MotoGP 2006 - Round Three

An amazing climax to the A-Style TT Assen saw vNicky Hayden take his first win of the season and Colin Edwards suffer a heartbreaking crash just metres from the finish line.

Edwards looked to have miraculously snatched victory from his American compatriot in Holland, forcing Hayden off-road with a daring manoeuvre and with the chequered flag in sight. However, his own excursion onto the grass flung him off his Yamaha M1 to shatter his dreams of a memorable maiden win.

Hayden had taken the lead just a lap before, the result of which seemed to leave Edwards without a chance of recovering after he was forced across a run-off area. The Yamaha rider incredibly fought back to take the lead again on the final lap, but with the final corner drama to ensue, it was Honda’s clearly ecstatic Hayden who earned his first victory since Laguna Seca 2005 to further extend his championship lead to 42 points.

Always a high qualifier, Shinya Nakano has faded in previous races, and had seemed to be cursed with a string of unlucky penalties. Today the popular Japanese rider earned a well deserved podium finish, bravely holding off a strong trailing pack for second place.

Dani Pedrosa came back from a poor start to take third after an intense battle with fourth placed rider Casey Stoner. The Spaniard now lies second in the overall classification to make it a Repsol Honda top two.

Kenny Roberts Jr. continued his run of good form with a fifth place ride on the Team Roberts bike, whilst fellow American and Assen poleman John Hopkins held onto a top six position after pushing the Suzuki to the limit chasing Edwards in the early laps.

The next two across the line showed the true desire and professionalism of a MotoGP rider. Marco Melandri gave a gutsy performance to come in seventh, less than a week after suffering a catalogue of injuries in a horrific first corner crash in Catalunya. Valentino Rossi meanwhile, doubtful for the race after breaking a bone in his hand on Thursday, made his way up from last on the grid to take eighth in one of his defining performances. Carlos Checa and Chris Vermeulen completed the top ten.

Jorge Lorenzo closed the gap between himself and Andrea Dovizioso in the 250cc classification, taking a runaway victory in the 250s. The Aprilia rider won in style with an eight second advantage, having led from start to finish at the Assen TT Circuit.

Alex de Angelis continued his run of form to edge out Andrea Dovizioso for second, the Humangest Honda rider unable to follow up his first 250cc win from Catalunya.

As Lorenzo left the rest of the category in his trail with a fine start, there was a multiple bike crash behind him, with Martin Cardenas, Sylvain Guintoli, Andrea Ballerini, Jules Cluzel and Jakub Smrz all caught up in the incident.

Fourth place went to Alex Debon, in another great stand-in performance from the Spaniard for Fortuna Honda, followed by Roberto Locatelli, Yuki Takahashi, Marco Simoncelli and Anthony West. Red Bull KTM riders Hiroshi Aoyama and Manuel Poggiali completed the top ten.

Mika Kallio made up ground on Alvaro Bautista with a last-gasp win in the 125cc A-Style TT Assen. In an exciting end to the lower class race, Kallio passed Sergio Gadea and title-rival Bautista on the final chicane, with the latter taking a trip onto the grass and unable to overtake his team-mate.

Lukas Pesek suffered a serious setback as a result of mechanical problems, with both he and team-mate Nico Terol having to give up their grid positions due to mechanical problems, the former starting from last and the latter from the pits. Pesek impressively recovered to power his way to fifth in the race, behind Simone Corsi and ahead of Hector Faubel, Mattia Pasini and Thomas Luthi. Pablo Nieto and Raffaele de Rosa completed the top ten.

1st position Nicky Hayden (Honda):
"The win was super important, Colin was so smooth and fast that I thought he might get away from me. On the last few laps I was able to close him down and get the win. I’m so excited and really want to thank Repsol Honda and Michelin for their great job. I was worried that I had been a bit hard on the tyres this weekend, but they were really good and the team’s efforts really paid off."

2nd position Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki), :
"I didn’t know what was happening on the last lap, it was a surprise to see that I had come in second. I’m happy to be here at the end of the race, not just after qualifying. With this result I can see Kawasaki becoming better and better, they work so hard for us and we have made a step forward. I am very happy and looking forward to the next race."

3rd position Dani Pedrosa (Honda):
"At the beginning of the race I had a problem, because I couldn’t overtake Melandri and lost touch with the lead group. When I got past Melandri I could start to move up the field, and I was putting in similar times to Nicky and Colin. I think that I was fortunate with Colin’s crash, without it I wouldn’t be on the podium. The battle at the end with Stoner was tough and I was happy to finish ahead of him at the finishing line."