TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP FINDING ITS FEET AT NEW-LOOK ASSEN
23 June 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team SUZUKI MotoGP has had a challenging first practice day for the Gauloises TT Assen in The Netherlands today.

Both Kenny Roberts Jr and John Hopkins had technical difficulties as they tried to come to terms with the new layout of the famous Dutch circuit.

Roberts Jr (P16, 2''03.609) was very frustrated at the end of this afternoon''s session. He said: ''I don''t know where I ended up but it can''t be good. I had problems with both of my bikes during the session and never got a chance to get anything sorted. I just hope the crew can find out what''s wrong and get it fixed for tomorrow - as we now have a lot of work to do.''

Today''s practice session was held glorious sunshine with air temperatures reaching 34 degrees centigrade and a track surface of 48. The fastest time was set by Loris Capirossi on a Bridgestone-shod Ducati.

Hopkins (P11, 2''02.289) was only 1.532 seconds behind today''s quickest lap and he believed he could have posted a better time if he had got a clear run. ''Every time I was on a fast lap I seemed to catch up with another rider who was right in the middle of the track and I had to go out of my way to get round them.

''We are still struggling in some sections of the circuit and in others we''re doing really well. It''s basically the fast sections we''re struggling in - and that''s where you lose most of your time - but in the tighter stuff we''re looking pretty good. Once we can sort out the faster transitions - like the quicker chicanes - then I think we should be in a lot better position.''

Team Manager Paul Denning was not happy with the day''s practice. ''Today has possibly been our most unproductive day so far this season. We''ve suffered both technical faults and set-up problems and between those two it''s stopped either of the guys getting into a good rhythm. Bridgestone have made progress all year, but we have some concerns again here regarding how long the tyres can maintain their edge-grip - which is so important to the GSV-R''s performance.

''I went to see the rock-band REM last weekend and they opened with a song called `Bad Day'' - that pretty much sums it up, but we''re hoping for better tomorrow.''

Team SUZUKI MotoGP has one further practice session tomorrow morning with qualifying in the afternoon. The Team will then unveil its new `LAGUNA SECA RED BULL SUZUKI'' at 18.30CET on Friday evening. The race gets underway at 14.00hrs CET on Saturday 25th June.

Gauloises TT Assen Free Practice Classification

1. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2''00.757: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.083: 3. Sete Gibernau (Honda) +0.280: 4. Alex Barros (Honda) +0.296: 5. Marco Melandri (Honda) +0.485: 6. Nicky Hayden +0.733: 7. Carlos Checa (Ducati) +0.767: 8. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.831: 9. Max Biaggi (Honda) +1.272: 10. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) +1.523: 11. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.532: 16. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.852:

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