Front row start for in-form Hopkins at Chinese Grand Prix
 Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins will start from the middle
of the front row for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix after
qualifying in second place.
Hopkins (1’59.315, 24 laps) continued his good form
around the 5.281km Shanghai circuit. He was the quickest rider
on race tyres during this morning’s free practice session
and for a large proportion of the qualifying session. His
fastest lap time was only bettered by Valentino Rossi.
Chris Vermeulen was unfortunately again the victim of an
incident with another rider, as he looked to make up time
on his last qualifying lap. Vermeulen (P15, 2’00.680,
20 laps) seemed destined for at least a second row start,
but he and Loris Capirossi collided and both riders went down.
Vermeulen will now have it all to do tomorrow as he starts
from the fifth row of the grid. His times on race tyres had
improved considerably today and he was seventh quickest before
other riders started to use qualifiers, so he is still confident
of a good performance tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s race is round four of the MotoGP World Championship
and the 22-lap event will take place at 15.00hrs local time
(07.00hrs GMT).
John Hopkins:
“I’m really happy with the way things have gone
today. We’ve put in a lot of work already this weekend,
to make sure we get the best set-up for the race tyres. Bridgestone
has done a great job and the Suzuki GSV-R is working exceptionally
well. We have been consistent throughout all the practices
and have been really running hard to make sure everything
is right. Now it’s time to translate that hard work
into the race. It’s still a bit up in the air with the
weather, but whatever comes we’ll be ready, and if it’s
dry I’m certain we will be running near the front!”
Chris Vermeulen:
“We had made progress all day long with the bike on
race tyres and in this afternoon’s session we went quicker
again. We made a change to the bike on the first qualifier
but it was the wrong direction so we changed it back for the
second one. That lap felt good and I was catching Loris, he
made a mistake and I went up the inside of him and he then
hit my back wheel and we both went down – that’s
the second time in two weekends someone has taken me out!
I’m obviously not very happy about that as I think I
could have been on at least the front two rows. That’s
racing though and we need to try and get a good start and
see how the race goes.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“There is no question that John and the Rizla Suzuki
deserve to be on the front row today - he’s done an
incredibly consistent job all weekend! There are eight or
so riders that are capable of going fast in the race here
and John is certainly amongst those. He has given himself
the best chance of a good start and to be able to go for it
straight away.
“Chris has made big steps today and has been running
close to the front group on race tyres. Qualifying is so important
and he had no choice but to go for it and try to achieve the
best position possible. It wasn’t a race, but it seems
that what happened with Chris and Loris is what you call a
‘racing incident’. The good news is that he was
not seriously hurt and will be fit enough to race tomorrow.”
Sinopec Great Wall Lubricants GP of China Qualifying
Practice Classification:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’58.424: 2. JOHN HOPKINS
(RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.891: 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.982:
4. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +1.092: 5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +1.178:
15. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.256:
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