Rizla Suzuki MotoGP continues to improve at Catalunya
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP racers John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen both
improved their lap times during today’s Official MotoGP
Test at Catalunya in Spain.
Hopkins (P7, 1’43.970) was again amongst the fastest
riders all day and set the third quickest time on race tyres,
before other riders started to use qualifiers later in the
day. The hard-charging Anglo-American completed 85 laps on
his all-new Rizla Suzuki GSV-R, including a simulated race
distance of 25 laps.
Vermeulen knocked a second off his best time from Friday
to record a quickest lap of 1’45.001, giving him 14th
place overall. He tested more new Bridgestone tyres and Ohlins
suspension components and was pleased with the improvements
of both. He was only able to complete 52 laps today, in order
to avoid aggravation of a recent shoulder injury.
Today’s testing was held in cloudy, windy conditions
and temperatures never rose above 18°C. The fastest time
was set by reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi. The final
day of the Official MotoGP Test is tomorrow – Sunday
5th March – when every rider will be going all out during
a timed televised 40 minute session at 14.00hrsCET to win
a BMW Z4 for the fastest overall time in the session.
John Hopkins:
“We continued improving from where we left off yesterday.
We worked really hard with Bridgestone to get the right compounds
and put a lot of distance on the tyres. We had already done
enough laps to make a race distance on one set of tyres and
then we did a full race simulation on another set, maintaining
our pace all the way through. I am still very happy with the
way the Rizla Suzuki is improving, we still have a lot to
do but it is certainly looking good at the moment. I am also
extremely happy with my fitness, because after a decent amount
of laps I was still feeling really good. It is all solid preparation
for the first race and everything is going well.”
Chris Vermeulen:
“My second day at the track felt a lot better, I was
able to go out and feel more comfortable with the circuit.
It was a lot colder this morning but the team worked really
hard and we were able to make some changes to the bike –
which seems to be in the right direction. I tried another
new tyre from Bridgestone which was another step forward and
I was able to go a second faster. If we can be another second
quicker tomorrow I’ll be up there with the fast guys
– so we’ll have to wait and see.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Another very, very productive day - in fact our best
day since the November test when we began with the new XRE4.
Chris stopped a little early today as his shoulder injury
was causing him some discomfort. Nonetheless he is getting
more and more comfortable with the bike and was able to improve
his knowledge of the circuit and of the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R
over the course of the day. His best lap-time was a full second
better than yesterday and he is moving consistently in the
right direction.
“John has given another superb performance today and
was the third quickest rider out there on race tyres. He completed
85 laps but every one of them was with full commitment. Neither
rider used a qualifying tyre today and our best laps were
generally set on the eighth to tenth lap of a run. John completed
a full race simulation at the end of the day, his best lap
of 1’44.2 being only slightly quicker than his 25th
and final lap of 1’44.6. The Rizla Suzuki GSV-R is still
only at the start of its development, but as I said yesterday
we are definitely moving in the right direction.”
MotoGP Official Test Second Day Classification:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’42.477: 2. Carlos Checa
(Yamaha) +0.665: 3. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) +0.768: 4. Colin
Edwards (Yamaha) +0.911: 5. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) +1.307:
6. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) +1.370: 7. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA
SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.493: 8. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +1.552: 9.
Makoto Tamada (Honda) +1.769: 10. Daniel Pedrosa (Honda) +1.892:
14. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.524:
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