High five for Hopkins in Italy
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins powered his way through the
MotoGP field during today’s Italian Grand Prix at Mugello
to finish in a fantastic fifth place.
Hopkins started from ninth position on the grid and started
his fight right from the beginning of the 23-lap race. By
lap eight he had moved up into fourth place and was challenging
for a podium. The Anglo-American was unable to match the top
speed of the Ducatis of Casey Stoner and Alex Barros along
Mugello’s front straight, and although he battled to
the end he had to settle for a hard-earned fifth position.
Chris Vermeulen began the race from the front row and got
off to a good start, before his inexperience at the Italian
circuit caused him to drop back. He found his rhythm in the
middle of the race as he got involved in tussle with World
Champion Nicky Hayden. Vermeulen finally got the better of
Hayden later on and finished strongly as he also passed Marco
Melandri in the closing stages to finish eighth.
Today’s race was held in dry conditions with sporadic
warm sunshine bathing over 80,000 frenzied Italian fans at
trackside. They were treated to a sixth consecutive home GP
victory by Valentino Rossi – the first rider ever to
complete this feat at their home track.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP stays in third place in the team’s
championship and will be looking to consolidate that position
as it moves on to Barcelona in Spain for round seven of the
MotoGP World Championship next weekend.
John Hopkins:
“It was a busy race, but an enjoyable one to say the
least! We would have liked to have kept the podium streak
going for Rizla Suzuki, but it was not to be today. It was
really hard going at the start and I got involved in a bit
of a dogfight with Valentino, which was really enjoyable –
it was close racing but fun! The group then sort of bunched
up a bit and then suddenly Rossi, Pedrosa and Stoner started
to make a break and I knew I had to stay with them. I busted
my butt to keep up there and the Bridgestone tyres performed
great. I think we chose the right tyres today considering
the amount of dry track time we had in practice. The bike
was awesome out there, especially on the brakes – the
amount of stability it has under braking is amazing! The mechanics
did a fantastic job this weekend considering the conditions
they had to work in, so a big thanks to them. We are now ready
to go to Catalunya – a track I really like – and
see what we can do there!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“It was nice to start from the front row as it gave
me a good opportunity. I got a decent start and followed Stoner
early on, but I just couldn’t hang in there with the
top group. I got passed by a couple of guys and to be truthful
I was a bit inexperienced with the circuit. I went down the
field and my times dropped off quicker than everyone else,
although at the end they were quite similar. We got some good
points and eighth is pretty good from a track that we knew
was going to be hard work. Hopefully now we can go to some
circuits that are a bit more familiar to us and get back up
there challenging!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The field got a bit spread out in the final third
of the race, but there is no doubt that the first two-thirds
made up for that – with both Rizla Suzukis in the thick
of the action. From ninth on the grid John did everything
that we expect of him these days and went bar-to-bar with
the best riders in the world to force his way into a podium
challenge. Fifth is not his best result of the season, but
having used up his tyres early with his aggressive charge
to the front it was a fantastic ride!
“Chris is still a relative newcomer to Mugello and
couldn’t quite hang with the pace early on. He certainly
learnt a lot out there and got into a good rhythm, he managed
to tough it out in the last few laps to pass Hayden and Melandri.
These are big names on factory bikes, and although eighth
is not where Chris wants to be he can take a lot from this
race as we head to Barcelona.”
Gran Premio D’Italia Alice Race Classification:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 42’42.385: 2. Dani Pedrosa
(Honda) +3.074: 3. Alex Barros (Ducati) +5.956: 4. Casey Stoner
(Ducati) + 6.012: 5. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +13.244:
8. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +22.810:
World Championship Classification:
1. Stoner 115: 2. Rossi 106: 3. Pedrosa 82: 4. Marco Melandri
(Honda) 68: 5 CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 63: 6.
JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 59:
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