MotoGP – QP1 Assen, microphone for Biaggi and Tamada

Autumnal weather today in Assen on the first day of testing for the Dutch Grand Prix. The pouring rain and strong gusts of wind complicated the work on the track quite a bit and everyone had to deal with the problem of aquaplanning and, at times, poor visibility. Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada concluded the first round of official practice with 10th and 17th place respectively. The weather reports announce only a slight improvement for tomorrow but in Assen, the weather is 'historically' almost unpredictable.

Pons site – Camel Honda (Team Principal)
“On the first day of testing we were unable to gain satisfactory positions on the provisional starting grid. Tomorrow we must improve our performance, hoping for weather conditions similar to today's to make the most of the references collected. The objective is to achieve a good pace in the wet to be competitive in the event of a race on water. If, however, there is a rapid improvement in the weather conditions then we would prepare for the dry conditions by starting the work on setting up the bikes all over again."

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin tyres) – 10nd – 2'15.102
“I expected something better, despite the rain, given that here last year with similar weather we had a good race. Instead we are still a little behind and we have to resolve many small problems which for the moment do not allow me to be at ease. At the moment I'm a bit disappointed but I know I have to keep a positive spirit because we still have one day left to try to fix things. So let's postpone any judgment until tomorrow, given that the weather conditions will probably remain the same and we will be able to continue working with the data collected today."

Gianluca Montiron – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada Team Manager)
“Tamada struggled to find a good feeling in the wet and tomorrow's work will be aimed at achieving a bike set-up that can give Makoto greater confidence on the complex Assen track. A further possibility of testing tomorrow on a wet track would allow us to find the best set-up to also obtain maximum performance from the tyres."

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone Tyres) – 17st – 2'17.177
“Assen is not easy, it's not my favorite track and with water things get complicated. In the first sector of the track there was also the problem of gusts of wind. In some moments it was not possible to make the bike lean to keep it in the optimal trajectory of the curve. Now it is important to find the right combination of bike set-up and wet tires and work to improve today's performance. I have to say that my feeling with the track has improved a lot compared to last year so I absolutely want to do better than this.”

Camel Honda