Assen TT 2009 – Valentino Rossi takes Assen and 100th Victory

Valentino Rossi dominated today’s race at Assen taking his 100th career win ahead of rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner.
As usual the fastest off the blocks and taking the lead was Dani Pedrosa, with Rossi and Stoner following, but Stoner at the Ruskenshoek with one pass overtook both Rossi and Pedrosa.

As the second lap began, Rossi took the lead and on the third lap laid down a 1’36,714 breaking the circuit record.

Jorge Lorenzo who had a bad start and slipped from third to sixth, began his overtaking and picked off one by one the riders in front of him and when he was passing Pedrosa, the Honda HRC rider lost his front and crashed out.
He then passed Stoner to take second but by that time Rossi was over 1.
5sec clear and continuing to build his advantage.
Lorenzo tried to pick up his pace and close the gap, picking up a couple of tenths here and there but Rossi was unreachable.

UPDATE : Toni Elias penalizedAndrea Dovizioso on lap 11 was in fourth, also crashed out and in the exactly the same place as team mate Pedrosa.

While the first three positions frozen, the battle for sixth was the only exciting part of the race, with five riders battling it out, while Colin Edwards was in fourth and Chris Vermeulen in fifth.
James Toseland, Mika Kallio, Nicky Hayden, Randy De Puniet, Alex DeAngelis and Loris Capirossi were fighting it out with positions changing constantly, paint exchanging and ride offs.
Kallio overtook Toseland riding for sixth place but lowsided on the final lap hurting his hand, thus letting Toseland take sixth place.
Even Gabor Talmacsi in his second Gp race did a little passing overtaking Sete Gibernau and team mate Yuki Takahashi but on the eleventh lap returned to his original position.
Updated:The Race Direction investigated Toni Elias’s pass on Loris Capirossi and for using the run-off area illegally on the final lap.
Elias has received a 20 second penalty which puts him now in 12th place instead of 8th.
Capirossi is now 9th and Nicky Hayden moves to 8th placeAssen TT Race Results:01 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha 42′14.
61102 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha 42′19.
97903 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro 42′37.
72404 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42′43.
72505 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki 42′48.
21606 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42′53.
95807 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda 42′54.
15408 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda 42′54.
38509 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro 42′54.
43410 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki 42′55.
28411 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda 43′00.
62112 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Kawasaki 43′12.
38813 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Francisco Hernando Ducati 43′19.
97714 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Ducati 43′24.
50815 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Honda 43′24.
54116 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Honda 43′39.
710DNF:Dani PedrosaAndrea DoviziosoMika Kallio