MotoGP 2005

Kenny Roberts Jr raced his Suzuki GSV-R to 11th place in the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, after the race had to be re-started following a terrifying high-side crash for team-mate John Hopkins.

Roberts Jr and Hopkins began the initial race well and were sitting in 10th and 12th places respectively. Hopkins then lost control of his GSV-R and was catapulted out of the seat and landed heavily on the circuit. The race was stopped as both the rider and machine were removed from the track. Unfortunately, Friday pm’s injuries were compounded and more significantly the fracture to his left foot became a full dislocation of the broken bone.

The race was re-started with all riders in the position they had finished the original race. Roberts Jr began the 25-lap race – reduced from 30 – in 11th place and managed to move up to 10th on lap five. He battled hard with Makoto Tamada before finally finishing just outside the top-10.

Today’s race was held in cloudy but warm conditions and was watched by 95,364 fans, pushing the overall weekend total of spectators to a record-breaking 216,457. World Champion and runaway series leader Valentino Rossi won the race and equalled Mike Hailwood’s record of 76 Grand Prix wins.

The next round of the MotoGP World Championship will be in four weeks time at Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday 28th August.

John Hopkins:
“Well, I’m battered and bruised. I had one of the worst high-sides I’ve ever had on Friday and then came close to topping that one off this afternoon.

“It was my fault really. I’ve been taking a few painkillers that I’ve been getting from Dr Costa. I just tried to do the best I could and stick with the lead group, but unfortunately my foot was bandaged up and I just lost feeling in it. That was really dangerous because you are on the edge of the tyre so much here. With a broken foot, I just couldn’t feel it on the shifter and I tried to keep my foot clear but accidentally hit the lever on that corner, the bike shifted to second and then I was flying.

“Looks like I won’t be doing too much moto-crossing at home now. I was also planning to do some promotional events with Red Bull and Crescent during the break, but I need to be at home and recover for Brno. I went well there last year and I’m desperate to get a good result”

Kenny Roberts Jr:
“Today was about where I expected to finish in the dry. Basically that’s where we seem to be bike-wise right now. We still need help to get something a little bit more competitive inside the chassis. For me that’s just the way it is at the moment.”

Mr Masahito Imada – General Manager, Suzuki Racing Department:
“I have now seen the team in action at the last two races and I understand what we have to do to make more advances with the Suzuki GSV-R. It was very good for Kenny to get on the podium last weekend and it showed that the bike can be competitive in the right conditions.

“This weekend John looked very fast until his Friday crash and then today was brave but very unlucky.

“I will now take all the information I have from the races and study it carefully back in Japan. I will see what steps we can take to make the bike a better machine and to strive for better results whatever the weather.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We started the weekend in high spirits and with big hopes for a decent result – wet or dry. John confirmed on Friday that he was amongst the quickest riders and should have been able to build from there. But unfortunately Friday afternoon’s huge accident put paid to that. His injuries to his foot meant that the flexibility wasn’t there and caused him to knock the bike into the wrong gear in the middle of a corner. That led to a massive high-side that everybody saw, the great news is that he’ll be back Brno, and I think he is relieved to be leaving Sachsenring under his own steam.

“Kenny also turned in some decent lap-times during practice but we didn’t have the durability – as a mixture of what the bike and tyre package needed – for Kenny to be comfortable after the first third of the race.

“There is a lot to achieve during the summer break and the Factory will be working hard to continue development in the same direction. I think Bridgestone will have learnt valuable lessons this weekend, and a lot of positives from the performance of Shinya Nakano and the speed displayed during the practice sessions by all the Bridgestone racers.”

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