KAWASAKI PAIR PREPARED FOR PORTUGAL
Round three of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship takes place
at Estoril this weekend and will see the premier class teams
gather on Sunday for a demanding, 28-lap race.
After the historic night race at Qatar, followed by the recent
battle at Jerez, the Portuguese Grand Prix should prove another
thrilling event, held at the notoriously difficult 4.182km
circuit.
Kawasaki's John Hopkins is looking forward to it. With his
fitness steadily approaching 100% after his crash at Phillip
Island in January, the Anglo-American is looking stronger
than ever and feels he can tackle Estoril with relish after
finishing a healthy seventh in Spain last month.
Furthermore, an extra day's testing at Jerez, after the race,
proved highly productive as the 24-year-old continues to perfect
adjustments to the Ninja ZX-RR to suit his fast, aggressive
riding style. With his engineers concentrating on gearing
and suspension settings to accommodate Estoril's numerous,
tough corners, heavy braking will be the order of the day
and the crew has been aiming to maximise stability to deal
with the arduous race.
Hopkins' team mate, Anthony West, looked stronger at Jerez
than he has for a while and his raised confidence, both in
himself and the ZX-RR, showed his fighting spirit is far from
on the wane. The 27-year old Australian fought hard and is
now keen to see what he can pull out of the hat at Estoril.
Last year, West's first MotoGP outing at the circuit proved
tricky. The track is notoriously hard on tyres and his traction
suffered. However, he still managed to finish 12th after qualifying
in 16th.
Estoril is one of the slowest tracks in the MotoGP calendar
but it nonetheless represents a huge challenge to the premier
class riders as it snakes its way through 13 corners, including
numerous hairpins and a very nasty chicane near its northern
parameters. Then there's the famous long, stretched-out, tyre-eating
Parabolica, which sees the bikes at maximum lean for what
must seem like an eternity before they get on the gas for
the 986m start finish straight. There, spectators can regularly
see the bikes reach speeds of up to 320kmh so there's plenty
of guaranteed entertainment value.
Built in 1972, the circuit, close to Portugal's Atlantic
coast and not far from capital city, Lisbon, hosted its first
MotoGP round in 2000 and has witnessed some of the closest
racing in the championship's history.
Last year's race was won by Valentino Rossi, who provided
edge-of-your-seat action with Spaniard, Dani Pedrosa, as the
two diced for the front. Rossi's victory was particularly
significant for Casey Stoner, whose crowning as the 2007 MotoGP
World Champion had to wait another week, until after the Japanese
Grand Prix at Motegi.
With both Kawasaki Racing Team riders so evidently raring
to go, and the ZX-RR looking even better than ever, who knows
what Sunday will bring…
John Hopkins
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #21
"I'm feeling really positive for the weekend. I like
Estoril. The tight corners require a lot of heavy braking,
which should really suit my riding style as well as suiting
the Kawasaki machine. It's good because nobody's had much
testing time there, so it's kind of an even field, and I enjoy
the atmosphere there too. I felt a lot better after Jerez
than I did after Qatar. We got a positive result and made
some good improvements to the bike so hopefully we can utilise
those in Portugal. So, I'm excited about going there and I'm
really looking forward to the race."
Anthony West
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13
"I'm feeling a bit more upbeat now. My result at Jerez,
and my feeling on the bike, were much better than at Qatar
so I'm feeling better prepared now to tackle the next race
with a bit more confidence. Also, my fitness levels are still
going up and I'm finding it much easier to go the full race
distance without backing off. I'm more consistent now and
that's reflected in my lap times. Estoril is a good track
to ride. It's got a very long straight and the rest is made
up of tighter sections; some of them really tight. It's always
going to be hard getting a MotoGP bike around there and last
year, rear grip was a problem for me. Mind you, we played
around with the ZX-RR's settings at Jerez, after the recent
Spanish GP, and made some real improvements. Overall it was
much better so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do
at the weekend."
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