MotoGP news
Hopkins battles to fourth
10 March 2007Rizla 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 bestever MotoGP result.
"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!" exclaimed Hopkins. "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 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.
Chris Vermeulen commented, "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."
Team boss Paul Denning added, "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. 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."
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