| Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers Chris
Vermeulen and John Hopkins, plus Team Test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi
all scored points in today’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Vermeulen and Hopkins finished in 11th
and 12th places respectively with Akiyoshi – making his Grand Prix
debut – just behind them. Vermeulen was racing at Motegi for the
first time and gave a solid performance on his Suzuki GSV-R,
Akiyoshi was also particularly impressive in his first ever MotoGP
race and beat seasoned racers to score a fine 13th place.
Hopkins’ result could have been
even better but for the fact that he was knocked into the gravel by
another rider as he was trying to charge through the field. He
re-joined the race in last position but made a spirited comeback to
make up eight places by the end. Hopkins keeps up his consistent run
of points scoring, which now stretches to 12 races and is only
bettered by World Championship leader Nicky Hayden.
Today’s race was held in brilliant
sunshine and watched by over 63,000 enthusiastic fans, who were
treated to a home victory for Bridgestone, as Loris Capirossi on his
works Ducati raced to victory.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now return
to Europe for the penultimate round of the 2006 MotoGP season, to be
held at Estoril in Portugal, where both Hopkins and Vermeulen will
be planning to score valuable points in their quests for top 10
Championship positions.
Chris Vermeulen:
“It was difficult starting from 15th with a lot of very fast guys in
front of you. It made the first lap very hard, but we did get a
reasonable start and got into a bit of a race with a few guys.
Unfortunately the front guys were too fast for us this weekend. Our
race pace was not what we wanted it to be and I think we have got
some work to do when we get to Estoril to get back up there
challenging!”
John Hopkins:
“I had a horrible beginning to the race. I just went out and tried
to hard, I was out-breaking myself at nearly every corner. Then I
was mixing it up with Dani Pedrosa and he out-braked himself on a
right-hander and clipped my front wheel and I went off the track.
From there it was a case of seeing what I could salvage and I was
able to make up quite a few places. I had a bit of a tussle with
Chris on the last lap but I just couldn’t get past him. Not really
happy at all and I plan on working harder and finishing off the
final two races very strong!”
Kousuke Akiyoshi:
“I have had a very good weekend here at the Japanese Grand Prix and
to get points from my first race is very special. I would like to
thank Suzuki and Bridgestone for this chance and supporting me all
weekend. I hope I can race in another Grand Prix and do even better
next time.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Although we scored some valuable points this was not what we had
hoped for in Japan, especially as the Bridgestone tyres work so well
here and the pace John had shown all weekend – with the exception of
the last part of yesterday’s qualifying – had been very promising.
John’s particularly disappointed as he knows what might have been,
and but for the fact that he was punted off by another rider, his
race pace showed that he was capable of a much higher finish. Every
credit must go to him for battling back through the field and
getting well into the points.
“Chris and Akiyoshi san will have both learnt a lot from their first
Grand Prix races at the Motegi circuit and it was very pleasing to
see them both battling with each other and more experienced riders
throughout the majority of the race.
“We now have to re-group before we go to Portugal and take forward
all that we have been through during this tough and sometimes
disappointing three week tour. We know we have the potential to do a
lot better and we will certainly be pushing as hard as we can in the
final two races of the season!” |
