Sete Gibernau will start from second place and Marco Melandri third in what promises to be a tense Dutch TT.

The final few minutes of today’s qualifying session gave a sign of things to come, as did the pace set by the day’s three fastest riders (Rossi, Gibernau and Melandri). The grid positions were decided in a frantic final eight minutes, with Sete the first to sit on pole before brief spells for Rossi and Melandri.

The World Championship runner-up had a much better day today thanks to the recovery of his Chief Mechanic Juan Martínez, who spent yesterday in the circuit’s medical centre. Sete, who has two consecutive podiums at Assen including victory in 2003, is more motivated than ever to do well whilst Marco has once again made his case for a potential first victory in the seventh round of the season.

The Italian, who currently lies second in the championship behind Valentino Rossi, was the quickest rider in the three free practice sessions. This morning he set a lap of 2’00”180, signifying an improvement of two seconds over the three hours of practice. Sete’s progress has been equally impressive, improving by 2.5 seconds from the first to the final session.

SETE GIBERNAU (2nd, 1’59”247): “Things were back to normal today. Juan, my chief mechanic, had a physical problem yesterday but, thank God, the situation was stabilised and today we noticed his presence. Yesterday we were working a little bit in the dark because there was no technical leader in the box, although I’d like to thank all the boys for their calmness. I’m really looking forward to this race, I’m sure it will be a body to body fight until the end and I’ll be giving 100% all the way.”

MARCO MELANDRI (3rd, 1’59”632): “I’m happy with this position although at the same time I’m a bit annoyed right now that I didn’t get the opportunity to make the most of my qualifying tyre. Firstly I ran into Max Biaggi, who was going really slowly. I tried for a second time but found him in the middle of the track again and we touched. It’s a shame because I was lapping really strongly, but it’s good to be on the front row at this track because it’s one of my favourites.”

LAP TIMES

1. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 1’58”936
2. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0”311
3. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 0”696
4. Shinya Nakano (Jap/Kawasaki) + 0”824
5. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) + 0”848
6. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) + 1”070
7. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) + 1”200
8. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda) + 1”296
9. Max Biaggi (Ita/Honda) + 1”345
10. Alex Hofmann (Ger/Kawasaki) + 1”356