SURPRISES IN STORE AT SHANGHAI?
Tomorrow's Grand Prix of China will see Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR
riders, John Hopkins and Anthony West, starting from 14th
and 18th positions, respectively, after a tough qualifying
session this afternoon.
For Hopkins, the day proved especially frustrating as his
times were putting him at the front of the field but then
he suffered a lowside, at the almost 360° turn one, and
his chances of recovering a better starting position for his
100th MotoGP race were gone.
However, after showing what strong form he is on all weekend,
with consistent and impressive improvement on race tyres,
those in front of him on the grid will have to watch their
backs, as he's got a point to prove.
For West, the qualifying session also proved difficult but
his times have been getting ever better throughout the weekend
so far. Furthermore, with extremely heavy rain forecast for
Sunday, many would consider the Bridgestone-shod, wet weather
maestro a good bet for a solid result.
After a day that saw a large number of riders lowsiding and
running off, and bikes violently shaking their heads, it looks
like tomorrow's 22-lap round could prove a particularly entertaining,
and unpredictable, one.
John Hopkins
#21: 14th - 1'59.740
"We were expecting a lot better than this after three
good practice sessions here. The bike feels strong at this
circuit, we know we have a good race tyre for tomorrow if
it's dry and I'm feeling confident. But we've made our job
a lot harder by not qualifying higher up the grid. We had
two different types of qualifying tyre today, and one type
worked well, but I made a couple of mistakes on my flying
laps. The other type was virtually unusable because of the
chatter it induced. In fact it was so bad, it virtually bounced
me off the bike at the start of my last qualifying run. I'm
disappointed because I was expecting much better but we've
got a good set-up for the race. Now I just need to get my
head down and go as hard as I can from the start."
Anthony West
#13: 18th - 2'00.838
"We came into this weekend with high hopes after a successful
test at Estoril but we've ended up disappointed again. We
seem to have the same problem that's been plaguing us since
the start of the season, where the bike just seems to spin
up as soon as you touch the throttle on corner exit. John
doesn't seem to have the same issues, so we know it's not
a fundamental problem, but for now we're struggling to find
a solution. It's frustrating but we're not giving up and I'll
push as hard as I can. Rain is forecast and, while most people
will be hoping it stays dry, a wet race wouldn't be unwelcome
on my side of the pit box!"
Naoya Kaneko
Kawasaki Technical Manager
"We had some problems during qualifying, which means
that John hasn't qualified as well as we were expecting. He's
starting from further back on the grid than we would have
liked but I'm confident he will make up places from the start
of the race tomorrow, as he is happy with the performance
of the bike in race trim. We need to continue working with
Anthony during warm-up tomorrow, to see if we can improve
his feeling with the bike. Of course, if the rain forecast
for the race does actually materialise, then maybe he will
surprise a few people!"
1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 1'58.139; 2. Valentino
Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +0.355; 3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati
Marlboro Team +0.452; 4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +0.572;
5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.716; 6. Loris Capirossi
(ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.802; 7. James Toseland (GBR)
Yamaha Tech 3 +1.115; 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki
MotoGP +1.186; 9. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR +1.218;
10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +1.368; 14. John
Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.601; 18. Anthony West
(AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.699
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