TOP-10 FOR ROBERTS JR AND TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP AT A SWELTERING SACHSENRING
29 July 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team SUZUKI MotoGP racer Kenny Roberts Jr powered his Suzuki GSV-R to a top-10 position during today’s free practice for the Alice Motorrad G.P. Deutschland.

Roberts Jr (1’24.382, 47 laps) was consistently in the higher places throughout both of the hour-long sessions and finished only 0.574 seconds behind the quickest time set by Alex Barros.

Team-mate John Hopkins had a day of mixed fortunes. In the morning session he temporarily topped the time-sheet before finishing sixth quickest, whilst this afternoon a heavy crash – on what looked like being his fastest lap of the day – cut short his involvement and left him 12th overall.

Hopkins (1’24.400, 48 laps) managed to get back to the pit-box but was unable to continue riding. He has gone straight to the medical centre to have any potential injuries assessed.

Today’s practice was held in heat-wave conditions with air temperatures reaching in excess of 30 degrees and the track surface a tyre-baking 43 degrees. The scorching weather may not last long though as thunderstorms are forecast for tomorrow’s final practice session and qualifying. Round 10 of the MotoGP World Championship will get underway on Sunday at the earlier time of 12.30CET.

Kenny Roberts Jr:

“We are basically working through our normal routine. Nothing different to any other Friday, I guess. Bridgestone has a new tyre here that has a little bit less cornering grip but a bit more acceleration grip, and I feel that it is better for me - so we used that most of the day.

“There was no point in going for one single lap time at the end as basically that isn’t going to matter. They say the weather is changing and it looks like it’s going to be raining. Let’s wait and see!”

Stuart Shenton – John Hopkins’ Crew Chief:

“We worked very hard this afternoon trying to find a race tyre. We were on the third tyre of the day when unfortunately John went down quite hard going down the hill. We hope he is going to be alright and we’ll have to see what he’s like when he gets back from the doctor’s”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Sachsenring today couldn’t have been a bigger contrast to Donington last week and it’s very pleasing to see that in absolutely opposite conditions the GSV-R’ s increasing competitiveness is continuing to show.

“Both the guys were running in the front group for most of the day and despite doing long mileages on tyres, they still put in competitive lap-times. Bridgestone has again brought a huge number of rear options – most of which are brand new – which creates its own confusion, but hopefully creates opportunity as development moves forward.

“Kenny has mentioned that the improvement to the engine delivered at Donington has made the GSV-R significantly better to ride. We still need more – that is clear – but the direction is right. Kenny rode hard all day, finishing only 0.5 seconds off the fastest time and recorded his most competitive Friday so far this season. Let’s hope that form continues into qualifying and the race.

“The biggest concern for tomorrow is John’s condition. He suffered a fourth gear high-side towards the end of FP2. He seemed fairly unfazed by it, but chipped teeth and potential injuries to hand, foot and ribs are of course a concern. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that he is fit enough to race and race hard. I believe that if it’s physically possible to ride the bike, John will be on it tomorrow.”

Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Free Practice Classification:

1. Alex Barros (Honda) 1’23.808: 2. Sete Gibernau (Honda) +0.107: 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +0.187: 4. Carlos Checa (Ducati) +0.246: 5. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) +0.305: 6. Makoto Tamada (Honda) +0.332: 7. Max Biaggi (Honda) +0.440: 8. Troy Bayliss (Honda) +0.450: 9. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.512: 10.KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.574: 12. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.592:

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