Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) scored his third victory of the year in stunning style at Assen today, charging through from 11th on the grid to beat Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici) by 1.9 seconds. The Italian and the Australian were joined on the podium by reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) who had his own thrilling comeback, from 13th on the grid to a brilliant third-place finish. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) made it three Michelin riders in the top four, with Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) coming home in sixth.
“That was a great race, for sure I was worried starting from 11th, but I knew we were fast and even though Casey was very fast we had some advantages over him,” said Rossi, who set half a dozen fastest laps as he chased after the championship leader. “This is an important victory, so I have to thank Michelin because my tyres worked great all the way to the end. The bike settings were very good today, but especially the tyres, we worked very well with Michelin this weekend.”
Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing said: “We are very happy with today’s result, because the level of the race was very high and there were some big battles between the different riders. It was great to see Valentino win again, the lap times he was doing were just amazing, lap by lap he went faster and faster, it was really incredible. We were also really happy to see Nicky back on the podium, and both Dani and Colin also had good races.
“Most of our riders are now using the new construction rear slicks we first tested at Istanbul. These tyres give excellent cornering stability and great handling, you could see today that Valentino was really confident with both his front and rear tyres, so he could take the inside line into the corners and try to overtake wherever he wanted. Good stability in the corners is a priority with this new construction, because riders need to feel confident at maximum lean. Also, the tyres were consistent throughout, even though Valentino had to ride very aggressively to come through the pack
“Today’s race was one of the most beautiful so far this year, and we have to say thank you for all the efforts made by our partners over the weekend.”
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