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andyk3
Site Founder
Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 21682
Location: Widower to a Nintendo DS
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 Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject: Dutch Grand Prix |
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Capirossi to return to Rizla Suzuki for Dutch Grand Prix
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be pleased to welcome Loris Capirossi back from injury for this weekend’s Dutch TT at Assen in The Netherlands.
Capirossi was an enforced spectator at the last round in Britain following an accident at Catalunya earlier this month, which sidelined the Italian star with a broken hand. The injury has still not completely healed, but Capirossi is determined to get back on his Suzuki GSV-R this weekend and continue with the bike’s development and to demonstrate the will to succeed that he has shown so far this year. His replacement at the last round – Ben Spies – will also be supporting the team at Assen and later in the season will return to the GSV-R for wildcard rides at both American MotoGP rounds.
Chris Vermeulen is confident of continuing with the improvement of the GSV-R and believes that the progress made at the recent Catalunya test and during the race weekend at Donington will translate into better results at forthcoming races - starting with Assen this weekend. Vermeulen will be travelling to his ancestral home, as his family name hails from The Netherlands, and he always enjoys plenty of Dutch support when he races there.
Assen is unique on the MotoGP calendar for being the only race to be staged on a Saturday, and also because it is the only venue that has staged a Grand Prix every season in the 60-year history of the sport. The track is located in the north of The Netherlands, near the town of Groningen. The 4,555m circuit has undergone some changes in recent seasons to improve safety and that has taken away some of the old magic from the famous racetrack, but there is no denying it is still one of the favourite places to visit on the calendar for riders and fans alike.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will take to track on Thursday this week for the first practice session, followed by another practice and qualifying on Friday. The 26-lap race gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) when the both riders will be hoping to give title-sponsor Rizla something to shout about in one of its most important territories.
Loris Capirossi:
“I’m 100% certain that I am able to ride and I just can’t wait to get back on my bike again. It was really difficult watching at the last race, but I want to say well done to Ben as he did a good job in his first GP. It certainly felt very strange seeing him working with my crew and sitting in my chair in the garage! I missed the test in Catalunya because of the injury, but I know Chris made some improvements to the bike so I will be looking at those and seeing if they will help me. I need to carry on from where I left off and continue to make the bike better and I know that top result is just around the corner.”
Chris Vermeulen:
“I started the race from pole at Assen last year so that is a good memory for me and one I would certainly like to repeat. However I was knocked off in the race by another rider so never managed to capitalise on that, and even though I finished I was out of the points. As for this year, we have made lots of steps forward recently and I think we had the pace to run in the top-five at Donington, but we had some grip issues later on that stopped me from challenging for a better position. It’s good to have Loris back and I hope he’ll be on the pace straight away as it’s important for the team to have the two of us out there battling it out.” |
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andyk3
Site Founder
Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 21682
Location: Widower to a Nintendo DS
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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Vermeulen battles to seventh at Dutch TT
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen was involved in a thrilling race at the Dutch TT today, eventually crossing the line in seventh place after many race-long battles.
Vermeulen got a good start and was up into sixth by the end of the first lap - from eighth on the grid. He narrowly avoided a crash that forced him wide in the early part of the first lap, but was able to keep control of his Suzuki GSV-R and set about chasing riders in front of him. Vermeulen made a couple of superb overtaking manoeuvres as he made his way up into fourth place. He held on to that position for a few laps although he was under constant pressure from the group of riders around him. As the race progressed front grip became an issue and the 26-year-old Australian had to fight for every place. Vermeulen dropped down to eighth, but immediately fought back to bring his machine home for a hard earned seventh.
Vermeulen was Rizla Suzuki’s sole rider at today’s Grand Prix following the withdrawal of Loris Capirossi after a crash on Thursday during practice when he injured his arm. Capirossi was present at the circuit for most of the day and has now returned home to continue with his recuperation in readiness for the next event.
Today’s race was held in overcast conditions with the threat of rain never far away. It did stay dry throughout the 26 laps and the 94,978 fans at trackside saw Casey Stoner comprehensively win the race by over 11 seconds, as he led from start to finish on his Bridgestone shod Ducati.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will next be in action at Sachsenring for the German Grand Prix on Sunday 13th July, where it is planned that Vermeulen will be joined back in the team by Capirossi.
Chris Vermeulen:
“I got a good start and moved into a good position through the first two corners, but I was nearly involved in the crash and had to run wide causing me to almost lose the front. The bike worked really well in the beginning part of the race and I had a lot of grip from the Bridgestones. I felt like my pace was better than the guys in front and I could see them and thought I could get up to them, but once I got past and up into fourth the grip went off a bit and it became quite slippery out there. Unfortunately I lost a bit of time and dropped back a few positions, but I was still quite strong at the end of the race and managed to get back to seventh. Considering the problems we have had this weekend and losing a couple of sessions – one to problems on the first day and another to the rain – it is a decent result and we have managed to salvage something from it. Full congratulations to the team they did a great job again, and I’d like to say get well soon to Loris, I hope he is back at Sachsenring so he can give me a run for my money!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“To qualify eighth and finish seventh in dry conditions today - with Chris as our sole representative - was not too bad. Sure, both Chris and the whole team want more and he pushed hard to get up to fourth with some great passes, but we couldn’t maintain the required speed in the middle of the race to battle for the top-five. In the end when Chris re-grouped and pushed to the absolute limit he was able to improve again, but in general we need to break this mould and maintain our speed over full race distance - this is Suzuki’s focus over the coming weeks.
“I’d like to thank Loris for staying with the team over the weekend to support us, and for meeting all the local Rizla and Suzuki guests that came to visit the team – it really showed his true dedication considering the amount of pain he was in. It is such a shame he wasn’t out there on one of his favourite racetracks this weekend. I wish him a speedy recovery and I am sure all the fans will want him back on the bike as much as we do at Sachsenring next month!”
A-Style TT Assen Race Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 42’12.337: 2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +11.310: 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +17.125: 4. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 20.477: 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +27.346: 7. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +32.330: DNS. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP):
World Championship Classification:
1. Pedrosa 171: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 167: 3. Stoner 142: 4. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 114: 5. Edwards 98: 9 CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 57: 11. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 51: |
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