A front brake problem delayed Casey Stoner’s qualifying efforts at Assen today and the Honda LCR rider will start from position twelve on the grid. Impressively fourth fastest in free practice, Stoner’s best lap in qualifying was only one thousandth of second (0.001s), quicker than his best time on race tyres in a consistent morning session.

One of Stoner’s strengths is his starting technique, a talent honed during his junior dirt track career in Australia. On the new, shorter and much tighter Assen layout a good start from the fourth row will be important in tomorrow’s 26 lap race. Stoner lost ten minutes at the start of qualifying while adjustments were made to the front brake system on his Honda RCV, and then more time later in the session with set-up changes.

“Unfortunately we lost time with a small front brake system problem at the beginning of the session and then needed to make some important adjustments to the set-up. All of this did not allow Casey time to maximise his performance on qualifying tyres”.

“The front brake wasn’t adjusted properly and I lost ten minutes while that was fixed. Then with the set-up we went in the wrong direction this afternoon and the bike wasn't handling like it did in the morning session. The team figured it out and changed the bike back to the practice settings, but I couldn’t get a decent time on a qualifying tyre; I would have been better off on a race tyre. I’ve always made good starts, in dirt track racing you have to. I use the launch control at the start but for me I don’t think it makes a big difference. There is not a lot of room to pass on the new track, so it’s wait and see in the race.”