Once again the weather played havoc with Orelac Racing VerdNatura’s hopes of good results in Assen today. The 18-lap race started in dry conditions, but a rainstorm just after half distance caused the race to be red-flagged. The restarted race was a mixture of wet and dry and was run over just six laps.
Fahmi was 17th after lap one and maintained that position until the fourth lap but then lost ground in the next two laps and ended 20tth. His teammate Nacho was 31st at the end of the first lap and then moved up the field to finish 26th.
Fahmi Khairuddin – 20th
“The first start was no too bad and I gained a place straightaway. But then I was re-passed and was caught in a group who were holding me up a little. From then it was a matter of keeping in the top twenty and trying to make progress. After the red flag, we changed to a wet set-up and it was good at the beginning, but soon I began to suffer from lack of grip in the rear and the bike was sliding around a lot. I managed to keep going and finished the race. The mixed weather over the weekend made it very hard to get either a good dry or wet set-up. This was the first time I have ridden this bike in the wet and the first time on Pirelli tyres. I learnt a lot this weekend, but I know that there is a lot more to learn.”
Nacho Calero – 26th
“I don’t think that I found the right bike set-up for the mixed conditions today. The change of weather made it a bit of a lottery for us and I rode as best I could in the conditions out there. If my bike had the right set-up for the wet in the re-start I think I could’ve done better. But racing can throw you a lot of variables sometimes and today was that kind of day.”
Giulio Bardi (Team Manager)
“I am disappointed with how things worked out today, but when the weather changes as quickly as it did today it always causes a problem. Because of the mixed conditions over the past two days and only fifteen minutes practice yesterday we were not able to get perfect set-ups for either dry or wet. We will go away from Assen and start preparation straightaway for the next race in Imola where hopefully the conditions will not be so variable.”
Results
1 Smith (Honda), 2 Rea (MV), 3 Sofuoglu (Kawasaki), 20 Fahmi Khairuddin (MAS-Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) ZX-6R, 26 Nacho Calero (ESP-Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki ZX-6R)
