MotoGP news
Rossi seizes pole at Assen
26 June 2009 / ResultsValentino Rossi has drawn first blood ahead of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix by grabbing pole position at Assen. The Yamaha rider, who holds a joint championship lead with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, edged out the pairing although Dani Pedrosa delivered a dogged performance to slot into second place.
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| Surprise of the day was Pedrosa, who starts second |
With the three leading protagonists all locked together on 106 points at the top of the standings, Assen is likely to be the scene where a sole championship leader is established this weekend. Rossi will start from the front, having set a lap time of 1.36.026 in the Netherlands. Starting from his second pole of the season, the Italian is looking to complete a century of MotoGP wins on Saturday. This is also the six-time World Champion's first 'normal' pole of the season, having clinched the place thanks to aggregated practice times in Japan.
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| Colin Edwards cracked the top five for the Tech3 team |
Dani Pedrosa was, in many ways, the star of the show on Friday by setting a sufficient pace for P2, despite riding with a collection of injuries. The Repsol Honda was 84 thousandths of a second slower than leader Rossi, but a comfortable margin of almost three tenths ahead of third place which is occupied by Jorge Lorenzo, who starts on the front row for the seventh time in as many races in 2009. Stoner will start directly behind the Spaniard, meaning Pedrosa could act as a spoiler in the championship fight at the front. Stoner's final run for pole, however, was compromised by a big moment on a Ducati which still does not appear to be fully adapted to the Assen TT Circuit.
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| Casey Stoner is sandwiched between the two Yamahas |
Colin Edwards' Tech3 Yamaha was next up and in a creditable top five place with Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen behind him. James Toseland is the leading British rider and will start ninth on the second Tech3 bike, as Randy de Puniet completes the top ten after being the fastest man on Thursday. Niccolò Canepa's Pramac was in the wars, however, with a minor crash on his way to 16th overall.
The 2009 Dutch Grand Prix will get underway 2pm local time in Holland (BST +1 / GMT +2) and will following the 20-minute morning warm-up, which commences at 8:40am at Assen.
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