Rizla Suzuki MotoGP had a day of mixed fortunes at Assen in the Netherlands today as Chris Vermeulen showed promising signs for the weekend ahead, whilst Loris Capirossi crashed at high-speed, resulting in a visit to the medical centre for an operation to his right forearm. Vermeulen (P10, 1’37.282, 54 laps) lost a bit of time in the morning as his mechanics worked hard on getting the best engine set-up for the 4,555m long Assen circuit. Their dedication paid dividends as he improved on every run throughout the day eventually clocking a fastest time at the end of the second session – on worn race tyres - that was only 0.463 seconds away from second place.
The home race for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team during the A-Style Dutch TT Assen started today. The DeGraaf Grand Prix Team is riding this weekend with two Dutch riders with permenant GP-rider Hugo van den Berg and the 2007 Junior Cup champion Jerry van de Bunt. Van den Berg qualified on a provisional 25th position. Stevie Bonsey wasn’t happy with the qualification and ended up on a disappointed 21st position. In the free practice this morning Hugo van den Berg started good and rode the 23rd lap time in the timesheets. In the third section Van den Berg lost a lot but after some adjustments on the front suspension he closes the gap to 0.1 second. Stevie Bonsey had a good session this morning and parked his Aprilia on a 9th spot. Jerry van de Bunt is making his GP and TT debut on the Assen track. After a heavy back injury it was for the 15-year old boy the first time again to ride a race bike. Van de Bunt equals his best time ever on the Assen circuit and ended up on the 38th spot.