The top three finishers in the Grand Prix of The Netherlands on June 28 at Assen, from left: Dani Pedrosa, second; Casey Stoner, first; Colin Edwards, third

Netherlands GP Race Report

By Paul Kelly
redbullindianapolisgp.com

Saturday, June 28, 2008

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RESULTS 

ASSEN, The Netherlands - Results of the 26-lap Grand Prix of The Netherlands MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle/tire, time behind winner:

Fastest lap: Stoner, 1:36.738, Lap 5

Pole lap: Stoner, 1:35.520

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POINTS 

Riders: Pedrosa 171, Rossi 167, Stoner 142, Lorenzo 114, Edwards 98, Dovizioso 79, Hayden 70, Toseland 60, Vermeulen 57, Nakano 57, Loris Capirossi 51, Elias 33, John Hopkins 32, Melandri 32, De Angelis 25, Guintoli 24, De Puniet 22, West 16, Ben Spies 2, Tadayuki Okada 2.

Manufacturers: Yamaha 196, Honda 171, Ducati 147, Suzuki 80, Kawasaki 41.

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PODIUM QUOTES 

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone, winner): "We knew we had the pace to win today, but sometimes coming into race day that can make you even more nervous because you know the only thing that can go wrong is yourself! I was also worried about the weather, and after watching the 125 race, I thought it would be typical to start raining while I was in the lead. Thankfully that wasn't the case, and I was able to get out front, put my head down and concentrate on doing the times we've been doing all weekend in dry conditions. I'm sorry Valentino crashed because this isn't necessarily the way I wanted to recover points on him, but at the end of the day we've had our fair share of bad luck this year, too, and racing is an unpredictable game. Now it seems fortune is favoring us, but more than that, I've really got to take my hat off to Ducati and to my team."

DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, second): "I'm happy with this result because it was a difficult race, and I'm happy to be in the World Championship lead once again. The 20 points we got here are very important. We've struggled a little bit during practice here, but my team have worked really hard, so a big thanks to all of them. Yesterday I was able to qualify on a MotoGP front row for the first time at Assen. Today I did my best in the race, but unfortunately we couldn't go with Casey because he was so fast. Now we need to keep working hard because we must try to close the gap over the next few races. Sachsenring is next. We had a great win there last year, and we will try to the same again this year." 

COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin, third): "Third is never a win, but this feels as good as one. I remember how disappointed I was with third in Le Mans, and I feel much better with this after what happened. I thought I had a good start and was fifth or sixth when Valentino got tangled with Randy de Puniet, and he crashed. I might have gone left, but I knew Valentino was on the ground, and I didn't want to run over him or his bike and I just stopped. The next thing I know is I'm dead last and then Alex de Angelis went down soon after, and I lost a bit more ground. I just decided to get my head and push. I thought I'd rather be in the gravel than riding round for eighth or ninth. I started picking guys off, and before I knew it, I was on the back of the group fighting for fourth. I just kept pushing myself to go faster, and the next thing I'm fourth. I could see Nicky and Dani in the distance and all I did was ride as hard as I could, and my Tech 3 guys gave me a great bike today. Michelin had some great tires, so I started to hammer away at Nicky. I thought if I kept applying pressure, he might make a mistake, and if I hadn't kept pushing as hard as I did, then I might not have been close enough to pounce on Nicky. I'd settled for fourth, but as I came out of the chicane, he was sat up, and I couldn't believe it. I guess that's karma corner after 2006. This place owed me something after I crashed a couple of years ago with my first win in sight, and I'm really happy with third just because in the way I achieved it. It's hard to get on the podium at any time in MotoGP, so to do it from last is a great feeling."

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OTHER AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES 

NICKY HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, fourth): "Man, we had a pretty good race. Unfortunately this game can be cruel sometimes. To be so close to a really good result is tough, but we still finished, we made it across the line and still got some good points out of the deal, but it would've been nice to stand on the podium. The team certainly deserved it; they've worked really hard this weekend. On the sighting lap, I knew something was wrong. It's been a little bit frustrating because she hasn't run right off the bottom since I got here, especially out of slow corners. They've been changing stuff and they thought they had it fixed, but something was wrong. I had a dash light come on at the start of the race, though it went off after the start. She finally quit right before the finish line. It's how it goes. I guess me and Colin are even now: He gave me one here a couple of years ago, and I gave him a podium today. There at the end, I was trying to make a push on Dani. I wanted to keep the pressure on him; he was coming back to me a bit. I was pushing, then on the last lap I thought, 'Oh, no, we're in trouble.' Nonetheless, the bike is working good."

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MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS

250cc: Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia

125cc: Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia. American Stevie Bonsey placed 17^th and is 13^th in series points.

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NEXT RACE 

Grand Prix of Germany, Sachsenring, July 13. Round 10 of 18.

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Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008.

Tickets can be purchased either online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time; on the phone by calling (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; or visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office on the first floor of the IMS Administration Building at 4790 W. 16^th St. in Indianapolis from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

All tickets for this event are three-day tickets, with both reserved and general admission seating available.

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