MotoGP news

Yamaha pairing 'happy' with Thursday

Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were satisfied after posting the second and fourth fastest practice times in Holland on Thursday. With Assen being the only race of the season to take place on a Saturday, first practice sees the riders two tenths of a second apart, with Rossi currently ahead.

After their superlative battle, which ended at the very final corner of the race in Barcelona, Lorenzo and Rossi now find themselves tying with Casey Stoner for the lead of the championship. "I'm happy about today's practice because I was fast from the start and I could ride the bike how I wanted to," explained six-time Champion Rossi, who was just five thousandths down on leader Randy de Puniet. "This is very important because it means that the modifications we made in Barcelona are working here too, even though this is a different type of track." The Italian is now looking to fix a small number of minor setups problems before Saturday's all-important qualifying session at Assen.

The Yamaha duel in Catalonia was one of the greatest of all time

Fourth, behind Stoner, Lorenzo also remains in the running for victory this weekend but knows that his pace must be upped in order to stay in contention with his team-mate. "Today wasn't perfect but we were still quite fast and I am happy enough," the Spaniard said. "It hasn't been like Barcelona, but anyway, all the top riders are very close and we are only two tenths behind the lead.

"We just have to keep focused and do our best, and hopefully keep our target of getting on the podium again on Saturday. Everyone seems to be expecting another race like we had in Barcelona but I don't think that is something that can happen every time!"

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• 04 Nov.
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• 03 Nov.
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• 25 Oct.
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• 24 Oct.
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• 23 Oct.
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• 22 Oct.
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• 21 Oct.
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• 20 Oct.
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• 18 Oct.
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