Ducati duo ready for Dutch assault

The Ducati Team makes the short trip from the UK to Holland this week as the legendary Assen circuit prepares to host the 80th edition of the Dutch TT this Saturday. The sixth race of the season comes in the middle of an intense period of races for the MotoGP World Championship, which moves directly to Spain next weekend for the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya.

Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden are happy for the opportunity to get back on track so quickly, however, with both riders still feeling like they have a lot to prove on the Desmosedici GP10. The pair have special MotoGP memories of Assen with podiums and victories to their names there - Hayden having taken the win in 2006 and Stoner in 2008.

“I have made some mistakes at times this year and at other times we have struggled to find the right set-up but for one reason or another things have not worked out as they should done despite the fact we have had opportunities to do well and even win races. We have the pace, we have a competitive technical package and the whole team is doing a great job, as always, so hopefully we can put everything together at Assen,” said Stoner, who is still searching for his first podium of the campaign.

“We found a good set-up in the warm-up last Sunday – we could have maybe done with a little more grip but in general I was happy with the bike so in theory we should be on the pace in Holland too. I don’t want to make any predictions, just keep working well with my team and see if together we can turn this situation around,” he concluded.

Hayden is also keen to get back on track at a circuit he enjoys, and said: “Assen is a unique and special circuit and I have had some of my best races there. It has been changed a lot over the years – some sections are better and some are worse – but there are a lot of long sweeping corners and the grip is good so you can use it to generate speed. The best part of the track is the last ‘left-right’ switch, a place where you can make a decisive pass on the brakes if you get it right.”

He added: “I’m not happy with the result from Silverstone and at Assen I’d love to be able to take advantage of our recent progress with the set-up of the bike to get a better result.”

Press release courtesy of Ducati Team