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Spies Kicks Off Assen Weekend on Top - Malcolm - 28-06-2012 Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies began his Assen weekend today with a confident turn of speed to wrap up the first sessions as the fastest rider. The 2011 Assen race winner put in a productive simulation run in the afternoon session on the harder tyre before switching to the soft to take the top spot on the time sheets with a 1’34.866 lap. Team mate Jorge Lorenzo was also quick to get up to an impressive speed today. The Championship leader finished the morning session as the fastest rider and led the majority of the second session as well. Lorenzo was only overtaken when others switched to the softer option rear tyre whilst he remained on the hard. He finished the day in fifth position but less than two tenths from Spies in first. Ben Spies - Position 1st - Time: 1'34.866 - Laps 45 “Today was a good day, both this morning and this afternoon. In the second session we did almost race distance on the tyres in case it rains tomorrow to be ready for Saturday. We had quick times and then tried the soft tyre at the end of the session and were able to put down some quick laps with over race distance on the front tyre. The bike feels good so we’re going to continue on this path and try to make the bike even better for tomorrow and Saturday.” Jorge Lorenzo - Position 5th - Time: 1'35.057 - Laps 26 “The feeling is pretty good with the bike, we started in a good way this morning and were fastest. In the afternoon we were fastest for most of the session but finally the riders who switched to soft tyres went in front of me. We concentrated on improving the pace with a race tyre and I think we succeeded. We have a good package and I’m confident with the bike which is important.” Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager “A very good first day at Assen and great weather too! The bike is behaving really well, this morning we were quickest and Jorge was even a little faster in the afternoon session. We were very consistent so a happy team and a happy rider.” Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director “A great start to the weekend, we completed a long race run successfully and Ben is pretty happy with the bike set up. We just have some small details to try and improve but we are close. Jorge was as usual showing a good fast consistent pace so a strong start for Yamaha.” Courageous Crutchlow makes fast start in Assen Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow finished the opening day of practice for the historic Dutch TT in second position after the British rider showed tremendous courage and impressive speed at the Assen circuit today. Only 11 days after breaking and dislocating his left ankle in a practice crash for his home round at Silverstone, the British rider demonstrated his bravery and skill once again by finishing just 0.006s behind fastest rider Ben Spies.Crutchlow, who rode to a heroic sixth place from the back of the grid at Silverstone, was ninth quickest this morning but was able to knock 1.2s off his best pace this afternoon to finish with an impressive lap time of 1.34.872.The 26-year-old finished the leading non-factory rider and today's positive start was an instant reward for Crutchlow's determined efforts to be in the best physical conditions possible for the Assen race on Saturday. He has been undergoing round-the-clock treatment on his left ankle since Silverstone and although not close to 100% fitness, he has targeted a top six finish in Saturday's 26-lap race. Andrea Dovizioso has battled for the podium in each of the last three races and is confident he will be in contention for the top three again on Saturday after a positive start to his preparations for the seventh round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship. The Italian rider was eighth fastest but in a closely contested second session that saw the top 11 split by just 0.471s, Dovizioso's be st pace of 1.35.257 was only 0.391s off Spies at the top of the leaderboard. Dovizioso will focus on improving front-end stability on his YZR-M1 machine ahead of tomorrow's final practice and qualifying. Cal Crutchlow - Position 2nd - Time: 1'34.872 - Laps 40 “I am happy to be second quickest considering my physical condition is certainly still not the best after the crash at Silverstone. This morning was a bit of a shock to be honest because although I have been able to do a bit of cycling at home on the Isle of Man as part of the recovery, it definitely wasn't easy. There was quite a bit of pain with the ankle this morning and it took me longer than normal to get into a rhythm. But overall I am really pleased to be second because I am still quite sore. I am sure it is going to get better the more time I spend on the bike but I had arm pump this morning too because I was compensating for the ankle. But this afternoon it wasn't an issue at all. I tried the hard and soft rear tyres and felt good on both so we have done a good job as always. The target for this weekend was to try and be inside the top six throughout and I've done that today. My ideal time was actually fastest so that is a really big positive and gives me a good boost to take into tomorrow.” Andrea Dovizioso - Position 8th - Time: 1'35.257 - Laps 41 “The characteristics of this track means the lap times look very close but if you look at the tyres some were using, then it is easier to understand who is really fast for race pace. Obviously I would have liked to be higher up than eighth but I am not unhappy with my race pace. I am quite fast but I can improve the setting of the bike, particularly the front-end. I don't have the stability like normal and that means I don't have a comfortable feeling entering the corner and I can't be as aggressive as I'd like. But I am only 0.3s away from the fastest pace, so it is not such a big gap to close to the front and I am confident I will be higher up the order tomorrow.” .