The Repsol Honda Team travel to the north of Europe this week in preparation for the seventh round of the MotoGP™ World Championship.

The Netherlands is the destination for the legendary Dutch TT in Assen, where both Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa will be challenging for victory as the championship enters a very busy period with three races in a row.

As in the UK, the weather can be very changeable in Assen, but both Honda factory riders will be determined and confident following the double podium they shared at Silverstone on their first race with the new Bridgestone front tyre.

Stoner, who won the Dutch TT in 2008, has celebrated six podiums in Assen and since 2007 has not failed to reach it. The Australian will be looking for another solid performance this time out, as he seeks to claw back some points on championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. Both Stoner and Lorenzo are now both equal on victories in their Grand Prix careers with 42 a piece.

Pedrosa, injured last year, also has six podium finishes at the track, with three in the premier class. Pedrosa’s deficit to teammate Stoner is now only 14 points, and the Spaniard will be buoyed by the fact that he took his teammate right down to the wire at the last round in Silverstone.

With modifications made in 2006, the Assen circuit has been shortened slightly, but it maintains fast changes in direction over the old part of the track where an agile bike is needed and the banked turns make it a spectacle for the fans.

Casey Stoner

"We've had some great results in Assen, but also some pretty bad ones, so hopefully we can go there this weekend, be competitive and avoid any injury like last year when I hurt my neck, which followed us for the season and still causes me problems now. You spend a lot of the time on the edge of the tyre in Assen and unfortunately on our bike at the moment this is a weak point, so we will need to work on Thursday and Friday to improve before we can consider ourselves competitive there. I really hope the weather is good for us, as we need as much track time as possible to work on various issues on the bike. With three races back to back, it's important to get some good results at Assen, Sachsenring and Mugello, so we need to remain focused.”

Dani Pedrosa

"I wasn't there last year due to the injury, but it's a circuit we know well. Assen has changeable weather so I hope we can have some dry sessions to continue setting up the bike and making it more rideable. I am really looking forward to this race and aiming to ride at my best.”

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