QUALIFYING CRASH RULES HOPKINS OUT OF ASSEN RACE
Kawasaki's John Hopkins has been ruled out of tomorrow's
Dutch TT at Assen, after sustaining a fractured left ankle
and suspected compression injuries to his left knee in a high-speed
crash during this afternoon's qualifying session.
The 25-year-old Anglo-American lost the front of his Ninja
ZX-RR under braking for the left-hander at turn 12, one of
the fastest corners on the Assen circuit, in the closing minutes
of the timed session. Hopkins managed to separate himself
from his sliding Ninja ZX-RR, but sustained the injuries to
his left leg when he collided with the tyre wall on the outside
of the corner.
The initial assessment in the Clinica Mobile was that Hopkins
would be out of action for at least 20 days, but the Kawasaki
pilot will return to Los Angeles tomorrow for a further medical
examination by Doctor Art Ting. Only once full extent of his
injuries is known will a decision be made as to whether Hopkins
will return to action at the next race in Sachsenring, which
takes place in just two weeks time.
Teammate Anthony West, who has struggled to recapture the
form he found last time out at Donington Park, has suffered
with cornering troubles around the technical 4.555km Circuit
van Drenthe. The 26-year old had looked strong throughout
the wet practice this morning, but with the clouds clearing
for the afternoon, the dry conditions brought no joy to the
Australian racer.
Despite overcoming some of the traction problems that hampered
him in the opening part of the season with a new base setting,
a frustrated West has found it difficult to turn his Ninja
ZX-RR at high speeds, leaving him on the sixth row of the
grid in 16th position.
As the sole Kawasaki starter for tomorrow’s Grand Prix,
West will be fighting to repeat the top ten finish he achieved
last weekend at Donington Park.
Anthony West
“This morning was wet and we found a good pace but it’s
a completely different situation in the dry. We’ve not
had many problems with the spinning that we have had in the
past, which is one forward step, however, with the extra grip
from the rear, I just can’t get the bike to turn. At
Donington we could get away with this, but the Assen circuit
is one where the corners flow together, and it’s vitally
important to be accurate with the correct lines to set up
each corner. The problem I’ve got means that it just
isn’t possible, I can’t get on the gas because
the bike just runs wide and it messes up an entire lap, which
is really frustrating. I feel like I’m battling to get
around here and the problem was exaggerated with a qualifying
tyre because it has so much more grip. On a positive note
we do have a lot more usable traction on a race tyre, so if
we can find a compromise to have a more balanced set-up, then
I am certain we can be in contention and I’ll be looking
to achieve a good result tomorrow.”
Michael Bartholemy
Kawasaki Competition Manager
“In practice everything seemed to be quite positive
and I felt confident that we would be able to achieve a good
result here. However, things have not gone to plan today.
Anthony has been struggling and John’s crash may affect
the next two races, which is a real disappointment. The injuries
to his ankle were not caused by the fall itself, but the collision
with the unprotected wall on the outside of turn 12. John
will now return to America for treatment and we’ll make
a decision on Sachsenring once we know the extent of his injuries.
Anthony is normally fast at this circuit, but he has encountered
some new problems here and we will be working hard to help
him find the rhythm he had last time out at Donington Park.”
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'35.520; 2. Dani
Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.032; 3. Valentino Rossi
(ITA) Fiat Yamaha +0.139; 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda
Team +0.455; 5. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP +0.465;
6. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.758; 7. Jorge Lorenzo
(SPA) Fiat Yamaha +1.012; 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki
MotoGP +1.248; 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini
+1.284; 10. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Teamw +1.303; 15.
John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.123; 16. Anthony
West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.273
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