MotoGP
Aoyama rides to fifth at Dutch GP in Assen
02 luglio 2007
Aoyama picked up useful additional championship points and above all another shot of self assurance that he and the team are now heading in the right direction in this year's competition. The Japanese rider was third on the podium at the last GP in Donington Park, Britain, which appears to have been a turning point for the team. However, the race, traditionally run on Saturday at the Dutch GP, was not without its excitement for the Japanese rider. "I had a good start, but then Bautista and Lüthi banged into me, and I ran off line and onto the kerbs, which was a dangerous moment," Aoyama said later. "Then the competition developed in the group I was in and it was fun to ride. On the last lap, Marco Simoncelli mounted an attack, but I was stronger on the brakes and passed him again going into the chicane!" Aoyama viewed the result as very positive. He said that given that the start of the season had not been ideal for the team, they could be content with the result at Assen. "We can be happy with what we achieved," he said. "Our lap times in the race weren't slow, and fifth place isn't a bad result, either. The bike ran flawlessly, I didn't have problems at all, and this is a good sign for the next races to come - a real boost for my confidence - in the bike as much as with my riding." Hiroshi's Finnish team-mate Mika Kallio was able to run with him for a number of laps in the race before he took a front-end slide, and eventually had to settle for eighth at the chequered flag. "We made quite a radical change on the front end of the bike for the race, with harder suspension settings. The behaviour of the bike wasn't too bad at the beginning of the race. I could run comfortably within my group and I was right with my team-mate Hiroshi for quite some time," Kallio said. "Then I lost the front in a fast left-hander. I went into a big and nasty slide with the front wheel and almost crashed. I eventually managed to save it, but it cost me about two seconds and I lost contact with the others. I also began to lose the feeling for the bike because the setting had been perfect for a full load of fuel but as the fuel tank got lighter, the front started to move again." At the conclusion of the Dutch GP, Kallio is seventh on the championship standings and Aoyama is now ninth. Results 1. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Aprilia, 40:25.904 2. Alex de Angeles, San Marino, Aprilia, 40:29.761 3. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, 40:34.587 4. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Honda, 40:43.852 5. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, KTM, 40"56.704 8. Mika Kallio, Finland, KTM, 41:06.711 |
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