Hopkins narrowly misses the podium in Qatar
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins battled to a superb fourth
place at today’s Qatar Grand Prix, missing out on a
place on the podium by only half a second.
Anglo-American Hopkins has been suffering all weekend with
the after-effects of a heavy crash at Qatar last month, but
he overcame the pain to equal his best-ever MotoGP result.
He got off to a good start and consolidated his sixth place
starting position in the early laps. Hopkins then moved up
the field to third place at one point – setting one
of the fastest laps of the race in the process – where
he then became involved in a race long battle with Dani Pedrosa.
Although Hopkins tried to make an overtaking manoeuvre on
the last lap, he was unable to get past Pedrosa and had to
settle for fourth.
Chris Vermeulen had an equally impressive race finishing
in seventh after starting back on the fifth row in 13th place.
He got relegated back to 16th on the first lap, but fought
his way up the field to record valuable points for himself
and the Team.
Today’s race was held in warm and sunny conditions
with track temperatures reaching 45°C. Australian Casey
Stoner took victory on his Bridgestone-shod Ducati.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now travels back to Europe for the second
round of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship at Jerez in Spain
on Sunday 25th March.
John Hopkins:
“I am really happy with the way the race went after
coming to this event in quite a bit of pain. I was never sure
how I’d ride or even if I’d ride! I got off to
a good start but lost a couple of places on the first few
laps, I soon got them back and from there on I just tried
to keep myself up towards the front. It was important not
to lose any positions, but unfortunately Rossi and Stoner
had a great pace and it was difficult to keep up with them.
I stayed with Pedrosa and pushed him all the way till the
end. I tried to get past him on the last lap but he’s
so little he gets out of the corners so quick that I just
couldn’t get past him! I’ve got to say thanks
to the Team Physio Dean Miller and my trainer Johnny Louch
for getting me fit enough to race here this weekend. It was
also great to have my Mum here and my girlfriend Ashleigh,
as they both helped me cope with the injury well. I am now
ready to go to Jerez and hope to take that step up onto the
podium!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“It was a difficult race starting so far back and I
ran wide on the first turn and lost some more places. I started
to get through the field even though it’s not easy to
pass on this track. I had a lot of work to do and was passing
people quite hard and pushing the front tyre, which might
have used the tyre up a bit too much early on, but I had to
get past! In the end I was trying to catch some quick guys
and just couldn’t get up to them. I ended up seventh
which was obviously a lot better than last year, but we still
have a lot to do. The plan is now to go to Jerez and win,
but irrespective if we can go there and improve on this position
it will be a good result.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It has been a great day’s work by the Team,
by Suzuki and by Bridgestone. John did everything –
and more – that we wanted of him and I am sure he would
have loved to have been on that podium. He had a good go on
the last lap, but it wasn’t going to happen without
a massive risk and it was good to see him show maturity and
bring the bike and himself home safely.
“Chris has had a difficult weekend but showed what
an asset he is by bringing the bike from 16th on the first
lap to a very creditable seventh. That result will give him
great confidence for the next few races and when he improves
on his qualifying positions I am sure he will be challenging
right up there.
I guess today’s result and the potential we have shown
demonstrates how far we have come since the race here last
year. It’s a solid start to this season and we are really
looking forward to getting to Jerez and carrying on with the
good work.”
Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Race Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 43’02.788: 2. Valentino Rossi
(Yamaha) +2.838: 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +8.530: 4. JOHN HOPKINS
(RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +9.071: 5. Marco Melandri (Honda) +17.433:
7. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +22.916:
Championship Classification:
1. Stoner 25: 2. Rossi 20: 3. Dani Pedrosa 16: 4. JOHN HOPKINS
(RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 13: 5. Melandri 11: 7. CHRIS VERMEULEN
(RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 9:
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