I can say that I am really, really happy with today's result and
the whole weekend in general," smiled Hopper after only his
second ever MotoGP podium. "I got off the line well and then
passed Dani [Pedrosa] and Nicky [Hayden] in quick succession to
get up to second. My goal had been to be in second by turn three
because I knew Casey would be in first and I didn't want him to
get away.
"I tried to stay with him, but he had an unbelievable pace and I
was pushing the front and the rear to the limit - which with the
Bridgestones is pretty high! I tried hard to catch him but after a
while I decided to pull it in a bit and make sure I got that second
place," confirmed the Anglo-American.
Hopkins will severe his Suzuki ties and switch to Kawasaki next
season, but was quick to pay tribute to his current team - and
team-mate - whilst wishing Taro Sekiguchi a speedy recovery.
"Congratulations to Chris on a great ride today, we're tied on
points now, so that added competition is good for the whole team
for the rest of the season. I am sure everyone at Rizla Suzuki is
happy with this result and I'm more happy for them as they all
deserve it and it's good for me to give these podiums back to
Suzuki after all they have done for me," said John. "I'd like to
finally wish Taro Sekiguchi all the best after his horrendous crash
in the 250 [warm-up] earlier today. I and all the team hope he is
ok and makes a quick recovery and return to racing."
In a race low on excitement, Vermeulen finished fifth after an
entertaining fight with Randy de Puniet, Loris Capirossi and then
former five times MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi - all of whom
the Australian overtook by the chequered flag.
"I had a good enough start, but got a bit closed in on the first turn
and went back a place," recalled Vermeulen. "Everyone was
going so quick that it was hard to get anywhere early on. Colin
got in front of me and then he crashed and very nearly took me
with him, so I lost a bit of time from that. I then got up to de
Puniet and got past him. Loris was very difficult to get by,
because that Ducati is so fast on the straights, but I did. I then
just kept my head down and also managed to get up to and pass
Valentino a couple of laps later. It's good points for the
championship and I'm still in fourth and we'll look for another
podium next time out. click on ozzy go to the full story