Rossi Nails Pole Position in Assen ahead of 100th Victory Attemp

Having conquered qualifying, Valentino Rossi will attempt to break clear of title rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner by claiming his 100th grand prix victory at Assen on Saturday.

The reigning six time MotoGP world champion starts round seven of 2009 equal on points and race wins with Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo and Ducati star Stoner, who will start third and fourth on the Dutch TT grid.

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa tucked in behind Rossi to help claim second place in qualifying, just 0.085sec behind the Italian, but the Spaniard’s injuries mean he is unlikely to match the ‘big three’ over a full race distance.

Rossi’s only previous 2009 ‘pole’ was at Motegi, but on that occasion the position was handed to him by virtue of his free practice pace after rain forced qualifying to be cancelle

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