize what we did: a great weekend. And to be honest I can not wait to be in Germany. I want to win!”.
Marc Marquez – P3
“I’m very happy with the podium and with our race, as we were competitive enough in the dry at this track, which isn’t one of the best for us. Of course conditions were quite tricky and in this kind of situation you can lose or gain many points. I opted for the ‘safe’ option, more or less. Maybe I would have been able to try and fight for the victory, but honestly I had some warnings and thought it too dangerous for the Championship, so I decided to be consistent in the race and to push hard at the end. I paid close attention as it was hard to understand where the limit was, but in the end I was able to manage well. We’re just 11 points down on the lead and that’s important, no matter the fourth position. Now we go to some circuits that could be better for us, so let’s keep working hard and see what happens.”
Cal Crutchlow – P4
“I’m pleased to finish and pleased to finish fourth. I was a little disappointed with my pace in the middle of the race, I had some sort of problem with my front tyre and I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to. But I still thought we were on for a good result and kept battling. I got a bad start and that really hindered me, as well as not starting from the front rows. I think that really cost me the podium or even the chance to fight for the win because the pace was not drastically fast. After it started to rain I kept a cool head, but I made a mistake by showing Marc (Marquez) and (Andrea Dovizioso) Dovi my hand, I went too early and should have passed them on the last lap. As it was, Marc just followed me and passed me on the second to last corner and there was nothing I could do. But it was a great fight, I really enjoyed it and credit to the podium guys.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P5
“Today’s race was a very difficult one and having to start from row 3 complicated things a bit. At the start I wasn’t able to be very smooth and I lost touch with the leading group, but I remained focussed to see where I could recover and when Viñales crashed in front of me, I pushed hard to get back up with the leading group. At that moment I was the quickest on the track and this is a good sign for our bike. When I came up on the leaders it started to rain but you couldn’t really see where the track was dry and where it wasn’t. For this reason I didn’t want to take any risks and I tried to finish the race in the best possible way to score some valuable points for the championship. We go back home in the lead of the table and it’s a new emotion for me because I’ve never been in the lead of MotoGP. I want to thank all my team because this weekend we again worked really well and despite the constantly changeable weather conditions, we made the right decisions, we stayed calm and in this end it all paid off.”
Jack Miller – P6
“The first lap was not good, from my grid position I got stuck on the outside through all the right hand corners and lost time, but once the group flattened out I got up to tenth in a group with Dani and Cal. I was a having nice fight with Dani and then the rain came. I kept my pace to keep temperature in the slick tyres and pushed through to sixth. With more risks I might have been able to challenge for the podium but I wanted the points, this was a good result for me. I never thought about changing bikes, there wasn’t enough rain for wet weather tyres.”
Karel Abraham – P7
“With this race I have equaled my best result in MotoGP. The conditions were adverse today, but I was convinced that the race would be dry. However, with ten or twelve laps to go, a fine rain fell. I continued to push -I think more so than other riders- and I didn’t come in to change bikes as others did. I couldn’t see if the track was wet or not, so I was pushing and hoping it was OK. I could have pushed a little more, but maybe that would not have been sensible. At the end, at the start of the last lap, I was ninth. Fortunately, Iannone slowed down a lot, as did Baz who was behind him, and I was able to overtake them both. It was clear that we could do better than what we showed yesterday in qualifying, with eighteenth place on the grid, and we demonstrated that in the race.”
Loris Baz – P8
“We were lucky with the rain, because in dry conditions I had no confidence and also I started to feel pain in my right arm after just two laps. I had no feeling with the front and I decided to keep my pace, because a big group was right behind me. When I saw the first drops on my visor, I pushed harder to keep the tyres in the right temperature range and to avoid changing bikes. The strategy was right and I finished eighth. On the last lap, Iannone overtook me and I passed him back in the fast lefthand corner, but I didn’t realise Abraham was so close and he caught me. But there is not a big difference between seventh or eight place, the important thing is that we finished inside the top ten, which is a boost to my motivation ahead of Germany where I hope to finish the first half of the season with another strong result.”
Andrea Iannone – P9
“The first part of the race was very positive, I jumped from the 16th place which was not easy, but I managed to recover and get into the top 10. I had a good rhythm, very close to the top. Then we had some problems with the grip. When tyres drop, the GSX-RR dramatically changes its behaviour, and I couldn’t be as effective as I wanted. We have to learn how to better manage these situations and keep closer to our competitors.”
Aleix Espargaro – P10
‘”I cannot be entirely satisfied because our goal is still to be closer to the leaders. The race had started well. I managed the first part, successfully overtaking a lot of riders and maintaining a good pace. A few laps before the rain I had begun to visibly recover ground. The RS-GP was really working well and I was closing the gap quickly. Unfortunately, I did not have a good feeling on the damp track and I was unable to push. Today we demonstrated once again that we can be very competitive, but the weather got in the way.”
Pol Espargaro – P11
“It was a typical Assen race as after ten laps some rain spots came down, but at the start in the dry I felt quite alright as we were about a second a lap off the top guys so it’s the best race we’ve done in dry conditions…so maybe we were going to finish about 35 seconds back (if it was dry to the end). This is important and very positive for us so I’m pretty happy, but we still need to continue working on the problems we know we have over the next races and tests. Overall though, it’s great to get KTM’s best MotoGP result, something I am very proud of as the guys here at the track and in Austria are working so hard.”
Tito Rabat – P12
“This was one of the most difficult weekends of the season for me as I did not have a good feeling in the cold and wet conditions. But for the race we made some important set-up changes and I was able score points, I am happy for this 12th place. When the rain came I thought to stop and change bikes but then realised it was not raining very hard so I stayed out but it was not an easy decision. Towards the end I was catching Pol Espargaro and I thought I may have a chance to pass him at the final chicane but it didn’t happen.”
Dani Pedrosa – P13
“Today the race was very difficult as I didn’t have a great start and I didn’t recover the positions I hoped to. I found myself quite a distance behind, despite the fact that I was able to lap well enough compared with the guys at the front. Later, when the rain arrived, I slowed down a little bit and immediately started losing temperature in the tyres. I know that I’m very sensible in these kinds of situations and that next time I need to manage that better. I have to find a way to maintain the temperature in the slicks because when they get cold it becomes very difficult to get back on the rhythm and regain confidence. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to manage it better this weekend. The positive points are that I could make some good lap times early in the race and that I lost just one point on the leader in the Championship standings.”
Johann Zarco – P14
“Overall, I have to say that today was actually positive. I made a very good start from pole position when it was dry at the beginning, and I took the lead which was a great feeling. No one passed me and I did the best that I could by riding my references. After that, I started to fight with the other riders and we changed places. At two points on the track, I was struggling a lot compared to them, yet I managed to stay in the group for a bit, but then it rained. Honestly, at this point, I was nervous about crashing because we are on the limit anyway but when we see rain, it can be scary. I could not push anymore with the slick tyres, so I took the decision to swap bikes. In the end, it didn’t rain enough to make a difference yet, I could not carry on with my dry bike. This is part of the game and sure, we made some mistakes, which includes a ride through penalty but I didn’t lose so many positions. I want to say that it was a positive Sunday because I was competitive at the beginning and in the dry conditions, plus, I was able to stay with the leaders and fight for the podium. This is the target so we just need to build everything up in order to reach it, but we are close.”
Jorge Lorenzo – P15
“Today I experienced a race like the ones in 2014 or 2016: unfortunately with these changeable weather conditions I’m just not able to be fast. When it began to rain I thought that the situation was going to get worse and I decided to return to the pits to change my bike and go back out again on rain tyres. The rain actually didn’t increase and I had to settle for fifteenth place. Unfortunately we are still missing half a second a lap to be able to stay with the leading group, so now we have to turn the page as soon as possible and look ahead.”
Hector Barbera – P16
“Today I lost the bet. The rain started towards the end of the race and when it rains at Assen it usually rains hard, so I thought that if I swap the bike and go out again with rain tyres, maybe I would have an advantage. When I saw Zarco going into the pits I took the risk to change the bike as well. With these decisions you sometimes win and sometimes you don’t, and today it was not the best decision. In this kind of races I’ve always been quite conservative and I stayed out until the final moment with bad results. Today I did the opposite and took a big risk, but is turned out disastrously. We had the worst possible conditions in the race, but at least we learned a new lesson for the next time we’ll have a flag to flag race.”
Alex Rins – P17
“I’m happy about this race. It’s positive that at the end of this weekend I was able to experience all of these different conditions: dry, then wet, and also the flag to flag. The start of the race was not a good one, and I struggled to find the pace, but then I managed to get more confident and I could overtake and recover. When it started to rain I took a risk in swapping the bike, because I was already feeling less than comfortable, and I thought it would rain more heavily. That didn’t happen, so the result was that I lost time, but this also means more experience for me. I’m sorry for the final lap. What happened was that I didn’t see the blue flags, and my position was a bother to Petrucci, so I apologise to him.”
Scott Redding – DNF
“Following a very good start, in the first few laps the race pace was excellent. Then I started to lose feeling especially with the front tire that started suddenly to drop. When it started to rain I thought things could improve but I did not find the benefits I expected. I’m so sorry for the crash in the last lap, but I have to admit it was a good weekend, especially after the big problem we experienced on Friday”.
Álvaro Bautista – DNF
“These things happen in racing, but this year we are working well and we don’t deserve this slump. The race was about waiting to see what happened, because we had barely ridden in the dry. On the first few laps I tried to be more cautious and not take many risks. Then we had a nice fight with several riders. The group stretched out a little, I was going at my own pace and suddenly at Turn 5 I lost the front. There’s no reason I can give as to why I crashed. I feel bad, because we are doing things right, but we lack that little something to help us finish the races and be up there, because we have the potential. We were riding well, I was comfortable, and at the least I could have finished in the top six. Physically I am OK, my morale is a little hurt, but the next race comes around soon and I’m sure that in Germany we will recover and regain a good feeling.”
Jonas Folger – DNF
“It’s a real shame about what happened today and I can’t hide my disappointment. First of all, I ran off the track after six corners and this caused me to drop back to last. Then, I tried to fight my way through the group but I couldn’t start a solid rhythm because I was in the mix with some of the slower riders. Anyway, I overtook a few people and I was pushing but then, unfortunately, I fell at the first corner. It’s a pity because some of these riders collected some good points today and I know that I am quicker than them, so we could have done a great job. Nevertheless, I will now focus on my home Grand Prix next week where I am determined to have a strong weekend in front of my fans.”
Sam Lowes – DNF
“It was a difficult race for everyone. We had ridden on the dry track only on Friday and the track changed completely. I was in a good group. When Lorenzo overtook me I felt like I could stay with him and set my sights on a good position. I battled a bit with Baz. I was faster than him in some situations, but we overtook one another on practically every lap. I crashed as I was opening up the throttle. Maybe I was a bit too close to the white line, but this weekend I definitely took a step forward. I am pleased that there will be a race in a few days because we are on a positive trend.”
Maverick Vinales – DNF
“I can‘t explain what happened, because I don‘t even know why I crashed. I passed there 2000 times, but today was the day. I was pushing myself over the limit, trying to bring the Yamaha to the top and I think that if I hadn‘t crashed I could have reached the riders in front, because our pace was very fast. We need to learn that in qualifying the minimum you have to do is sixth or fifth, so I know that the mistake was made yesterday, not today. I was feeling great on the bike today. I was trying to maintain the tyres on a good level and preparing an attack on the last ten laps. I was riding in a good way and really smoothly on the entire track and I felt much stronger than the other riders, I was trying my best. This crash is something we can‘t explain, we can only learn from it, especially concerning qualifying. I knew this morning it was going to be tricky and tried my best: it was everything or nothing and finally I got nothing. We have to go for it the next couple of races and we expect something different.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“What a drama-filled and exciting race! Vale is always a rider to watch in Assen and this year he again made good on the promise. He really deserved the victory today and claimed his first win of the season with an amazing battle in extremely difficult conditions. There was no better way to come back from a challenging weekend in Catalunya. Maverick was looking to recover from a not so easy starting position and when he moved up to fifth place and started to really push, he suffered an unlucky crash in turn 17. It was a pity to see his race end the way it did, considering his potential. After all the emotions today, we have a few days to recover before we head to the Grand Prix in Germany, held in just a week‘s time. The track had been resurfaced and slightly modified, so we are eager to get work started there.”
Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 Yamaha Team manager
“This weekend ended in a disappointing way, but we are learning and we will be back stronger in Germany. The performances on Saturday were great, and we all know that Johann clinched an unbelievable pole position and Jonas got his best qualifying result so far. However, there was always going to be the possibility of strange weather and the riders didn’t have a lot of dry track time this weekend so I was a bit nervous on the grid. Our guys decided to choose the full soft tyres, front as well as rear, and Johann had an incredible opening half to the GP. He had a small touch with Valentino, which cost him a bit of time, but from that moment, he held on to fourth. Johann told me that when the first few raindrops fell, it disturbed him more than the guys in front and he couldn’t keep their pace. So, he took the gamble to switch bikes, in case there was a heavy downpour like the one in warm up, yet, unfortunately, this didn’t happen. It’s a disappointing end to the day, but Johann said that we will learn by being at the front, plus, we must remember that he is still a rookie and we are stronger now than when we came here. As for Jonas, I am disappointed because we expected a strong race from him. We know that he is really fast here, but he was pushed off the track and then maybe a bit too impatient to move up the field. It’s a shame, as we believe that he could have easily finished inside the top ten because the laps that he completed were very quick. However, just like Johann, it’s his rookie season and he is learning so we have to stay calm. The good news is that the race next week is Jonas’ home GP which is very important for him and we can’t wait for FP1 on Friday in Sachsenring.”
Michael Bartholemy – MarcVDS Team Principal
“Jack again showed his potential with sixth place in conditions that made it easy to make a mistake. He showed a lot skill to stay out in the rain and not change bikes and have the pace to finish sixth. It was not an easy weekend for Tito and I am very happy he got some points so he could take something positive out of this race with 12th position.”
Bradley Smith – DNF
“I’m OK but just a little bit frustrated after I made a good start. In fact I felt pretty good and was in front of the group that was fighting for the top 8 but then they edged ahead as I had a new set up for this race, but I found my rhythm and got back into some low 1m 37s laps. However, later on I ran into turn seven a little bit too fast and tucked the front… I’m really sorry for the team and my crew as it’s quite frustrating that this has happened today but we’ll regroup and improve the motorcycle for Sachsenring next weekend.”
Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki MotoGP Technical Manager
“We cannot call ourselves satisfied by finishing the race in 9th and 17th, but compared to the previous race, today leaves us feeling very positive. Andrea made every effort, according to the situation, and we can clearly see what our problem is. When we have grip we are very good, but when it drops down it begins to affect the performance of the bike too much. This was an excellent race for development. Thank you Andrea. Alex unfortunately couldn’t get into points, but this race was an experience for him. Today presented a very difficult situation with the flag to flag and he made important progress.”
Davide Brivio – Suzuki MotoGP Team Manager
“At the end of the day my evaluation for this race is that it’s been a positive one, especially at this moment for us. We were able to witness Andrea being very competitive during the early laps; he made a good start and gained positions from the very beginning. He then fought and attacked. Then, in the second half, he struggled more; with the drop in tyre pressure, his feeling with the GSX-RR became worse and the lap time increased. There are still many things we can improve but we see that we have a good base, and importantly that when he feels confident, he can be fast. We’re happy as well for the first half of the race with Alex Rins. In dry conditions his lap time wasn’t bad at all. Despite having a bad start he found a good pace and was able to recover some positions. He also tried to swap the bike when it started raining. It was a bet that didn´t play out well, but at least he gained a lot of experience in this, what I would call, his second race of the year. He was good on dry, wise on wet, always had a good pace… we can look forward to the next GP of Germany with positivity.”
Romano Albesiano – Aprilia Racing Manager
“Once again we expressed potential that is clearly worthy of the top-five which did not bear the deserved fruits due to a contingent situation. As long as the race proceeded in normal, dry track conditions, performance was very high. When it began to rain after the mid-race point, Aleix was just over six seconds from the leader. He had caught up to the group ahead of him without pushing too hard and he had a better pace than they did. Realistically, he could have aimed for the top-five. The level that Aprilia has achieved is a clear fact by now. We will keep going strong because if our potential is at these levels, we will soon be reaping the results.”
Fausto Gresini – Aprilia Team Manager
“With the dry track we rode a fantastic race. Aleix maintained a spectacular pace. He moved up through the ranks easily and was lapping with the same pace as the leaders. Those raindrops ruined the final result, but there are many reasons to be confident and even pleased to have finished the race in the top-ten anyway. These are points that boost morale after our recent DNFs. We draw confidence from the knowledge that we are close to the leaders in terms of performance and that is what we are taking away from this race.”
Mike Leitner – KTM Team Manager MotoGP
“I call today typical Assen. This is what happens here! You think everything is done and then…it’s Assen. Maybe this is a reason why we choose soft/soft tyres but when the rain came some of the riders took the risk and some not so much, so I’m very happy that Pol made the correct decision. He did his max out there but for KTM it is the best result we have achieved in MotoGP and this is in the book. It’s another step. For Bradley it’s unlucky as he put so much effort into his recovery from Barcelona to here, especially at the beginning of the race he was in a great group, but he was there…then he ran wide and fell. At least he is OK after this so now he’ll be back at the Sachsenring and stronger with it too.”
Nicolas Goubert – Michelin
“We have been pleased with the performance of the tyres here at Assen this weekend. During the wet and drying session on Saturday the wet tyres worked very well, times were considerably quicker than in similar conditions last year and we had very few crashes despite the riders reporting that the track was giving very little grip. The race today again saw most of the compounds being used in different pairings right through the field, but we did not foresee what would transpire later in the race. As the rain began to fall we would have expected lap-times to drop, but the guys at the front hardly slowed down at all. They produced some fantastic racing which was a perfect demonstration of the confidence they had in the tyres to push so hard in those tricky conditions. We are constantly trying to produce the best tyres for each track to allow the riders to give such excitement for the crowds and we will continue to that. Next week we head to Germany which will be a very tough test as the track has been resurfaced and we have no data for it, but we are sure we have the right tyres for it and we are ready for the challenge.”
MotoGP 2017 – Round Eight – Assen Race Results
- ROSSI Valentino ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 41’41.149
- PETRUCCI Danilo ITA Octo Pramac Racing 0.063
- MARQUEZ Marc SPA Repsol Honda Team 5.201
- CRUTCHLOW Cal GBR LCR Honda 5.243
- DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA Ducati Team 5.327
- MILLER Jack AUS Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS 23.390
- ABRAHAM Karel CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team 36.982
- BAZ Loris FRA Reale Avintia Racing 37.058
- IANNONE Andrea ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar 37.166
- ESPARGARO Aleix SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’01.929
- ESPARGARO Pol SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’09.384
- RABAT Tito SPA Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1’10.121
- PEDROSA Dani SPA Repsol Honda Team 1’10.344
- ZARCO Johann FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.655
- LORENZO Jorge SPA Ducati Team 1 lap
- BARBERA Hector SPA Reale Avintia Racing 1 lap
- RINS Alex SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1 lap
MotoGP 2017 – Round Eight – Assen Championship Points Standings
- Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati ITA 115
- Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA 111
- Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 108
- Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 104
- Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA 87
- Johann ZARCO Yamaha FRA 77
- anilo PETRUCCI Ducati ITA 62
- Jorge LORENZO Ducati SPA 60
- Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda GBR 58
- Jonas FOLGER Yamaha GER 51
- Jack MILLER Honda AUS 40
- Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati SPA 34
- Scott REDDING Ducati GBR 33
- Loris BAZ Ducati FRA 31
- Andrea IANNONE Suzuki ITA 28
- Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA 23
- Tito RABAT Honda SPA 23
- Hector BARBERA Ducati SPA 21
- Karel ABRAHAM Ducati CZE 20
- Pol ESPARGARO KTM SPA 11
- Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 7
- Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA 7
- Bradley SMITH KTM GBR 6
- Sam LOWES Aprilia GBR 2
- Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki FRA 1
