PROMISING START FOR HOPKINS AT ISTANBUL
21 October 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team SUZUKI MotoGP racer John Hopkins set the third fastest time this morning during the first ever practice session for a MotoGP race held at the Istanbul Park Circuit.

Hopkins (P9 overall, 1’55.292) quickly got to terms with the spectacular and technically demanding Turkish track and was on top of the leader-board for a large part of the extended session. He lapped consistently fast throughout the hour and a half that was allocated to the MotoGP riders to enable them to get more accustomed the 5.3km track. The quick-learning Anglo-American finished only 0.6 seconds behind the fastest time of the morning set by Marco Melandri. Hopkins was suffering with cold-like symptoms throughout the day and these physical problems were the cause of his inability to improve on his time during the afternoon session. He immediately left after the session to visit Dr Costa for treatment to his illness and is hoping improved fitness for tomorrow.

Team SUZUKI MotoGP has only one rider in Turkey due to Kenny Roberts Jr being sidelined through injury. The 2000 World Champion had hoped to be fit for the next round at Valencia but further tests on his injury have also revealed a broken finger to add to the fracture on his wrist. His place at the final round of the season will now be taken by Team SUZUKI MotoGP test rider Nobuatsu Aoki.

Tomorrow will see another extended practice session in the morning and then the cut-and-thrust of qualifying in the afternoon as Hopkins will be going all out to secure the best starting position for Sunday’s Grand Prix Of Turkey.

John Hopkins:

“As far as the track goes it’s amazing. The layout is fantastic, it’s fun and I really enjoy myself around here. Unfortunately I feel really lousy at the moment with some sort of cold symptoms. It’s like an overnight flu but we’re doing everything we can and hope that I will be able to fulfil my full potential around here this weekend because I really like it. I am able to do some consistently good lap times but we still have a few bits and bobs to sort out. I’m sure everything will be alright and we’re going to do everything we can to myself and to the bike to make that happen. I’m looking forward to the race on Sunday.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Everyone at Suzuki is impressed with the facility here at Istanbul and the racetrack itself is the kind of place that makes you wish you were riding yourself! The track has everything, incredibly quick corners, a stadium type section and lots of undulations - certainly a rider’s track!

This morning John was very strong on the GSV-R, we ran lots of quick laps and were very competitive over the course of the session. This afternoon – unlike all of our competitors – we didn’t improve, probably largely as a result of John’s cold symptoms. This afternoon he looked like he should have been tucked up in bed rather than out on a MotoGP bike. This afternoon though we did get a lot more data – some good some bad – and if we can tidy up the bike and John’s illness there is no reason why we can’t be more competitive in tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.”

Grand Prix Of Turkey Combined Free Practice Classification

1. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1’53.506: 2. Sete Gibernau (Honda) +0.439: 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +1.268: 4. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) +1.509: 5. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +1.572: 6. Carlos Checa (Ducati) +1.665: 7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +1.665: 8. Toni Elias (Yamaha) +1.702: 9. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.786: 10. Max Biaggi (Honda) +1.972:

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