MotoReview

Of the current spate of injured riders who are in theory racing tomorrow, only Marco Melandri managed to qualify anywhere near as well as normal, managing a hugely impressive 7th place. Valentino Rossi qualified in last position, almost four seconds from John Hopkins' time. Despite the Italian rider successfully completing FP2 almost as normal yesterday afternoon, following his crash, he could only manage around half as many laps during qualifying as the other riders today as his wrist has now swollen up severely.

Loris Capirossi managed to qualify in fifteenth, but he could only manage a few laps at at time and it was clear that his chest was really hurting. Following yesterday's free practice sessions Loris said, 'Once I started riding I realised the situation was much more difficult than we had expected. If the race was today there would be no way I could do it.' The odds of either rider sitting the race out tomorrow seem slim, but just managing full race distance will be an achievement, let alone getting a good result.

Elsewhere the Repsol riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa qualified 4th and 5th respectively with Vermeulen also managing one of his best qualifying results in 6th. Alex Hofmann, standing in for Sete Gibernau on the Marlboro Ducati, qualified in 9th place.

2006 Assen MotoGP Qualifying Results

1) John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'36.411
2) Shinya Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team 1'36.424
3) Colin Edwards Camel Yamaha Team 1'36.755
4) Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1'36.758
5) Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1'36.993
6) Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'37.077
7) Marco Melandri Fortuna Honda 1'37.332
8) Carlos Checa Tech 3 Yamaha 1'37.378
9) Alex Hofmann Ducati Marlboro Team 1'37.399
10) Kenny Roberts Jr Team Roberts 1'37.528
11) Randy De Puniet Kawasaki Racing Team 1'37.556
12) Casey Stoner Honda LCR 1'37.660
13) Makoto Tamada Konica Minolta Honda 1'37.676
14) James Ellison Tech 3 Yamaha 1'38.055
15) Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team 1'38.060
16) Jose Luis Cardoso Pramac d'Antín MotoGP 1'39.406
17) Ivan Silva Pramac d'Antín MotoGP 1'39.496
18) Valentino Rossi Camel Yamaha Team 1'40.298