MotoGP heads to the Cathedral

Round seven of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship takes place this weekend in at Assen in the Netherlands, with the event giving Australia's Casey Stoner the chance to turn up the heat on his title rivals at one of the most popular circuits on the calendar.

Last year's Dutch race winner, Stoner is likely to be a far stronger victory candidate than in Catalunya where he rode heroically to finish on the podium with an undiagnosed illness, finishing just in front of Andrea Dovizioso before almost collapsing as he dismounted his Ducati Desmosedici GP9.

"Assen is a strange track for me because before I rode there in MotoGP it was one of my favourite circuits, but one where I never managed to get great results in the smaller categories," said Stoner. "Then in 2006 I had a decent result and since then, with the Ducati, I've always been fast.

"Considering the fact that the GP9 has already shown that it is competitive on a variety of circuits, I can't wait to get back to Assen. Ideally we'd like another weekend of consistent good weather so that we can work on the bike and find a bit more rear grip, which is the only thing we're missing at the moment.

"The rest of the bike is great - it is turning well and the front is really stable under braking. I wasn't really fit at the test and I didn't do a lot of laps but we did what we needed to and now we'll try and take advantage of that work in the next race."

For the first time in the history of the MotoGP title, there are three riders tied at the top of the standings as the season enters its seventh round, each one of them having taken two wins each from the opening six races. Stoner and Yamaha teammates Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi have filled the rostrum on three occasions already and, while the Yamaha riders have one more podium than the Ducati man, Stoner has not finished outside the top five yet this season.

Last season Rossi had his worst result of the year at the Dutch track when he crashed early in the race and fought back to finish 11th, but he is traditionally a strong performer at Assen with victories to his name in all three categories there - four of those in the premier class.

Following his epic battle with his Lorenzo in Barcelona Rossi will aim to maintain his championship momentum with another win, but he knows that Lorenzo and Stoner - will also be pushing to the maximum at 'the Cathedral of motorcycling'.

"Assen is a very special track for all riders and it is a wonderful place to ride a MotoGP bike, even if it was better before they changed the layout," said Rossi. "Last year I had my worst point of the season there so I want to make up for that with a good performance, because the fans are very passionate and they deserve a good show.

"After Barcelona we know how strong we are, but also our rivals are strong too so we can't afford to relax, we have to keep pushing. Montmeló was fantastic, one of my best wins ever, but the championship is very close between the three of us and so we have to try to win again to take the lead. There is still a long way to go but we have to remain consistent."

Lorenzo also has a good record at Assen, having won there in the 250cc and 125cc classes, and the 22-year-old Spanish star refers to the circuit as his favourite MotoGP venue. Having been beaten by Rossi by just 0.095secs in his home grand prix, Lorenzo will be desperate for revenge in Saturday's race.

Honda's Andrea Dovizioso has been fractions of a second off the rostrum in the last three races and should any of the current top three slip up in the Netherlands the young Italian will hope to take advantage.

Two points behind his factory Honda colleague in the standings, meanwhile, Dani Pedrosa should be in better physical shape than in Barcelona where he took sixth place despite riding with the painful right hip injury which he sustained at Mugello in the previous round.

Veteran American rider Colin Edwards is currently sixth in the classification and the visit to Assen takes him back to the scene of his infamous 2006 crash which saw him miss out on victory on the final corner. Edwards was seventh in Barcelona and is currently enjoying a consistent run of form on his Yamaha.

Also currently occupying top 10 championship positions Italian competitors Marco Melandri (Kawasaki) and Loris Capirossi (Suzuki), along with Frenchman Randy de Puniet (Honda) and Capirossi's Australian colleague Chris Vermeulen will all be in the hunt for good points at round seven.

The Suzuki riders will get a second chance to use their new GSV-R 800cc engines which they debuted last time out in the Catalunya contest, but were unable to use in the important Monday post-race test.

"I really look forward to going to Assen," said Vermeulen. "Holland is where my family came from so there are always people around that remember my grandfather and tell me how they are related to me -- so I feel like a bit of me is coming home!

"We had a good test after the Catalunya race and, if we can translate that into the forthcoming weekend, then I am sure we can be competitive. I enjoy riding at Assen and I have won there in world superbikes, but I have never quite got the results I think I've deserved -- or certainly wanted -- in MotoGP. I hope this will be the weekend when that all changes!"

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Assen will also play host to round four of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies, featuring three Aussies: Josh Hook, Arthur Sissis and Dylan Mavin.

Norwegian Sturla Fagerhaug, 17, leads the title by 20pts over Danny Kent. Mavin is the leading Aussie in 10th.