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The Althea Racing team is heading to Assen, determined to be main players once more in this weekend's racing. At this stage, Carlos Checa lies in third position in the overall standings, with 80 points. The Spaniard, after his win in Phillip Island and a second place finish in Valencia, left Spain safe in the knowledge that he is capable of competing against the best. Carlos has already stepped up to the podium twice at Assen, in 2008 (having also celebrated on the podium here while racing in MotoGP), while last year he only managed a seventh place finish.

Shane Byrne put together a noteworthy second race in Spain, performing better than the final result suggested, and this has helped to boost his morale. The Englishman lies in eleventh position overall, up until now his best result was a seventh place finish in Portimao. Shane finished last year's Assen races in eighth and eleventh place.

Before leaving for Assen, Genesio Bevilacqua, team owner, commented, "We know that Assen is a track at which the Ducati is not at too much of a disadvantage. So we hope to be able to continue to build on the positive series of results achieved over the first three rounds. I hope to see Carlos on top form once more in Holland and to see Shane fight back, something we already caught a glimpse of in Valencia."