Assen, The Netherlands

Yamaha issued the following press release after the first day at Assen, including a medical update on Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo is being held in hospital at Assen, where he is undergoing further check ups to ensure he has no internal injuries. He will fly to Barcelona on Friday, and should be fit for surgery to fix the injury in the next 48 hours. The press release is shown in full below:

Disaster for Lorenzo Whilst Rossi Finds Form in Assen

Assen (The Netherlands), 27th June 2013

Despite being the fastest rider in the first day of practice today, the Assen TT proved again to be a disaster for the third year running for current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Mallorcan had dominated the morning dry session and had shown an impressive pace in the afternoon’s wet practice until a huge high side at the fastest corner of the track. The first diagnosis is a left clavicle fracture which will require surgery. As a result the title challenger will miss Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Mattia Pasini has taken advantage of difficult track conditions during the second Moto2 practice session to top the time sheets. The Italian set a cracking last ditch lap, some seven tenths faster than Mika Kallio in second. The perilous session saw no further rain fall and an ever drying track, but Pasini's time of 1:47.835 was still almost ten seconds off the fastest time set in FP1 earlier in the day. 

Johann Zarco headed the time sheets for large amounts of the session and ended up in third place ahead of Ricard Cardus, Randy Krummenacher, Mike Di Meglio, Scott Redding, Anthony West, Toni Elias and Alberto Moncayo completed the top ten. The slippery session was high in incident as at least eight riders crashed pushing hard to find the limits of the ever evolving Assen circuit, thankfully no injuries of note were encountered. 

Results:

Jorge Lorenzo has fractured his left collarbone during practice at Assen. The factory Yamaha man was thrown from his bike at the Hoge Heide left-right flick, the fastest part of the circuit, and landed right on his shoulder. He was taken to the medical center, where examination revealed a fractured collarbone. Lorenzo is to fly back to Barcelona tonight, to have surgery on the collarbone. He will not take part in the race in Assen on Saturday.

The injury came at the worst possible time for Lorenzo. Although a fractured collarbone can be fixed quickly with a plate, that still leaves the injury painful and weak. With the Sachsenring in two weeks' time, followed seven days later by Laguna Seca, Lorenzo faces two tracks consisting mainly of left-hand corners, placing a lot of pressure on the injury. If Lorenzo is capable of racing at Sachsenring, he will face a very difficult challenge securing strong results. One DNF and the possibility of two further weak results would make it very difficult for Lorenzo to defend his championship.

More news on Lorenzo's injury if and when we receive it.

Marc Marquez has topped a torrentially wet second free practice in impressive fashion, leading wily veteran Valentino Rossi by two tenths of a second. There was quite a large gap back to Dani Pedrosa in third place whose lap time put him ahead of fellow Honda rider Stefan Bradl, the Ducati pairing of Dovizioso and Hayden and Cal Crutchlow in seventh. The session was a nice opportunity for CRT riders to show their talents and get their name up in lights as Danilo Petrucci, Yonny Hernandez and Michael Laverty rounded out the top ten positions. 

The big story of the session however was an enormous crash for world champion and in-form man Jorge Lorenzo. The Yamaha rider suffered a scary high side at the fastest corner of the notoriously quick Assen circuit. He was able to walk away gingerly, but appeared to be nursing his left arm in a fashion that would indicate a potential collar bone injury. He was later helped into an ambulance and given an initial assessment. The Spaniard was finally taken to the circuit medical centre for further treatment of a suspected fractured left collar bone, more information regarding the injury will be provided as it's made available. 

Results:

Thursday afternoon action resumed as championship leader Luis Salom headed the timesheets in Moto3 FP2. Light sprinkles of rain appeared early in the session and cool track temperatures meant that initial lap times were quite a bit slower than those set in FP1. As the drizzle cleared Salom was able to put together a string of hot laps and finish proceedings ahead of the morning's pace setter Maverick Vinales, as most riders began improving on their day's best times.  

Riding with an injured wrist Jonas Folger did very well to post the third fastest time ahead of Spaniards Rins and Marquez. Alexis Masbou, Isaac Vinales, Alan Techer and the Australian duo of Arthur Sissis and Jack Miller rounded out the top ten placings. With five minutes remaining the rain began to fall heavier than it had all day and saw the few riders circulating head back to the pit lane. Alex Marquez was the only rider to go out and 'test the waters' on full wet tyres, cleverly taking the opportunity to boost his experience riding in tricky conditions.

Results:

Pol Espargaro has topped the timesheets at the conclusion of the opening Moto2 practice session at the Dutch TT. The Kalex rider ended the session a tenth of a second ahead of championship leader and title rival Scott Redding. The gap to Dominique Aegerter in third was almost half a second, setting up the prospect of a mouth watering head-to-head battle between Espargaro and Redding during Saturday's race. 

Frenchman Johan Zarco finished proceedings in an impressive fourth position ahead of Xavier Simeon, Mika Kallio and Esteve Rabat. Anthony West appeared to have found some much needed form to post the eighth fastest time ahead of Takaaki Nakagami, who was an even second behind pace setter Espargaro. Swiss Suter rider Randy Krummenacher rounded out the top ten. The session saw spots of rain fall in the closing stages and the predictably unpredictable Assen forecast is for further showers as the day and race weekend progress. 

Results:

Riding a wave of momentum from his hometown victory in Catalunya, Jorge Lorenzo has shown fantastic form in the opening practice session of the Dutch TT at Assen. The factory Yamaha rider set the pace by three tenths of a second with a lap time of 1:35.263. Cal Crutchlow was his closest rival on the timesheets finishing up in second place, a further three tenths ahead of Marc Marquez in third.

Valentino Rossi started the cold and cloudy session strongly, but had to settle for fourth place, failing to match the scintillating and ominously consistent pace of his teammate. Dani Pedrosa rounded out a very familiar feeling top five. A special mention goes out for Aleix Espargaro aboard his ART machine. The Aspar rider managed to set a lap time good enough for sixth place, finishing ahead of no less than six prototype bikes.

Results:

Maverick Vinales has stamped his authority on the Moto3 class at Assen, leading the first session of free practice by over four tenths of a second. The Team Calvo rider finished ahead of title rivals Luis Salom and Alex Rins, but the gaps were large. Niklas Ajo, in fourth, was already over a second behind Vinales, and at the head of a big group all much closer together. Interesting name in among that was Dutch wildcard Bryan Schouten, the FTR Honda rider having secured some very strong results in the Spanish CEV championship, and now doing well at his home round.

Results:

Wednesday at Assen is always a rather odd day. At most rounds, Wednesday is a travel day, and the paddock regulars spend the day in airports, planes and hire cars. But because the race at Assen is on Saturday, the events that normally take place on Thursday such as the pre-event press conference, happen a day earlier. That leaves everyone with the racing equivalent of jet lag, their bodies and minds 24 hours behind events. Mentally, we are all prepared for a day of torpor and inaction. What we are greeted with is a day of rushing around to talk to riders, team managers, and anyone else foolish enough to cross our paths. Mind battles physical reality, and both come out losers.

Even focusing on the upcoming race is hard. Rolling into the circuit under bright skies and cheery temperatures - not warm, but not freezing either - feels slightly surreal after having studied the weather forecasts for the coming days. While race day is likely to be dry, Thursday and Friday look like being full wet days. What that means is that practice may not be much of a guide to what actually happens on race day, rendering practice and qualifying relatively meaningless.

Ducati, at least, will welcome the rain. "The rain is bad for the fans, but it's good for Ducati," Nicky Hayden quipped, though he was not entirely happy with the situation. The Ducati goes very well in the wet, despite still struggling in the dry. Though a wet race may act as a placebo - though perhaps an analgesic is a better metaphor - in easing the pain of the Ducati riders, the fact of the matter is that Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Iannone and Michele Pirro, still taking the place of the injured Ben Spies, are starting to run out of options.

Press releases from the MotoGP teams and Bridgestone ahead of this weekend's Dutch TT at Assen:

Press release previews from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams ahead of Saturday's Dutch TT at Assen:

Ask anyone what makes a great circuit, and they will tell you that it takes three things: fast corners, great scenery and lots of elevation changes. So what makes the TT Circuit at Assen so great? It only really has one of the three factors that makes it a great circuit: if the track has elevation changes, they can be measured in centimeters. The scenery is mostly absent, though that does allow more of a view of the expansive skies the Dutch masters of the 17th Century were so famed for. The only factor which the track still possesses is a collection of really fast corners, testing the mettle of anyone with ambition to take on the circuit.

Despite having the splendor of the old North Loop surgically removed, leaving it with just the flaccid remnant of a sequence of right handers, the southern section of the track is still as glorious as ever. From the Ruskenhoek and then De Bult, the track starts to build, the tempo picking up through Mandeveen, Duikersloot and Meeuwenmeer, before the high speed flick of Hoge Heide, and then the vast, sweeping left at the Ramshoek. The GT chicane has seen more than its fair share of last-lap battles, acting as judge, jury and executioner before heading back across the line again.

Though the removal of the North Loop took away some of the Dutch track's glory, Assen remains a favorite with the riders. Given the way the track still flows - at least, once you have left the Strubben hairpin - that is hardly surprising. It is a riders' track, suiting anyone who can string a series of corners together, and has the courage to keep the throttle hard open.

Press releases from the World Superbike series organizer, and World Superbike and World Supersport teams, after Sunday's thrilling races at Assen: