Globe Hopper: Hello from Holland.

In her latest report on Crash.net, Desiree Crossman reports from today's final qualifying session for the Dutch TT, at Assen...

"Hi from the Netherlands!

"It's a bit cold here at the moment, the weather has been a bit dodgy! I arrived yesterday with John's cousins from London and it wasn't a pleasant trip over. The past few days the weather has been quite testy, with extremely strong winds, cold temperatures, and rain.

"We went to Heathrow airport yesterday to fly over and as soon as we boarded the plane, the captain got on the intercom to tell us that we wouldn't be leaving for another hour and half 'cause of strong winds in Amsterdam. So, that was quite refreshing to sit on the plane and wait until there was an opening to leave.

"Once we did, it was a long turbulent 50 minute flight from London to Amsterdam. Extremely high winds we were fighting, and if and when you look through the window, you could see the strong currents in the ocean. But we landed with caution, and it wasn't so bad. Then, we got the hire car and off we were to Assen, a two hour drive.

"Last night was the England vs. Portugal match, so we were into it - watching and cheering England on. It was a good game and neither team was going to go without a fight. In the end, the host team, Portugal, beat England and you could see the devastation on the fans' faces. Oh well, there is always next year.

"While we were watching the game, the winds were strong and the rain was coming down, lovely weather for a race weekend. All around the paddock there are loads of fans camping out so I would consider them die hards for putting up with the rough weather.

"Today was alright. It rained a bit in the morning session and there were a few tumbles and run offs, the usual rain activity. In the second session though it was good. The rain managed to hold off and the track stayed ever so dry for the boys to go out and improve their times, which they did.

"John and Kenny both qualified in the top ten so Suzuki isn't doing too bad, nice to see some high spirits in the garage. Again, loads of fans all around the track and with it being so flat, you can see the action around it.

"The paddock though seems a bit quiet, nothing as crazy as Catalunya, people everywhere at that race. I think they were letting all sorts of people go anywhere and everywhere there...

"Today calls for some sunny spells so we're all keeping our fingers crossed 'cause I can only handle so much of the strong winds and heavy rains. But as they say, there has never been a weekend here at Assen where rain hasn't came down, I guess it's typical Dutch weather.

"Until tomorrow, bye for now."

Desiree