2007 Dutch TT

The 2007 Dutch TT was the ninth round of the 2007 MotoGP championship. It took place on the weekend of 28–30 June 2007 at the TT Circuit Assen in Assen, Netherlands.

  2007 Dutch TT
Race details
Race 9 of 18 races in the
2007 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date30 June 2007
Official nameA-Style TT Assen[1][2][3]
LocationTT Circuit Assen
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 4.555 km (2.830 mi)
MotoGP
Pole position
Rider Chris Vermeulen
Time 1:48.555
Fastest lap
Rider Valentino Rossi
Time 1:37.433
Podium
First Valentino Rossi
Second Casey Stoner
Third Nicky Hayden
250 cc
Pole position
Rider Jorge Lorenzo
Time 1:39.958
Fastest lap
Rider Alex de Angelis
Time 1:40.354
Podium
First Jorge Lorenzo
Second Alex de Angelis
Third Álvaro Bautista
125 cc
Pole position
Rider Mattia Pasini
Time 1:45.603
Fastest lap
Rider Héctor Faubel
Time 1:45.551
Podium
First Mattia Pasini
Second Héctor Faubel
Third Gábor Talmácsi

MotoGP race report

This race was most notable for Valentino Rossi's comeback from eleventh on the grid to win the race, beating the superior Casey Stoner-Ducati-Bridgestone combination as well.

Chris Vermeulen took pole position on Saturday - his first of the season and third and final of his career overall - followed by Casey Stoner and Randy de Puniet on the Kawasaki. On the second row of the grid is Marco Melandri, John Hopkins and Colin Edwards in fourth, fifth and sixth. Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi started down in eleventh after a poor qualifying in the wet.[4][5] Toni Elías did not take part in the race after he broke his leg in one of the free practice sessions.[6]

Before the start of the formation lap, the Pramac Ducati bike of Alex Hofmann stalled on the grid, causing some of the crewmembers to run onto the track with equipment to restart it. The other riders take off and do their usual warm-up lap before lining up in their respective grid slots. As the lights go out, Stoner takes the lead on the opening lap as the blasts past Vermeulen into the Haarbocht (Turn 1), followed by the other Australian and the American Hopkins. Behind them, Melandri slotted into fourth and Nicky Hayden fights with Edwards for fifth place, himself moving up six places in a few corners. Rossi has moved up one position into tenth as de Puniet has made an abysmal start and dropped back to eleventh position. All throughout the field there is action, with Capirossi overtaking Rossi and Hoffmann for ninth and Hopkins taking second from Vermeulen on the straight before the Ruskenhoek (Turn 8). Rossi passes Hoffmann on the short, kinked section between the Stekkenwal (Turn 10) and De Bult (Turn 11), moving up into ninth. Hayden lines up a move on the outside of the Ramshoek (Turn 17), then taking fifth on the inside of Edwards at the beginning of the Geert Timmer Bocht (Turn 18).[7]

Lap two begins and Stoner already has a big advantage over second place Hopkins. Pedrosa also takes sixth from Edwards on the start/finish straight. Hayden then takes fourth from Melandri at the Mandeven, going up the inside of the Gresini Honda rider.

Going into lap three and Pedrosa makes the move on Melandri for fifth at the start/finish straight. He tries to fight back, but to no avail. Capirossi closes up to Melandri, with Rossi doing the same to the Ducati rider. He tries to pass Capirossi at the start of the Geert Timmer Bocht, but isn't able to do so.

Lap four and Rossi has now finally managed to pass Capirossi, going side by side with him at the start/finish straight and into the Haarbocht, moving him up to eighth. At the Ossenbroeken, Edwards makes the move on Melandri by going side by side with him on the outside, then finalising the pass down at the inside of the Strubben hairpin, moving him up to sixth. At the front, Hayden spectacularly manages to surprise Vermeulen as they go into the Ruskenhoek, going up the inside, outbreaking him and sliding sideways into the corner, grabbing second in the process. Hopkins' gap to Stoner is now +1.299 seconds and Pedrosa takes third from the Suzuki rider at the entrance of De Bult corner. Rossi overtakes teammate Edwards for seventh at the entrance of the Geert Timmer Bocht by going up his inside.[7]

On lap five, the gap Hopkins has to Stoner has increased - it is now +1.365 seconds. Rossi is slowly catching fourth place Vermeulen, then overtakes him by going up his inside in a surprise attack at the right-hand Mandeven turn, promoting him to sixth place.

Lap six and the gap Hopkins has to Stoner has increased again, this time being +2.507 seconds. Melandri meanwhile has lost various positions and is now behind Randy de Puniet in tenth place. Rossi is hunting down Pedrosa for fifth.

Lap seven begins and Rossi has closed the gap to Pedrosa and Hayden. He makes a move on Pedrosa coming out of the Ramshoek and entering the Geert Timmer Bocht, moving up to fourth.[7]

On lap eight, the gap Hopkins has to Stoner has decreased massively and is now only +1.057 seconds. Going into the Mandeven, Rossi dives down the inside of Hayden and takes third position away from him.[7] Further back, de Puniet managed to overtake Melandri and Capirossi and is now in eighth place. Edwards meanwhile went down the inside with Vermeulen for sixth at the Ossebroeken, then overtook him at the outside of the Strubben hairpin.

Lap nine and Alex Barros overtakes Melandri for ninth at the start/finish straight. However, the surprised Barros by retaking the spot at the Ossebroeken when he went a tad too wide, allowing the Italian to get back at him. Barros - making good use of the superior straight line speed - then takes the place at the Veenslang straight. Rossi is still slowly closing the gap to Hopkins.

On lap ten, the gap Rossi has to Hopkins is +1.282 seconds, which decreased to +0.889 when he arrived at sector one, then +0.763 at sector two, then +0.410 and then +0.184 when they cross the finish line.

Lap eleven begins and "The Doctor" is now all over the back of Hopkins. Exiting Strubben and coming onto the Veenslang, Rossi effortlessly took second place from a fading Hopkins, now setting his sights on Stoner at the front.[7] Randy de Puniet meanwhile crashes out of the race after he was shadowing Vermeulen in the first half of the lap. When entering the Mandeven sequence of right hand corners, he tried to pass Vermeulen by going up his inside. He however, closed the door on him, and with the Frenchman nowhere to go, collided with the rear of Vermeulen, sending him over his bike and into the gravel at high speed. Vermeulen went straight because of the Kawasaki being stuck on his rear and not allowing him to turn, forcing him wide through the gravel. He managed to return onto the track down in sixteenth place, but de Puniet was out.

On lap twelve, the top eight consists out of Stoner, Rossi, Hopkins, Hayden, Pedrosa, Edwards (+2.703 seconds behind), Barros (+10.380 seconds behind) and Anthony West (+2.614 seconds behind). The gap Rossi has to Stoner is +1.528 seconds.

As lap thirteen starts, Rossi manages to close in on Stoner, cutting the gap from +1.528 to +0.588 seconds at the start/finish straight. The Repsol Honda of Hayden has also closed the gap to Hopkins exiting the Veenslang. Rossi then has a look up the inside of Stoner entering the Geert Timmer Bocht, but thinks the better of it and tucks in behind Stoner.

Lap fourteen and Hopkins has lost two places to both Hayden (who is now third) and Pedrosa (who is now fourth) at the start/finish straight. Pedrosa also looks to dive down the inside of his teammate, but stays behind him for now. Rossi is still all over the back of Stoner.

On lap fifteen, Rossi ran a bit wide at the Ossenbroeken, gifting Stoner some breathing room. Further back, Melandri now has a train consisting out of West, Hoffmann and Carlos Checa. The Repsol Honda duo of Hayden and Pedrosa are now creating a significant gap to Hopkins.

Lap sixteen has begun and Rossi is still right behind Stoner, looking for a way past. Pedrosa meanwhile is also all over the back of Hayden. Rossi tries again at the exit of the Ramshoek to line up a pass at the Geert Timmer Bocht, but Stoner denies him again, closing the inside.

On lap seventeen, Capirossi - who was in a lowly fifteenth position - enters the pits to retire, as he has problems with the bike. Rossi still has not been able to pass Stoner so far.

Lap eighteen begins with Edwards closing in on a now fading Hopkins. At the back, Melandri is still battling with the trio of West, Hoffmann and Checa. Makoto Tamada, riding the Dunlop Yamaha, is also under pressure from the Konica Minolta Honda of Shinya Nakano. At the front meanwhile, Rossi is still trying at the Geert Timmer Bocht, but to no avail.

On lap twenty, Hayden was pulling away from Pedrosa in fourth. Rossi is still shadowing Stoner, looking for aa way past.

Lap twenty-one and Hoffmann at the back has taken eighth place from Melandri, who is still under pressure from West and Checa. He got overtaken on the previous lap by the Stekkenwal corner.

On lap twenty-two, Hayden extends his lead over Pedrosa to +1.7 seconds. Rossi is still right behind Stoner. West has overtaken Melandri for ninth at the entrance of the Geert Timmer Bocht by going up the inside of the Italian.

Lap twenty-three and Rossi finally manages to pass Stoner for the lead. He lines up the pass coming out of the Ramshoek, staying right behind Stoner until they come up to the Geert Timmer Bocht, then outbreaks Stoner as they enter the first of the three corners to overtake him.[7]

Lap twenty-four begins and Rossi is now in the lead. He extends his gap up to +0.637 seconds.

On lap twenty-five - the penultimate lap -, the gap Stoner has to Rossi increases, it is now +0.841 seconds.

The last lap - lap twenty-six - has begun and Rossi has increased his gap to Stoner to +1.5 seconds. Hayden has also a big gap back to Pedrosa. No overtakes happened and Rossi jubilantly cruised to the flag to win the race - his third victory of the season.[7] Behind him Stoner finished second and Nicky Hayden in third, making it his first podium of the season. In fourth place came Pedrosa, in fifth place Hopkins and in sixth place Edwards.

On the parade lap back to parc-fermé, Rossi stopped as some of his fans celebrated with him on the track, congratulating him for the win. After the little group celebration, he continues to ride back, standing on his bike and T-posing as he continues to celebrate on his own. Barros then rides next to him to congratulate him, shaking his hand, with Checa congratulating him as well from a distance. Stoner stops on the side of the circuit, probably because he has run out of fuel, with Rossi sitting in the middle of a target at the side of the circuit as a form of celebration, posing for a marshall who takes a picture.[7] Another marshall hands him his bike as he is done, with multiple others taking photo's on their camera's. He then stops again in front of the TT Assen logo on the ground to celebrate once more while the other riders slowly make their way back to parc-fermé. Stoner is talking to the marshalls, probably asking for a ride back as his bike has run out of fuel, with Rossi then riding back to the pits, still celebrating with the marshalls who congratulate him. As Hayden rides back, his fans clap as he waves at the Repsol Honda tribune. The public does likewise as Rossi rides back.

Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, celebrating on the podium after finishing second, first and third at the MotoGP race.

Once back to parc-fermé, Hayden talks to and gets congratulated by his crewmembers. Rossi does as well with his clearly joyful team, hugging his crewmembers also. Stoner has now returned to parc-fermé on the back of a dirtbike as Stoner comes over to congratulate him on his win. All three riders are now talking to their teams before the podium ceremony begins. Rossi also hugs some of the Ducati members.

The trio walk up to the steps leading to the podium, the three then stepping onto the podium. The important figures hand out the trophies, with the crowd celebrating loudly as Rossi's name is mentioned. The Italian national anthem plays and then the trio sprays the champagne, with Hayden wearing an A-Style helmet as they do so.

Casey Stoner's lead has now been cut to 21 points after Rossi's win, with 185 and 164 the difference. Dani Pedrosa is a distant third with 119 points and John Hopkins fourth with 94 points.

MotoGP classification

Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 46 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 26 42:37.149 11 25
2 27 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 26 +1.909 2 20
3 1 Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team Honda 26 +6.077 13 16
4 26 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda 26 +10.465 9 13
5 21 John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 26 +13.138 5 11
6 5 Colin Edwards Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 26 +15.139 6 10
7 4 Alex Barros Pramac d'Antin Ducati 26 +36.075 12 9
8 66 Alex Hofmann Pramac d'Antin Ducati 26 +41.768 8 8
9 13 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 26 +43.605 7 7
10 33 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini Honda 26 +43.796 4 6
11 7 Carlos Checa Honda LCR Honda 26 +43.826 16 5
12 56 Shinya Nakano Konica Minolta Honda Honda 26 +47.896 15 4
13 6 Makoto Tamada Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 26 +54.068 18 3
14 50 Sylvain Guintoli Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 26 +57.718 17 2
15 80 Kurtis Roberts Team Roberts KR212V 26 +1:28.637 14 1
16 71 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 26 +1:34.808 1
Ret 65 Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 17 Retirement 10
Ret 14 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 11 Accident 3
WD 24 Toni Elías Honda Gresini Honda Withdrew
Sources:[8][9][10]

250 cc classification

Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia 24 40:25.904 1 25
2 3 Alex de Angelis Aprilia 24 +3.857 7 20
3 19 Álvaro Bautista Aprilia 24 +8.683 3 16
4 34 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 24 +17.948 2 13
5 4 Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 24 +30.800 4 11
6 58 Marco Simoncelli Gilera 24 +31.135 8 10
7 80 Héctor Barberá Aprilia 24 +33.323 5 9
8 36 Mika Kallio KTM 24 +40.807 10 8
9 15 Roberto Locatelli Gilera 24 +1:11.829 13 7
10 55 Yuki Takahashi Honda 24 +1:18.958 15 6
11 32 Fabrizio Lai Aprilia 24 +1:19.361 11 5
12 44 Taro Sekiguchi Aprilia 24 +1:26.810 19 4
13 73 Shuhei Aoyama Honda 24 +1:26.850 14 3
14 8 Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 24 +1:28.717 17 2
15 17 Karel Abraham Aprilia 24 +1:28.949 20 1
16 28 Dirk Heidolf Aprilia 24 +1:30.407 22
17 41 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia 24 +1:33.812 12
18 7 Efrén Vázquez Aprilia 24 +1:37.706 26
19 25 Alex Baldolini Aprilia 24 +1:44.925 16
20 16 Jules Cluzel Aprilia 24 +1:47.373 18
21 50 Eugene Laverty Honda 23 +1 lap 21
22 10 Imre Tóth Aprilia 23 +1 lap 25
23 69 Ronald Beitler Honda 23 +1 lap 27
24 68 Randy Gevers Aprilia 21 +3 laps 28
Ret 12 Thomas Lüthi Aprilia 18 Retirement 6
Ret 45 Dan Linfoot Aprilia 11 Accident 23
Ret 72 Hans Smees Aprilia 10 Retirement 24
Ret 60 Julián Simón Honda 8 Retirement 9
DNQ 70 Mike Velthuijzen Honda Did not qualify
OFFICIAL 250cc REPORT

125 cc classification

Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 75 Mattia Pasini Aprilia 22 38:58.171 1 25
2 55 Héctor Faubel Aprilia 22 +6.115 7 20
3 14 Gábor Talmácsi Aprilia 22 +6.146 6 16
4 33 Sergio Gadea Aprilia 22 +6.354 4 13
5 24 Simone Corsi Aprilia 22 +6.454 3 11
6 71 Tomoyoshi Koyama KTM 22 +6.633 13 10
7 52 Lukáš Pešek Derbi 22 +6.643 2 9
8 11 Sandro Cortese Aprilia 22 +17.696 5 8
9 60 Michael Ranseder Derbi 22 +17.890 10 7
10 17 Stefan Bradl Aprilia 22 +21.780 9 6
11 44 Pol Espargaró Aprilia 22 +22.867 17 5
12 34 Randy Krummenacher KTM 22 +22.938 25 4
13 12 Esteve Rabat Honda 22 +23.095 19 3
14 35 Raffaele De Rosa Aprilia 22 +34.247 8 2
15 8 Lorenzo Zanetti Aprilia 22 +36.991 14 1
16 7 Alexis Masbou Honda 22 +37.145 20
17 18 Nicolás Terol Derbi 22 +37.407 12
18 6 Joan Olivé Aprilia 22 +37.597 11
19 27 Stefano Bianco Aprilia 22 +40.237 18
20 29 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 22 +48.387 37
21 56 Hugo van den Berg Aprilia 22 +51.244 32
22 20 Roberto Tamburini Aprilia 22 +51.374 23
23 31 Enrique Jerez Honda 22 +51.923 26
24 15 Federico Sandi Aprilia 22 +55.947 29
25 53 Simone Grotzkyj Aprilia 22 +57.183 27
26 37 Joey Litjens Honda 22 +59.846 22
27 51 Stevie Bonsey KTM 22 +1:18.758 24
28 77 Dominique Aegerter Aprilia 22 +1:19.653 28
29 85 Philipp Eitzinger Honda 22 +1:29.071 36
30 90 Roy Pouw Aprilia 21 +1 lap 31
31 72 Patrick van de Waarsenburg Honda 21 +1 lap 34
32 89 Jasper Iwema Honda 21 +1 lap 33
33 88 Ferry Stoffer Honda 21 +1 lap 35
Ret 22 Pablo Nieto Aprilia 19 Retirement 15
Ret 95 Robert Mureșan Derbi 10 Retirement 21
Ret 63 Mike Di Meglio Honda 10 Retirement 16
Ret 99 Danny Webb Honda 5 Accident 30
WD 38 Bradley Smith Honda Withdrew
OFFICIAL 125cc REPORT

Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)

Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round nine has concluded.[11]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. "2007 Dutch TT MotoGP". Motorsportmagazine.com. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  2. Mitchell, Malcolm. "2007 MotoGP Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  3. Mitchell, Malcolm. "TT Circuit Assen - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  4. "Vermeulen sails to Assen pole, Rossi washout". Crash. June 29, 2007.
  5. Assen, Andy Tilley in (June 29, 2007). "Motorcycling: Vermeulen claims pole". the Guardian.
  6. "Elias breaks leg at Assen". Crash. June 28, 2007.
  7. "Rossi hunts down Stoner at Assen". Crash. June 30, 2007.
  8. "2007 Dutch TT MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". 13 June 2017.
  9. "OFFICIAL MOTOGP REPORT" (PDF).
  10. "motogp.com · A-STYLE TT ASSEN · MotoGP Race Classification 2007". www.motogp.com.
  11. "motogp.com · MotoGP World Standing 2007". www.motogp.com.
Previous race:
2007 British Grand Prix
FIM Grand Prix World Championship
2007 season
Next race:
2007 German Grand Prix
Previous race:
2006 Dutch TT
Dutch TT Next race:
2008 Dutch TT
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