"I've had about the weekend that I'd expected," said Steve on Sunday night as the teams packed up to leave the historic Assen circuit.

"The damaged ligaments in my left knee have improved a little, but I can only do two or three fast laps at a time and even then I'm really struggling to get the bike turned. I tried to race this morning but it was impossible. I didn't go out for race two at all, I decided it was better to let my knee heal a little more. I really want to be fit for Imola because I know I can go well there. To be honest, I'm not going to be fully fit, this type of injury only responds to time and rest. But if I'm 90% that'll be enough for me to get out there and have two good races to finish the season off."

There was some positive news from the weekend though, Pirelli have continued to work hard on the development of their race tyre. ³Things have definitely moved forward with the tyres. Pirelli have come up with a new front that works really well. I can¹t wait to use some of the new stuff at Imola."