Chris Vermeulen once again showed his ability to enjoy the rain by grabbing pole position for the ninth round of the MotoGP World Championship at a wet Assen this afternoon. The combination of the Australian and the Rizla Suzuki have already tasted the top step of the podium at the wet French Grand Prix last month and this afternoon he skated across the 2.83 mile Assen tarmac to grab the third pole position of his brief MotoGP career. He’s joined on the front row for the 26-lap race by Championship leader Casey Stoner and the Kawasaki of Frenchman Randy De Puniet who put in a stunning last lap when the rain had stopped.
Former World Champion Valentino Rossi had a tough afternoon on the Fiat Yamaha and despite some fast laps when the rain stopped, the five-times Assen winner could only finish 11th fastest and will start from the fourth row of the grid as he attempts to close down the 26-point lead established by Stoner’s five victories this season.
In the wet windy conditions Vermeulen got in his pole setting lap just before the heaviest rain started to fall while Stoner was happy to sit out the final minutes of the one-hour session in the Marlboro Ducati garage, confident that a front row start was in the bag.
“It was the wind rather than the rain that was causing me most problems,” explained Vermeulen who makes his first front row start of the season tomorrow. “I just got ahead of Stoner when the rain started to pour down although some riders did get in some quick laps at the finish. We will wait and see what the weather brings tomorrow.”
Marco Melandri put in a tremendous last lap through the spray on the Gresini Honda which lifted him onto the front row only to be knocked down to the second by De Puniet a minute later. The Italian is joined on that second row by Americans John Hopkins and Colin Edwards.
The weather forecast is better for race day tomorrow – although we’ve heard that before!
Result: 1. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1'48.555,
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1'48.572,
3. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1'49.579,
4. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1'49.679,
5. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1'49.684,
6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1'49.691,
7. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki 1'49.807,
8. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati 1'49.927,
9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1'50.132,
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1'50.169.
Rain Sinks 125 And 250cc QualifyingThe predicted rain finally arrived to spoil both the second 125 and 250cc qualifying sessions. On the wet track no riders in either class were able to beat their best times set in the dry on Thursday afternoon.
With Bradley Smith in Barcelona having his damaged left hand and foot examined, Danny Webb had to settle for 30th fastest in the 125cc class riding for the Dutch-based De Graaf Honda team with Italian Mattia Pasini in pole for the second race in succession.
Although the rain had stopped and the track started to dry it was the same story with the 250cc machines which meant that Eugene Laverty and Dan Linfoot had to settle for 21st and 23rd respectively. World Champion and Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo recovered from his Donington crash to grab his sixth pole of the season.
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