08 Jun 2008 John Hopkins demonstrated true grit and determination today at the Grand Prix of Catalunya to bring his Ninja ZX-RR home in 10th position, despite carrying a back injury sustained in Friday’s practice. Hopkins got a steady start to the 25-lap race and pushed as hard as possible, despite being unable to move around easily on his race machine, to make up positions around the 4.727km circuit. The 25-year-old Kawasaki pilot settled into a rhythm and circulated on his own for most of the race, riding through the pain barrier, to cross the line with a very creditable top ten finish. Teammate Anthony West, who set his fastest lap of the entire weekend in the opening stages, endured a hard, race long fight with Marco Melandri to finish in a points-scoring 12th position. The Australian switched positions with Melandri throughout the race in a nail-biting battle, but despite his persistence the 26-year-old was just beaten to the flag. West was upbeat about the result and he can now look forward to racing at Donington Park, which was where he made his premier class debut aboard the Kawasaki last season. Depending on his condition, Hopkins will ride during tomorrow’s valuable post-race test to further develop his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR, whilst West will fly to Japan for a two-day test aimed at improving the power delivery of his machine.
“I’m in a lot of pain right now with my injury and that was a really hard race. I tried to pass a few people at the start, but I got boxed out and I lost some ground. I pushed as hard as I could to stay with the group ahead of me, but the pain set in and I had to really focus on settling into a rhythm. It was then a case of finding a way to ride without moving around too much on the machine to finish the race, and although tenth isn’t where I want to be, in this situation I’m pleased we managed to achieve that. We still have a lot of work to do with the bike, and hopefully we can be in a good condition for the next race in Britain.”
Anthony West: #13 - 12th Position
“I rode as hard as I possibly could today and I fought hard with Marco for the entire race. I passed him into the turns on many occasions, but his machine was a bit stronger on the straights and it just meant I had a lot of work to do each time he came by. The tyre went off a little in the last few laps, which meant I just didn’t quite have enough to re-take him before the finish. I’m happy we had a good race, but we still need to make big improvements to the set-up of the bike. I’m going to Japan for a test where I hope we can try to resolve the rear traction issues I’ve been suffering, then we’ll be back in Europe preparing for Donington Park and, hopefully, we can make another step forwards there.”
Michael Bartholemy: Kawasaki Competition Manager
“Hopefully this is a new start for us and I am happy that both riders finished the race today, as the last few rounds have been difficult. We need to concentrate on making improvements to the performance of the bike before the next race to provide the riders with the best package possible. Anthony will now spend some time testing in Japan where we have better resources to focus on improving the power delivery of his machine. John rode a hard race today with his injury and we are unsure yet if he’ll be able to complete many laps during tomorrow’s test. I hope he will be fit to ride and we can continue making steps forward, so that we can be even more competitive at Donington Park.”
From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com
Monday, June 9, 2008
INJURED HOPKINS FIGHTS FOR TOP TEN
Vermeulen fights back as Capirossi suffers cruel blow
08/06/2008
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen raced to a close seventh place finish at the Catalan Grand Prix near Barcelona today, as team-mate Loris Capirossi’s race came to an abrupt end when another rider crashed into him.
Vermeulen got a solid start from the third row of the grid, but was hit on the first lap by Alex de Angelis and relegated down to 14th place. He fought his way back through the field and was closing in on sixth place on the last lap, missing out on a top-six finish by 0.066 seconds at the chequered flag.
Capirossi made a good start from 12th and was up into eighth place by lap two, before disaster struck for the experienced Italian on the 11th lap. Capirossi was hit from behind by - also by de Angelis - causing him to crash at high speed and injure his hand in the process. He was immediately taken the trackside clinic where he was found to have a dislocated fracture of the fifth right metacarpus and a deep wound with loss of skin to his fifth right finger. He will not be able to ride in tomorrow’s test, but hopes to be back to fitness as soon as possible.
A record-breaking crowd at the Circuit de Catalunya of over 113,000 enjoyed warm sunshine and a comprehensive start to finish victory by local hero Dani Pedrosa on his factory Honda. Valentino Rossi on his Bridgestone-shod Yamaha was second and stays on top of the World Championship classification.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in Catalunya for a two-day test, when Vermeulen will be joined by Team Test Rider Nobuatsu Aoki. The team will next be in competitive action at its ‘home’ Grand Prix at Donington Park in England on Sunday 22nd June.
Chris Vermeulen:
“I made a reasonable start and had good first and second corners, but then I was hit by de Angelis and I lost few positions. I got myself back together but with everybody being so quick and close on lap-times it made it very difficult to pass. I got through the field and up to seventh, but I feel if I had had a better start I could have been in the top-five. I really want to pass on a lot of thanks to the team because they gave me a great bike for here and it was very consistent all weekend. I have to work on my qualifying and there is still a little area of the bike where we are struggling with grip and the way it uses the tyre, so hopefully in the next two days of testing we can work on that. I hope Loris is going to be alright soon, because he is a big part to our development and I wish him all the best.”
Loris Capirossi:
“It has been a really bad end to the weekend, because I felt that everything was working well on the bike and I felt good. I think I could have fought with Chris and James Toseland, but de Angelis tried a bit too hard and put me out of the race. But this is racing and sometimes things like this happen. Now I have to be careful because I have an injury and it will not be so easy for me to recover for the two races in one week. We will see, but I will certainly try to recover as quickly as I can!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“MotoGP is not an easy sport but we weren’t done any favours today! When de Angelis rammed Loris off the track in turn three the result was a fracture of his right hand. The dislocated fracture has been put back into position very skilfully by Dr. Costa, and the bone has been set in a cast. The normal recovery time for that injury is some weeks, but Loris seems keen to try and be fit for Donington in 12 days time. Whether that is realistic or not, the next few days will tell! Loris gave everything – as always – and deserved a lot better for all his efforts.
“Chris rode a very strong race after a difficult first lap that saw him a long way down the field. His recovery into the top-10 was excellent and with a better start he had the pace today to fight for fifth. Unfortunately the guys at the front had more pace than us and as we have said in recent weeks it is important to try and improve the bike’s performance over race distance.
“Clearly Loris won’t be able to test here over the next two days, so his duties will now be undertaken by Nobuatsu, and Chris’s crew and the factory will be evaluating all the possibilities of getting the GSV-R as competitive as we can possibly make it for Donington and Assen in a couple of weeks time.”
From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk
Dani Destroys Opposition To Close Title Gap
June 8, 2008
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) was in a class of his own in Barcelona winning by 2.8 seconds from Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) second and Casey Stoner (Ducati) who was third. His margin of victory, however, understates the crushing nature of this triumph on home soil.
 |  |  |
 Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team) | | Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) |
The Spanish sensation has now won here on a 125cc machine, a 250 and now in MotoGP. He’s also wrapped up wins in two of the three Spanish races this year and remains Honda’s most reliable points finisher this season – he’s never been out of the top four in seven races now.
Pedrosa scorched off the line and led the pack into turn one, Stoner behind him and the lightning-starting Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) now running third from seventh on the grid. When Stoner ran wide on lap one Dovi pounced on second place. He was in peak form and the ace rookie would eventually finish fourth.
By lap two Dani’s lead was a staggering 0.7 seconds as he headed Dovi, Stoner, Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V). Rossi lay eighth at this point but he was on the move.
Dani fired in a fastest lap on the third tour of this 4.727km Montmelo track. His 1m 42.617s time an early indicator that he was the man to beat. By the time lap four rolled around he was a full three seconds ahead of Stoner who had regained second spot. Barring error or disaster Pedrosa was unstoppable.
Rossi had moved up to fourth by lap seven of this 25-lap affair and Dovi had retaken Stoner for second at precisely the same point on track the Aussie World Champion had made the mistake on lap one. Dani was blissfully unaware of all this, now more than five seconds clear of his rivals.
Dovi was slipping slightly off the pace now on lap eight and Rossi soon overhauled him for third, taking second off Stoner that same lap. Dovi would lose touch with the duo dicing for second but his mature ride to fourth signaled he will be a podium proposition in this class very shortly.
As mid-race distance approached Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) crashed out in an incident involving Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) too. The San Marinese man looked capable of a mid top-ten finish. De Puniet’s race would be cut short on the next lap when he crashed while defending sixth spot.
The Stoner/Rossi battle was the main event with Dani disappearing over the horizon, but down the order there were several spirited disputes for the points places and with just 13 riders remaining in the race after that rash of crashes, all places were worth points.
James Toseland (Yamaha) was working on Hayden for sixth and Stoner had shot past Rossi on the main straight to retake second on the brakes into turn one. Dovi held fourth ahead of Edwards and Dani was long gone, nearly nine seconds in front of the field.
The end of this race was in sight now with five laps to go and with Dani so far ahead, Rossi and Stoner locked in combat, and fiery disputes for sixth between Toseland and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and for eighth between Hayden and Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V), round seven of this 18-race series had everything.
Dani and Dovi had every reason to be delighted with their day’s work. Nicky remains shy of his best with an eighth place and Nakano, who finished ninth, made the top ten, but not the top six as he wished. The crashers, all uninjured, will nurse wounded pride and look forward to Donington Park in two weeks time.
The World Championship points table look like this: Rossi 142 points, Pedrosa 135, Lorenzo (who did not race after a heavy fall in practice) 94 and Stoner on 92 points.
From : www.world.honda.com Labels: MotoGP 2008 0 comments •
Pedrosa wins in Catalunya
Sunday, 8th June 2008
Pedrosa rides into the distance for second home win of the year. Valentino Rossi's world championship lead reduced.
Dani Pedrosa has taken his second MotoGP victory of the 2008 season - and maintained his perfect home Spanish record - by slaughtering his rivals during Sunday's Catalan Grand Prix.
A classic Pedrosa victory saw the Repsol Honda rider snatch the lead at turn one, then set off like rocket to build a two second lead over pole sitter Casey Stoner by lap 2 of 25.
Whilst his rivals squabbled, Pedrosa simply disappeared into the distance. The 2007 MotoGP World Championship runner-up held a 6.3secs advantage by lap 9, when a slow starting Valentino Rossi - ninth on the grid and only eighth at the end of lap one - finally reached the runner-up spot, but even the Italian could do nothing about Pedrosa.
Instead, Rossi spent the remainder of the race battling furiously with fellow Bridgestone rider Stoner, whose Ducati slipstreamed back past the Fiat Yamaha star with nine laps to go.
The young Australian was still fighting off the #46 on the penultimate lap, when Rossi dived inside to retake second on the brakes, then pushed his M1 to the limit - his inside foot waving on the brakes - as he attempted to find some breathing room for the final lap.
It worked and Rossi punched his fist with delight as he took second place by half a second. But by then Pedrosa was already celebrating his sixth premier-class victory.
Dani's advantage reached a peak of 8secs - the length of the entire back straight - before relaxing his pace to win by 2.806 secs at the chequered flag. An unusually emotional Pedrosa then returned to parc ferme to the sound of 'Dani, Dani' from the huge grandstand opposite.
Pedrosa has thus cut Rossi's world championship lead from 12 to 7 points heading into round eight at Donington Park on June 22, with Stoner now 50 points from the Repsol rider - but just two from Jorge Lorenzo, who missed Sunday's race after a hard knock to the head in Friday practice.
Lorenzo's fellow rookie Andrea Dovizioso propelled himself from seventh to second at turn one, and was still battling Rossi and Stoner for a debut MotoGP podium by the halfway stage. The JiR Team Scot rider couldn't keep pace with the title contenders in the closing stages but still equalled his best yet MotoGP finish of fourth by a comfortable five seconds over Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards.
Like Edwards, team-mate James Toseland finished where he started in sixth, but the Englishman's first ever race at the Circuit de Catalunya was more eventful than it might appear. The #52 seemed to lose his rhythm after Rossi made a tight pass for sixth at turn one on the second lap, and eventually slipped back to eleventh, before climbing back up the order to finish a fraction in front of Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen.
looked to have tangled as they retired just before the half way stage, whilst Vermeulen's team-mate Loris Capirossi and San Carlo Honda Gresini rookie Alex de AngelisRandy de Puniet dropped out of sixth for LCR Honda a lap later.
Toni Elias was the fourth non-finisher, the Spaniard failed to spot that he had been served with a jump start penalty and was subsequently black flagged.
Front row qualifier Nicky Hayden was once again unable to replicate Pedrosa's form on the factory RC212V and faded back to eighth position, with Shinya Nakano and a sore John Hopkins completing the top ten.
Retirements ahead helped Ducati's Marco Melandri - who made a great start - and Kawasaki's Anthony West secure eleventh and twelfth, but only Alice's Sylvain Guintoli finished behind the troubled factory duo.
From : www.crash.net
Race results Catalunya
1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 2.175 secs
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 43min 4.981 secs
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 43min 5.518 secs
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 43min 13.068 secs
5. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 43min 18.601 secs
6. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 43min 23.657 secs
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 23.723 secs
8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 24.455 secs
9. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 43min 24.550 secs
10. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 49.100 secs
11. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 0.166 secs
12. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 44min 1.343 secs
13. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 44min 2.954 secs
Sunday, June 8, 2008
HOPKINS BATTLES BRAVELY ON AT CATALUNYA
07 Jun 2008 Kawasaki’s John Hopkins bravely qualified in 14th position for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Catalunya, after riding with an injured back sustained in a turn two highside during Friday’s practice. Hopkins was determined to make up for the loss of valuable track time to set up his Ninja ZX-RR around the Catalunya circuit, after crashing heavily seven laps into yesterday afternoon’s practice. The battered and bruised Anglo-American rode through the pain barrier during today’s sessions, busying himself with finding a good race pace, whilst suffering with severe discomfort from the painful back injury. The 25-year-old used this morning’s practice to identify the best tyre combination for the race and although he was hoping for a better grid position during qualifying, Hopkins remains determined to put the recent setbacks he has encountered behind him. The Kawasaki pilot will work together with his crew overnight to make further improvements to the set-up of his machine, and he will receive further treatment on his injury in preparation for tomorrow’s 25-lap race. Teammate Anthony West had a difficult qualifying session around the 4.727km circuit, finishing in 17th position on the grid. The 26-year-old Australian’s second qualifying run came to a premature end when an electrical problem brought his Ninja ZX-RR to a halt on the back part of the circuit. West rushed back to the Kawasaki pit box, with the aim of completing his final two qualifying runs aboard his spare machine, but the session was brought to a close before he was able to exit pit lane.
“It’s been difficult to ride today because I’ve never had a back injury before and I’m in quite a lot of pain. I’m finding it hard to breathe properly in places, particularly on left-hand turns, and when riding at this level with the strains put on the body at the speeds we’re traveling, it’s tough going. However, we have a good race pace despite the lost track time and we have to stay focused. Overnight we’re going to look at some areas to improve the set-up as we’re suffering with some lack of grip, particularly at the apex of the turns, and I think with a few adjustments we can improve our lap time. I’d have liked to have qualified a bit higher up the grid, but tomorrow I’m going to go out and give it my all.”
Anthony West: #13 - 17th - 1'44.558
“We made some improvements to the front-end of the machine yesterday, so practice today was all about finding a better set-up in the rear. We made a few changes but unfortunately it didn’t really bring the results we were hoping for, and I’m still suffering with grip troubles. During my second qualifying run we encountered a problem with the machine, and we ran out of time to go back out on track, which was also very frustrating. Tomorrow we have to make the best of what we have and try to get a good result in the race.”
Fiorenzo Fanali: Hopkins’ Crew Chief
“We lost a little bit of time yesterday due to John’s crash in practice, so today we focused on the sections of the circuit where he was suffering with a lack of rear grip. We made some improvements to this before running through several tyre combinations to finalise a choice for the race. We have some areas where we know we can make improvements in set-up for tomorrow, particularly to help John drive out of the turns. We have a good race pace and although we didn’t qualify where we would have liked on the grid, I am confident that the package will be strong. John is carrying an injury and he is obviously in a lot of discomfort but he always tries incredibly hard and gives us his maximum, so we can only be very thankful to him for that.”
From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com
