MotoGP 2005

Team SUZUKI MotoGP Racers Kenny Roberts Jr and John Hopkins fought a race long battle with four other riders at today’s Gauloises Grand Prix Ceske Republiky.

Roberts Jr and Hopkins were involved in the tussle with the Hondas of Troy Bayliss and Makoto Tamada as well as Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann on the Bridgestone-shod Kawasakis. All six riders traded places in their quest for a top-10 finish throughout the race. The Suzuki pair of Roberts Jr and Hopkins finally finished the race in 11th and 13th places respectively.

Roberts Jr had made an improvement in his health from the illness that caused him to miss most of yesterday’s qualifying session. He was able to take to the track for this morning’s warm-up and although he only managed seven laps he recorded the second quickest time.

Team SUZUKI MotoGP Test Rider Nobuatsu Aoki narrowly missed out on the points, with a 16th place finish. The likeable Japanese racer was appearing in his first MotoGP of the season and acquitted himself well in front of 78,818 fans. He will now stay on at Brno for two further days of testing. Today’s race was held in dry but overcast conditions and was won by World Champion and run-away series leader Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha.

Team SUZUKI MotoGP now has two test days at the Czech circuit on Monday and Tuesday before it heads off to its home Grand Prix at Motegi in Japan on Sunday 18th September.

Kenny Roberts Jr: “It was a difficult race. I think everybody's lap times were consistent from the front to where we were at, so it was difficult to make ground up. Basically everything on the bike stayed pretty consistent and we had a tight battle where we were. I tried to get past Bayliss and Tamada at the end. I was hoping they would make a mistake with each other to help me get past. I tried to out accelerate them all the time but it just wasn’t working. Basically it was a decent race, I still don’t have a lot of energy so I don’t know what the matter is. Hopefully it’s flu or something and I can get over it in the next couple of days.”

John Hopkins: “Not satisfied at all. That’s the best way to state it. We’ve been pushing all weekend and unfortunately we are still suffering with a lack of acceleration and we are having to ride it on the edge. I couldn’t get away from the pack I was in and then later on I dropped down to 13th which is where I finished. It’s good to finish a race after what happened during the weekend in Germany, but I’m very disappointed because I like this track a lot. Unfortunately we didn’t get anywhere near where we wanted to be. It means we’ve got to work harder, not just me but Suzuki and Bridgestone and be strong at Motegi. I think if I can get through turn one there – unlike the last two years - I can have a hell of a race!”

Nobuatsu Aoki: “I had a pretty lonely race. Immediately after the start I had a small problem which made the top-end low. I thought I might have to pull-in or whatever, but I tried to manage it and then the engine became a little bit better. I really appreciate what my guys have done, they prepared a good chassis setting. I pushed harder from the middle of the race and I could make a closer gap to Kenny and John’s group. I thought I could catch them up but my back tyre was worn so I couldn’t. I was a little bit disappointed but I have enjoyed the weekend very much and will maybe see you all in Valencia at the last race.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “All things considered we’ve got to be very pleased with Kenny’s performance, one of his most competitive dry races of the season so far. He only completed five laps in yesterday’s qualification session and a short run in warm-up this morning. Without his illness and a better qualifying position there may well have been the opportunity to run a few places further up the field.

“John’s race was - in terms of a result – less than he expected and probably less than we expected. He battled hard for the whole race but seemed to use up his rear tyre a little bit quicker than Kenny and didn’t have so much left to fight with at the end.

“We are staying on for some testing over the next couple of days and maybe we will be able to find a direction within the setting parts that we have here to take a step forward.

“Nobu did a great consistent job, just outside the points on his return to MotoGP racing. As ever he is a great personality to have around the team and I’m sure he will continue his never-ending hard work over the next two days. By the end of Tuesday I’m think he will be sick of the sight of the Brno race circuit, having turned in so many laps!

“We move onto Motegi next, we have some new engine parts in the same direction of development that has been happening in the last few races. We hope that those along with the good match between the Bridgestone new generation tyres and the Japanese circuit will help us get some better results. This weekend has confirmed that the direction we are taking in terms of engine development is correct, but we need a lot, lot more to be truly competitive and that’s where everyone’s intentions are lying at the moment.”

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