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The Indianapolis round of the 250cc series has been cancelled due to the poor weather conditions at the American track.

The race had already been postponed three hours from its originally scheduled start as a downpour had hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the 250cc runners lined up on the grid.

The officials had hoped to run the 250cc race after the MotoGP event, but when that had to be red-flagged eight laps from the end due to the worsening wind and rain, the decision was taken to abandon the 250cc round as well.

Championship leader Marco Simoncelli had qualified on pole before the race was cancelled.

Nakano and Aoyama anticipate challenges on familiar ground

Dovizioso pinpoints start as crucial to Assen prospects
JiR Team Scot rider qualifies eleventh on the grid after front end problems in Assen.

Andrea Dovizioso is targeting a top five spot in the Netherlands after qualifying on the fourth row, although he has identified a good start as the key to his chances.

Andrea Dovizioso - Eleventh

`Tomorrow I think I can battle for the fourth or fifth position. Although I will have to make a good start, not make any errors and get to the first corner in a good position, because in the first part of the circuit it´s difficult to overtake! Many other riders are able to run a race-pace near to mine, and I believe that I can still improve a few things during the warm-up session tomorrow. A consistent lap time of around 1m 37.5s is what I'm aiming for, and with this in mind I think we can be in the top five. It seems that I cannot improve my performance on the qualifying tyres, because I do not have the confidence with the front tyre that I need and also a little vibration also disturbed my pace. We still have to do some development on the setting of the suspension before the race, to get it to work a little better during the fast corners on the track, where you really need to have good support from the front tyre.

Lying second in the Cup standings, JD Beach did better his time but the sixteen year old American was still frustrated to be in 7th place, less than 1.2 seconds off pole. `It just isn´t really coming to me like it did earlier in the season. Then at the end I was on a pretty good lap and the engine cut out. Tomorrow I´ve just got to get away with the guys at the start and make a race of it.´

Beach was bettered in lap time by Donington winner Miguel Oliveira who took 6th with a time less than a second slower than Fagerhaug's pole time from Thursday. `I enjoyed that,´ said the thirteen year old Portuguese. `It's a difficult track and I think that 6th is not bad for the first time here. I want to get away with the leaders and race with them. Then in the last few laps I will do everything I can.´

Cup leader Salom was typically smiling, yet saying he was unhappy to be second. `I´m not on pole, so I shouldn´t be happy. On my fast lap a couple of guys got in the way. The race is tomorrow though and I feel good about that,´ said the 16 year old Spaniard who leads Beach by 9 points with 6 of the 10 races already run.

Salom won last year´s race at Assen after a six man battle for the lead that lasted almost the entire difference and this time it is likely to be a similar event. Pole man Fagerhaug is looking for his 1st victory. `I didn´t improve my lap time in that session because early on everyone seemed to want to follow me as they did yesterday. Then towards the end I did some pretty good laps even though the tyre was well worn so I´m pretty happy,´ concluded the 16 year old Norwegian.

Randy de Puniet in action in Assen (MotoGP)

Kemenangan Casey Stoner dan kegagalan pembalap Yamaha Valentino Rossi di Sirkuit Assen Belanda, diyakini Ducati sebagai awal kebangkitan pabrikan motor asal Italia itu.