Had Team Suzuki Alstare rider Michel Fabrizio not started off the fourth row of the grid after experiencing some issues in Superpole qualifying, the increasingly consistent star felt he could have been in with a chance of even a win at last weekend's Assen race.

As it stands Fabrizio left Assen with a fifth and then a seventh place, losing a couple of places due to his choice of tyres for race two. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) finally passed Fabrizio in race one and a battling seventh in race two means Michel is eighth in the championship.

Said Fabrizio after his latest weekend of racing, "It would've been so much better if I had not have had the problem in Superpole yesterday. I am convinced that if I had been on the first or second row of the grid today, I would've got on the podium for sure - and maybe have even won a race! Generally I am quite pleased with our performance especially considering that I had to start from the fourth row of the grid. I didn't make a good start in the first race, but managed to get into fourth by lap twelve. It had taken some time to get past some of the riders, but I was fairly comfortable in fourth until a few laps from the end. My front tyre was already moving about a lot by the time Melandri came past and although I tried to catch him again, the tyre wasn't up to it, so I had to be satisfied with fifth instead."