GixerGaz
25-01-2007, 14:42
http://www.gixerjunkies.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7033&stc=1&d=1169732534http://www.gixerjunkies.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7034&stc=1&d=1169732534
Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins completed a dream first test of 2007 with an 800cc race simulation seven seconds inside his old 990cc race time - and delivered a scorching qualifying lap.
That seven-second race reduction would have advanced Hopkins from sixth to third in last September's Malaysian Grand Prix, while his qualifying tyre best - of 2mins 1.026secs - was beaten only by Valentino Rossi, who denied Hopkins a perfect three-day reign at the top of the Sepang timesheets by just 0.09secs.
Nevertheless, that demotion couldn't dampen spirits at Suzuki - winless throughout the 990cc era - as the latest version of its GSV-R800 finally looked every inch a match for its factory rivals.
"I'm really happy with the way the week has gone," smiled Hopkins, who took his first MotoGP pole in 2006. "We've got a new bike here so at first we needed to get it set-up - which we did on the first day to the way I liked it - and from then it's only been simple little changes. We have tested a lot of tyres for Bridgestone and everything has been going really well.
"[On Wednesday] I tried some qualifiers as I'd never used them on the 800 before and it was good to see how they worked. Then I did a race distance and I'm really excited about how that went! We did it at the hottest part of the day and we managed to run a very competitive time. Everything at the moment feels good and overall I'm thoroughly happy with it."
The Anglo-American, about to start his sixth season in MotoGP and fifth with Suzuki, will surely be expecting his long overdue first podium in 2007 - and admits it's going to be a big season for him, particularly with the potential he and the team have shown during the off season.
"This is a big year for me and I've got a couple of new personal sponsors with Monster Energy drinks and Amp'd Mobile coming on board, so I really want to do well for them as well as for Suzuki, Rizla and all the people who have supported us!" admitted John, formerly backed by rival energy drink company Red Bull.
Team-mate Chris Vermeulen, who took a podium finish during his debut 2006 season, wasn't able to match Hopkins at Sepang - but his fifth fastest lap time and positive feedback provided underlined the success of the test.
"John and I both had the 2007 bike which was good to use and found some good things with it. I went quicker and quicker and I did my fastest ever lap around the circuit during this test," said the Australian. "[On Wednesday] afternoon we did a race distance which was quicker than I did in the race last year - even with some rain falling over on the back of the circuit. I felt really comfortable out there and I am now looking forward to getting to Phillip Island and carrying on from here!"
Team manager Paul Denning will be starting his third MotoGP season in 2007 and, after two years arguably spent trying to raise morale and expectations, the Englishman might now have to concentrate more on keeping Suzuki's feet on the ground during the remaining tests.
"The test couldn't have gone any better, apart from maybe Mr Rossi going 0.09 slower on his qualifier so that John would have been fastest on all three days!" smiled Denning. "The new 2007 GSV-R has further improved from the prototype that we used last year. Both riders got through a mountain of work and the reliability and consistency of the new bike has been superb. Obviously it's nice to be on the top of the timesheets, but it is more pleasing to see how competitive we were on the long runs during the final day. We have also provided the Bridgestone guys with lots of good data to assist them with their development programme.
"It's great to start the year with a base package that works well and is giving the riders good confidence, but we know that the competition is already at a good level and will no doubt improve rapidly over the forthcoming tests," he warned. "We still have areas of the bike that could improve and the factory will be focusing on them quite aggressively over the next few weeks.
"We won't get too carried away over these results from Sepang because this is a good track for Bridgestone and, historically, a relatively good one for the GSV-R. We are looking forward to getting to Australia and hoping that we can be close to the other bikes around there as we struggled a bit last year. If we can come away from Phillip Island with a positive test result then everyone at Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be very much looking forward to the first grand prix of the season!"
The Phillip Island test will start on Tuesday January 30th.
Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins completed a dream first test of 2007 with an 800cc race simulation seven seconds inside his old 990cc race time - and delivered a scorching qualifying lap.
That seven-second race reduction would have advanced Hopkins from sixth to third in last September's Malaysian Grand Prix, while his qualifying tyre best - of 2mins 1.026secs - was beaten only by Valentino Rossi, who denied Hopkins a perfect three-day reign at the top of the Sepang timesheets by just 0.09secs.
Nevertheless, that demotion couldn't dampen spirits at Suzuki - winless throughout the 990cc era - as the latest version of its GSV-R800 finally looked every inch a match for its factory rivals.
"I'm really happy with the way the week has gone," smiled Hopkins, who took his first MotoGP pole in 2006. "We've got a new bike here so at first we needed to get it set-up - which we did on the first day to the way I liked it - and from then it's only been simple little changes. We have tested a lot of tyres for Bridgestone and everything has been going really well.
"[On Wednesday] I tried some qualifiers as I'd never used them on the 800 before and it was good to see how they worked. Then I did a race distance and I'm really excited about how that went! We did it at the hottest part of the day and we managed to run a very competitive time. Everything at the moment feels good and overall I'm thoroughly happy with it."
The Anglo-American, about to start his sixth season in MotoGP and fifth with Suzuki, will surely be expecting his long overdue first podium in 2007 - and admits it's going to be a big season for him, particularly with the potential he and the team have shown during the off season.
"This is a big year for me and I've got a couple of new personal sponsors with Monster Energy drinks and Amp'd Mobile coming on board, so I really want to do well for them as well as for Suzuki, Rizla and all the people who have supported us!" admitted John, formerly backed by rival energy drink company Red Bull.
Team-mate Chris Vermeulen, who took a podium finish during his debut 2006 season, wasn't able to match Hopkins at Sepang - but his fifth fastest lap time and positive feedback provided underlined the success of the test.
"John and I both had the 2007 bike which was good to use and found some good things with it. I went quicker and quicker and I did my fastest ever lap around the circuit during this test," said the Australian. "[On Wednesday] afternoon we did a race distance which was quicker than I did in the race last year - even with some rain falling over on the back of the circuit. I felt really comfortable out there and I am now looking forward to getting to Phillip Island and carrying on from here!"
Team manager Paul Denning will be starting his third MotoGP season in 2007 and, after two years arguably spent trying to raise morale and expectations, the Englishman might now have to concentrate more on keeping Suzuki's feet on the ground during the remaining tests.
"The test couldn't have gone any better, apart from maybe Mr Rossi going 0.09 slower on his qualifier so that John would have been fastest on all three days!" smiled Denning. "The new 2007 GSV-R has further improved from the prototype that we used last year. Both riders got through a mountain of work and the reliability and consistency of the new bike has been superb. Obviously it's nice to be on the top of the timesheets, but it is more pleasing to see how competitive we were on the long runs during the final day. We have also provided the Bridgestone guys with lots of good data to assist them with their development programme.
"It's great to start the year with a base package that works well and is giving the riders good confidence, but we know that the competition is already at a good level and will no doubt improve rapidly over the forthcoming tests," he warned. "We still have areas of the bike that could improve and the factory will be focusing on them quite aggressively over the next few weeks.
"We won't get too carried away over these results from Sepang because this is a good track for Bridgestone and, historically, a relatively good one for the GSV-R. We are looking forward to getting to Australia and hoping that we can be close to the other bikes around there as we struggled a bit last year. If we can come away from Phillip Island with a positive test result then everyone at Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be very much looking forward to the first grand prix of the season!"
The Phillip Island test will start on Tuesday January 30th.