Hopkins leads Bridgestone challenge in U.S GP return
10/07/2005
Bridgestone marked a spectacular return for Grand Prix racing to America with hard-fought top ten finishes for home favourite John Hopkins, Shinya Nakano and Loris Capirossi.
After an exile of 11 years, the MotoGP world championship returned to the breathtaking Laguna Seca circuit in California today, with a sell-out and sun-drenched 57,000-strong crowd cheering Hopkins home to eighth position. The Suzuki GSV-R rider, who started from the second row of the grid, was running in a challenging fifth position at the end of a frantic first lap. He continued to figure prominently in the early stages, matching the paceof reigning world champion Valentino Rossi in front of him. Roared on by a patriotic home crowd, Hopkins then found himself locked in an epic battle with Troy Bayliss, Makoto Tamada, and Nakano for much of the 32-lap battle.
Helped by the consistency of a new construction Bridgestone rear tyre that was shipped from Japan to meet the intricate demands of the Laguna Seca circuit, Hopkins managed to keep Tamada at bay until lap 27 when the Japanese rider dived under him at Turn Two. It was the first time this season that Hopkins has finished top Bridgestone runner, finishing one place ahead of Nakano’s Kawasaki ZX-RR. The Japanese rider faced a steep learning curve having never ridden the Laguna Seca circuit, made famous for the spectacular Corkscrew.
Nakano spent most of the race in pursuit of Hopkins, but despite his best efforts he couldn’t find a way past the 21-year-old Capirossi, who has been struggling with a nasty stomach virus since the opening day of practice, finished in 10th position to maintain his impressive record of scoring points in each of the opening eight rounds of the 2005 MotoGP world championship. Alex Hofmann claimed a battling 12th place finish while Kenny Roberts Junior was two places further adrift in 14th. Spaniard Carlos Checa was challenging Troy Bayliss when he crashed at Turn Two on lap nine.
John Hopkins - Suzuki Grand Prix Team - 8th position
“I’m pretty disappointed to be honest because I was really excited to be racing at home. It’s definitely not where I wanted to finish. I got passed by a few guys at the start of the race and at this track where overtaking is pretty tough, it’s so hard to make the passes back. I ended up having to stick where I was for most of the race. I tried for the longest time to get past Bayliss and it just didn’t happen. With the higher track temperatures today we had to use a harder rear tyre that we hadn’t really got on with over the weekend. I wanted to put on a good show for all the American fans and I’m sure I did as all I was doing was sliding around a lot during the race. It was good to see two American riders one and two at their home GP, but I really wish it was me.”
Sugio Fukuoka - Vice President and Officer - Bridgestone Corporation
“In our first ever-race as the MotoGP class here in America, our teams and riders performed very well. Although we cannot be fully content with the results today, the fact that our tyres performed well here is a positive note. We made several advances here and gathered precious data which will be used in our next steps of development. We now look forward to getting back to the European rounds."
Bridgestone Results:
8. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 45.38.522, 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki, 45.38,999, 10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 45.41.497, 12. AlexHoffman (GER) Kawasaki, 46.06,331, 14. Kenny Roberts (USA) Suzuki, 46.29,123. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati - DNF