More from the two races at Assen:Noriyuki Haga (2nd, 1st):“It’s been a great day for us and after nine years I have finally won again at Assen; I am very happy.
In Race 1 I was a little disappointed to just lose out on the win on the very last lap but it was a great race.
I set off strong but Spies and Haslam rode so hard today.
First I had to push hard to catch Spies which was quite difficult as my bike was still not working perfectly and then to hold the lead was not easy either as the two of them were breathing down my neck.
We changed the setting of the bike slightly for Race 2 and I was extremely comfortable on it.
I’m sorry that Ben fell as I think we would have had another good battle but for me and my team it’s been a very good day.
I thank my engineer, my team, Ducati and the sponsors and now we head to Monza for the next challenge.
”Ben Spies (1st, DNF):“We got the win in race one and everything was pretty good with that.
It took me a while to find a good race pace but as the tyres started to go off I found it and we managed to make some moves, it was pretty exciting at the end, really fantastic racing with both Haslam and Haga.
Race two I was feeling good, the bike, even only a lap and a half in, felt better than with the tyres in race one.
I was pushing and got out wide in turn one and touched the Astroturf piece and high-sided.
It’s a shame as I felt really good and the bike felt right.
You never know if you can win the race but I felt we could have had a faster race than the first.
We’ll build on it though, we had a good test in Monza so we’re set up for there and I haven’t hurt myself today so it’s ok.
”Leon Haslam (3rd, 2nd):“I am absolutely over the moon.
This certainly was my best race ever on one of my favourite tracks.
To be on the podium twice in one weekend is just awesome.
I was a little frustrated after the first race, as I wasn’t there in the last two laps with Nori and Ben to battle for the win.
With Spies crashing out in the second race I thought I had a great opportunity to battle with Nori, but it just took me too long to pass Fabrizio.
By the time I got passed him I managed to brake him by a second , but Nori was already gone and had a nice lead.
I managed to gain a little bit on him towards the end, but it wasn’t enough to catch him.
I want to give big thanks to my team and sponsors, and am looking forward to the next race in Monza.
“It’s been a tough day but an exciting one.
In the first race I thought I could have challenged for the lead but I just missed out, in the second race I got caught behind Fabrizio for one too many laps, but I can’t complain with two podium finishes.
Our team is new but we have a really good relationship now.
They have given me a bike I can ride hard and the confidence to ride it hard so it’s producing results.
I’m looking forward to the next one.
” Tom Sykes (4th, 6th):“The first race went ok, I was pretty pleased with the results.
I managed to make a couple of passes early and move up but then lost some feeling in the front which held me back.
Race two was not what I expected.
I got a horrendous start and left myself a lot of work to do.
I worked hard over the next few laps to make some passes but unfortunately let the front group get away.
I was bitterly disappointed with that because I knew I could run with the front.
I’d just like to thank all the boys for this weekend putting so much hard work in.
We had two offs and I left them with some work to do but they came through and had my bikes ready for me to race.
”Jonathan Rea (7th, 5th):“It’s no secret that we’ve had some problems, but we’ve done a lot of thinking in the last three weeks and I really want to thank everyone in the team who dug deep to find some solutions.
We came here with a good setting and had a couple of unrelated issues in qualifying, which led to a difficult starting position, but the bike is really going in a direction now that I’m happy with.
I got a really bad start in race one, which was followed by a bit of arm pump.
That was much better in race two and I really started to enjoy riding the bike again.
Unfortunately, by the time I got some clear track in front of me, the leading four had gone.
But I’m really pumped for Monza – I feel like I’ve got a really good working relationship with the team now and we’re definitely going in the right direction.
”Carlos Checa (DNF, 7th):“Not such a nice raceday for me.
At the beginning of race two it felt like I could be there with them but then I started to get tired, particularly my right arm, a little bit like arm pump.
At the same time the chattering started from the rear and at the end it was very hard.
I was struggling to do the lap times and I lost some positions.
I had a bad start in race one, then I was catching some other people and then I arrived in turn five and lost the front.
”Jakub Smrz (6th, 3rd):“I was just staying behind Michel and he had a problem or something, it was really close but I could just pass him at the finish.
I’m really happy because everybody said before that I can be fast only in qualifying, so now I showed everyone that I can be fast in the race as well and it’s a great result for me and the team.
”Tommy Hill (DNF, DNF) :“I’m very disappointed for what happened in race one.
My start was pretty good but unfortunately in one of the first corners the front went away from me, probably because the tyre wasn’t quite warm.
In race two I managed to get a good start again, and get into a rhythm, and for most of the race I battled for thirteenth position.
As the race progressed, the bike started to misfire, but I pushed on hoping for my best finish so far.
”Max Neukrichner (13th, 9th):“Race one was good until the crash of course! The chassis was not quite 100 per cent perfect, but I really wanted to get a good result so I was pushing quite hard.
I lost the front in the the chicane before the start finish straight and although I got back on the bike and started again, I was down in 22nd place.
I decide to keep going and fight for some points and I managed to end 13th and get a few points, so I think the effort was worth it.
We used the same bike and the same type of tyres for the second race, but the bike didn’t work as well.
It was harder to ride and more difficult to brake late.
It was also not so easy in the turns and so I found it a bit frustrating, but I am only five points behind Fabrizio in the standings, so I know that I can improve a lot.
”Yukio Kagayama (DNF, 12th):“I am not sure why I crashed in race one because it seemed to be a bit of a strange crash.
Normally you lose the front end, on the brakes, going into turns, but this time I was exiting the turn and just getting on the gas when the front just suddenly went without any warning.
I wasn’t hurt, but I was a bit angry.
In race two,I used the same bike and same tyres, but found it hard getting the bike to stop.
It’s possible that there was a small problem with the clutch, but we will not know for sure until we get back to the workshops, look inside the engine after seeing all the data.
I kept going and had the chance to pass Xaus on the last corner but there were yellow flags out, so I could not make my move.
I am hoping for better things in Monza, because I need some good results.
”Michel Fabrizio (9th, 4th):“I am of course very disappointed as I did my utmost to be on the podium here today.
I had to grit my teeth in both of today’s races as I was once again having problems with my forearm.
In the last few laps I was having trouble changing gear and this then forced me to slow in the last lap, which meant that Smrz passed me at the final corner.
I guess that, looking on the positive side, it’s a good thing it happened at the end of the last lap because at least I was able to finish the race and take important points.
These things happen and we look ahead to Monza.
After recent testing there I’m sure my team will work hard to give me a winning bike for the next round and I hope to be able to celebrate a win with them there.
”Ryuichi Kiyonari (15th, DNF):It’s been a very frustrating weekend, because it felt like we were making some progress after Valencia.
The front end was the main problem for me, and difficulties in qualifying meant the races would be very hard.
In race two, we made some small changes and the front end felt much better but, unfortunately, I couldn’t make the best of it.
I will just have to look forward to Monza, which is a circuit I like very much but we will need some luck there I think.
Shane Byrne (11th, 8th) :“Unfortunately practice influences the race a little bit too much.
We have to improve the machine because once again my racing pace was very good.
I got a good clean start for the first time this season.
Finally there was no incident in front of me.
Nonetheless, I lost contact with the leading pack due to Muggeridge’s crash later in the race.
I had to push harder and did overtake Neukirchner.
Unfortunately, I made a small mistake just when I was going faster and I couldn’t pass Checa.
As a consequence, I lost the opportunity to finish seventh”.
Troy Corser (10th, 10th)“Of course, I am not happy with 10th place but considering my grid position and my left hand, I think today’s results have been pretty good.
I didn’t know that I had broken a bone in my left hand until recently, because it didn’t show up on the X-rays in Monza during the tests.
But as the days went on, I sort of felt that something wasn’t quite right and that was proved to be so when I had some more X-rays recently.
I decided not to have pain-killing injections today because when you have them, you can also lose feeling and sensation in the hand and that was the last thing I wanted when I was diving into a corner at high speed.
So, I just had a couple of normal pills instead.
Obviously they weren’t very strong and I certainly knew that I was in pain in the second race, but you just have to ignore it and keep going.
Max Biaggi (5th, DNF)“It didn’t go too badly.
It was a very difficult race.
I started off a bit late, so I found myself stuck behind the slower drivers and it wasn’t easy to pass them.
Then I managed to get a good rhythm going, but fourth position was just too far away.
”Stuart Easton (18th, DNF)“It was a real pleasure to be asked by Paul to replace Broc this weekend and be part of a factory team at this level as I know the team well so it was nice to be working with them again.
I qualified as well as I expected seeing it was a new bike and not so familiar to me, and it was a bonus to out-qualify Makoto.
In race one I had a good start but I was a bit disappointed with my result as I felt that I was being a bit too cautious and could have maybe pushed a little harder.
In race two I wanted to try and grab some points and was pushing a bit too hard and lost the front early on which was unfortunate for me and the team.
Overall it was a good experience here for me in Assen and I wish the guys the best of luck in Monza.
”
