Valentino Rossi won his third straight
MotoGP race at the Assen TT circuit in Holland on Saturday. The Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha pilot put a daring last-lap pass on his rival to take the win and in the process moved into a tie in the World Championship standings.
Valentino Rossi is now in a tie with Sete Gibernau in the standings with 126 points each.
"I stayed quite easily behind Sete at the start but after the tires started sliding it was not so easy. There were points where I was a little bit faster and it made for a great, great battle. I lost a bit of time with Barros, and with two or three laps to go I made a mistake in the long straight after my foot slipped off the peg, and Sete went away. I tried to not give up and made a very good time before the last lap and had a hard battle of braking with Sete as I tried to overtake. After I got by him, at the next corner I almost lost the front and I thought I would crash. It was a fantastic race for everybody. I think Sete will be a little bit angry but it was a great race between us."
Gibernau had to settle for second after leading almost all of the 19-lap contest.
Marco Melandri scored a podium just one week after undergoing successful surgery to combat arm-pump. The Yamaha pilot came out on top of a race-long battle with
Max Biaggi, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday. Biaggi ended in fourth.
"We've made another good race and aside from the fact that I am obviously annoyed because I wanted to win," explained Gibernau. "I understand that we were at our limit again today. I had a good chance right until the end but we touched on the last lap - Valentino explained that he almost fell and, if that's the case, then there's nothing for me to say. These things happen in racing. We had a good battle in another great race."
The American contingent had a stellar race day after a poor showing in qualifying. Repsol Honda's
Nicky Hayden moved through the field after starting in the back of the pack to take the fifth position. Telefonica Movistar Honda's Colin Edwards was with Hayden the whole way turning lap times that were equal to those of the leaders. Edwards finished sixth on the day.
"It was always going to be difficult from the fifth row but I got a good start and rode aggresively over the first three laps to pass a lot of riders," said Edwards. "Once I got up behind Nicky Hayden I just stuck there, it was impossible for me to pass him because he was quicker in the corner exits. I rode to the limit of the bike and it wasn't a bad race, but I need to do better in qualifying to give myself more of a chance on a Sunday."
Ruben Xaus ended the day in seventh, Loris Capirossi was eighth, and Carlos Checa and Neil Hodgson rounded out the top ten.
MotoGP Results:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
2. Sete Gibernau (Honda)
3. Marco Melandri (Yamaha)
4. Max Biaggi (Honda)
5. Nicky Hayden (Honda)
6. Colin Edwards (Honda)
7. Ruben Xaus (Ducati)
8. Loris Capirossi (Ducati)
9. Carlos Checa (Yamaha)
10. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
MotoGP Standings:
1. Sete Gibernau, 126
2. Valentino Rossi, 126
3. Max Biaggi, 93
4. Carlos Checa, 56
5. Marco Melandri, 54
6. Colin Edwards, 54
7. Alex Barros, 48
8. Loris Capirossi, 42
9. Nicky Hayden, 38
10. Norick Abe, 33
