Hopkins and Rizla Suzuki MotoGP fight for the podium in
Shanghai
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins scored his best ever MotoGP
finish with a superb fourth place during today’s Polini
Grand Prix of China in Shanghai.
The Anglo-American star got off to a great start from the
front row of the grid and ran in second place for over a third
of the race. He was passed by eventual winner Dani Pedrosa
and Nicky Hayden – both on Honda’s – on
lap 10 but continued with his strong pace and chased down
Colin Edwards. Hopkins tried everything to get past Edwards
but just couldn’t find the extra speed from his Rizla
Suzuki GSV-R to do so. After settling for his hard fought
position two laps from the end, he wheelied his bike across
the line in fourth place in front of his cheering crew.
Chris Vermeulen had a less happy day. Starting in 12th place
he fought hard with several riders early on but a mistake
on lap four caused the rookie Australian to crash out. He
was unhurt in the incident, but was unable to remount and
carry on racing.
The race was watched by over 32,000 excited and warm fans,
as temperatures reached 31°C. Spaniard Pedrosa won his
first-ever MotoGP race and second placed Hayden now leads
the championship by 13 points. The next Round of the 2006
MotoGP World Championship is at Le Mans in France on Sunday
21st May.
John Hopkins:
“I’m ecstatic right now! I feel really good about
the whole race. I got off the line well and worked hard all
through the race. I knew I had to be in the draft of another
bike and not to use my tyres up too early. I got behind Colin
Edwards and let him pull me along. We were passed by Nicky
and Dani, and they were running an unbelievable pace, it was
something we couldn’t keep with. From then on I stuck
on Colin’s wheel and thought I’d have a bit more
towards the end. I started to push harder in the last few
laps, but it was going beyond the limit and at the end of
the day I really wanted to finish in my best ever position
– so that’s what I did!
“I have got to give a big thanks to my whole crew,
they worked fantastically all weekend and without them I wouldn’t
be anywhere – they’re a lot of the reason why
I am here at Suzuki. The Bridgestone tyres worked awesome
today, I reckon I had a bit more edge-grip than Colin and
they were still working well at the end of the race.
“I am really happy and I just also want to say it’s
my Mum’s birthday, so Happy Birthday to her and Happy
American Mother’s Day to her as well – I hope
she was pleased with the finish!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“Obviously not the result we wanted, I didn’t
finish and I didn’t get any points – that’s
the worst thing. It was difficult all weekend with the weather
and learning a new track. The bike felt really good in the
race though and everybody seemed really even. I was behind
Randy de Puniet, he was holding me up a bit and I made a mistake
and nearly ran into the back of him and pushed a bit too hard
and lost the front – but hey that’s racing! I
hope I can learn from that mistake and don’t do it again.
Full congratulations to John and the whole team – it
was a great result for Rizla Suzuki.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“A fantastic performance from John and the whole Rizla
Suzuki team. We thought before the race that a top 10 position
would be a good result in today’s conditions, but to
see the bike run towards the front for the whole of the race
was beyond our expectations. I believe that today John came
of age as a MotoGP rider and demonstrated his true potential.
“Chris was very unlucky with his crash, he was pushing
hard to move forward and a simple mistake cost him his race.
I know he will bounce back from this and show the kind of
form he can at Le Mans next weekend.
“The GSV-R never missed a beat all weekend and the
result shows how far we have come in the last few races. Suzuki
has worked very hard to get the bike more consistent and I
think that the positions we have been in over the last three
days have shown that it is able to run well in all conditions.
We are still searching for that extra mid-range power and
I am sure that when we get the full potential out of the bike
we will be able to push for podiums.
“I must thank Bridgestone, they responded fantastically
after the last race and the tyres we have had here have been
superb – both wet and dry.
“Finally big thanks and well done once again to the
crew, they consistently give 100% effort and are the biggest
asset of the team. Today’s result is a great reward
for all their hard work and gives everybody motivation to
keep pushing.”
Polini Grand Prix of China Race Classification:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 44’07.734: 2. Nicky Hayden
(Honda) +1.505: 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +14.634: <
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