M2: TT Assen: Marc VDA qualifying report

TOUGH TASK AHEAD FOR MARC VDS RIDERS

The two Marc VDS Racing Team riders face a tough task in tomorrow's Dutch TT at Assen, after problems for both during qualifying left them further down the grid than expected. Scott Redding struggled to find a clear space on track during the 45-minute session and will start the race from 20th position, while Hector Faubel will start from 35th on the grid following a crash during qualifying.

Redding improved his lap time significantly during free practice this morning, but was unable to make further progress during this afternoon's qualifying session. The 17-year-old Briton struggled to find the last few tenths of a second around the 4.542km Assen circuit and was baulked on more than one occasion by slower riders cruising around the circuit looking for a tow. Redding also survived a scare in the final chicane when a rider shut off and pulled across in front of him to enter the pits while the Marc VDS rider was on a fast lap.

Hector Faubel only managed to complete three flying laps during the whole 45-minute qualifying session. The 26-year-old Spaniard had to push his Suter MMX machine back to the pits during the early stages, after an electrical problem caused the bike to cut out at the Meeuwenmeer turn. Faubel returned to the track once the problem had been rectified but then crashed out of the session just two laps later at Stekkenwal. The Marc VDS rider managed to return to the pits but the bike was too damaged to continue.

The Marc VDS riders are determined to fight their way through the field tomorrow, but neither has any illusions about how difficult this will be at Assen, where passing places are limited.

Scott Redding #45: 20th - 1'40.313
"I was able to run consistent laps today, but they weren't quite good enough. I really struggled to find those last few tenths during qualifying because the traffic on track made it almost impossible to string more than a couple of laps together. I had a bit of a scare when Olive pulled across in front of me unexpectedly to enter the pits, but then the number of people cruising around looking for a tow made almost every lap a bit scary. I'll just have to give it all I've got tomorrow to make up for qualifying, but it's not going to be easy. Sometimes the only place to pass is on the outside of the fast corners and that's what I'll have to do tomorrow if I want to finish higher than 20th."

Hector Faubel #55: 35th - 1'41.316
"What a disaster! On my first run the bike just cut out at the furthest part of the circuit from the pits and I had to push it back more than a kilometre, which was hard work without any help. Then, when the bike was fixed I managed to do just an out lap before crashing at Stekkenwal. Again, I got the bike back, but the damage was too much to fix before the end of the session, so I ended up doing just three laps. It's going to be tough to fight through the field here, certainly more difficult than it was at Silverstone, but I'm determined to at least get inside the top twenty tomorrow. Most important though is that I finish the race."

Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager
"Good morning, bad afternoon: That just about sums up our day. Scott was up there this morning and everything looked good, but then qualifying didn't go quite as well as we were expecting. Actually, qualifying was a little dangerous today, as there were so many riders just cruising around looking for someone to follow. This causes problems for those riders, like Scott, who come across these riders on a fast lap. Hector had more bad luck today. The first problem was electrical, which was easily fixed, but crashing in qualifying when you only have one bike is always going to cost you, as Hector discovered today. Tomorrow it should be possible for Scott to finish inside the points and Hector inside the top twenty, so that's their target for the race."

-source: marc vds