MotoGP: Rossigektein in Assen for Dutch GP

Somewhere between the tulips and windmills, MotoGP riders assembled in Assen, Netherlands this Saturday for the Dutch GP. Loyal Dutch fans were treated to a race that saw the front-runner break away from the rest of the group, a series of sketchy passes, some key crashes, and a hair-raising battle for 6th place. Continue after the jump for some sizable spoilers.

Valentino Rossi took his 100th victory in style at Assen, taking the lead on the second lap from Casey Stoner. From that point on, the Italian’s supremacy was never threatened, though his team mate Jorge Lorenzo chased the Italian for the first 15 laps.

In typical Rossi fashion, the Italian rider unfurled a giant banner in his post race celebration. In tribute, the banner had pictures of all of Rossi’s 100 GP race victories.

Stoner couldn’t follow Rossi nor Lorenzo, but finished the race a very comfortable 3rd place podium. Dani Pedrosa followed early on, but crashed out at the Haarbocht, the first corner after the front straightaway, his team mate Andrea Dovizioso would follow several laps later into the Haarbocht gravel.

Seemingly alone, Colin Edwards took 4th, while Chris Vermeulen had a similarly easy going ride into 5th place.

The battle for 6th was the best part of the race, with 6 riders all battling it out for the position. On the losing end of that battle, Mika Kallio crashed in the final corner of the last lap.

Toni Elias, on the other hand, found himself entangled with Loris Capirossi. While dicing it up with Capi, Elias made a dangerous pass, and would be handed a 20 second penalty after the race, which resulted in him dropping from 8th to 12th place. In a post race interview, Elias apologized to Capirossi, and said he did not plan on contesting the penalty.

Race Results from MotoGP at Assen, Netherlands:

Pos.	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Time	Diff
1	46	Valentino ROSSI	YAMAHA	42’14.611	–
2	99	Jorge LORENZO	YAMAHA	42’19.979	5.368
3	27	Casey STONER	DUCATI	42’37.724	23.113
4	5	Colin EDWARDS	YAMAHA	42’43.725	29.114
5	7	Chris VERMEULEN	SUZUKI	42’48.216	33.605
6	52	James TOSELAND	YAMAHA	42’53.958	39.347
7	14	Randy DE PUNIET	HONDA	42’54.154	39.543
8	24	Toni ELIAS	HONDA	42’54.385	39.774
9	69	Nicky HAYDEN	DUCATI	42’54.434	39.823
10	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	SUZUKI	42’55.284	40.673
11	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	HONDA	43’00.621	46.010
12	33	Marco MELANDRI	KAWASAKI	43’12.388	57.777
13	59	Sete GIBERNAU	DUCATI	43’19.977	1’05.366
14	88	Niccolo CANEPA	DUCATI	43’24.508	1’09.897
15	72	Yuki TAKAHASHI	HONDA	43’24.541	1’09.930
16	41	Gabor TALMACSI	HONDA	43’39.710	1’25.099
Not Classified
	36	Mika KALLIO	DUCATI	41’14.211	1 lap
	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	HONDA	16’24.548	16 laps
	3	Dani PEDROSA	HONDA	6’36.388	22 laps