Vermeulen on pole

Australia's Chris Vermeulen took pole position in a wet Dutch TT qualifying session yesterday ahead of compatriot and MotoGP leader Casey Stoner. The Suzuki rider lapped the Assen circuit in one minute 48.555 seconds to beat Ducati's Stoner by just...

Australia's Chris Vermeulen took pole position in a wet Dutch TT qualifying session yesterday ahead of compatriot and MotoGP leader Casey Stoner. The Suzuki rider lapped the Assen circuit in one minute 48.555 seconds to beat Ducati's Stoner by just 0.017 seconds.

"Only 10 seconds of what I was doing was in the dry and the track was completely wet," Vermeulen said. "It was a lot grippier than Donington. It took me a lot of time to get up to speed," added the Australian, who took his first MotoGP win at a wet French Grand Prix in May.

No MotoGP rider has won from pole position so far this season.

Seven-times former world champion Valentino Rossi will start today's race from 11th position, marking the first time this year that he will not be starting from the front two rows. The Italian is 26 points adrift of Stoner, winner of five of the eight races so far.

The Assen TT circuit, the oldest in MotoGP, is the only one remaining from the championship's inaugural season in 1949, but it was shortened considerably before last year's race.

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