Good fifth time for Sylvain Barrier

With a beautiful sunshine on the Dutch track of Assen, Sylvain Barrier on his Yamaha R1 was fifth of the first free practice session, 1.3 seconds behind the fastest rider.
Gregg Black was not so lucky as he had two small crashes and finished 16th.

Maxime Berger was the fastest on his Honda, in front of Claudio Corti (the winner of Valencia) on his Suzuki. Sylvain Barrier was fifth overall and second of the Yamaha riders, only 3 tenths of a second behind Schouten, the fastest of the R1 riders. Barrier has 12 Yamahas behind him.

Gregg Black had a difficult session with two little crashes. Nevertheless, he tested some new technical solutions that should help him to go – no doubt – faster tomorrow.

Sylvain Barrier : “We did some tests here before this race and it was not great. So we went the other way today regarding the settings and it was a little bit better. I tried an other shock with a different set up, but by then my tyres were not new. I tried to see if I could go any faster. I am fifth but I can do better.”

Gregg Black : “This practice session was good because we progressed with the setting. My crankcase touched the ground in a curve and I had a small crash. The chain jumped from the sprocket but I could put it back. Then the chain suddenly jumped again while I was riding and I fell down again. I am 16th but I am sure I can go 1’44.”

Michel Garnier (team manager) : “Sylvain did a good job. He progressed. Everything went well. It’s not bad. Gregg crashed two times in this one free practice session and it’s stressful.”

Results of the free practice:
1   21 Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′42.765
2   71 Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′43.753
3   16 Schouten R. (NED) Yamaha YZF R1 1′43.978
4   34 Giugliano D. (ITA) MV Agusta F4 312 R 1′44.051
5   20 Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′44.089
6 112 Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′44.287 …
16 25 Black G. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′45.224 …