Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen had to contend with the
elements during today’s free practice session for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
Heavy rain in the morning meant the track was wet for the majority of the first session
and both riders were unable to get to grips with the important set-up procedures needed
to get their GSV-Rs ready for race-day. The afternoon session was a mix of sunshine and
showers, but a constant strong wind also made things difficult for the two Suzuki riders.
Hopkins (1’33.274, 32 laps) recorded the 11th fastest time during the two sessions with
team-mate Vermeulen (1’33.945, 37 laps) – riding his GSV-R in its one-off livery for the
first time - just behind in 14th. World Champion Casey Stoner was quickest on his
Bridgestone-shod Ducati.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will have a further free practice session tomorrow morning –
followed by the hour-long afternoon qualifying session - where both crews will be
working flat out to get the bike set-up in readiness for Sunday’s 27-lap race.
Chris Vermeulen: “It was difficult day for everybody with those weather conditions. It’s
typical Phillip Island where it can be raining, dry, windy and very warm all in a short
space of time. It made it hard to get the bike set-up and get a good feeling, but my guys
have done a great job and made things very comfortable for me. We have improved the
bike with every dry bit of track-time we’ve had and have a clear direction of which way
to go. The wind has been the most difficult thing today and it seemed to affect me a lot out there, so we will need to work on improving things to counter that tomorrow.”
John Hopkins: “Well as far as today went the conditions were pretty horrible so it was a
case of going out and trying to make the best of the situation! This morning was off and
on with the wet then drying conditions and we didn’t get a lot done in that session. This
afternoon was similar, but we managed to get a little bit more work done. The wind was
horrendous and trying to set-up the bike and find a good tyre was pretty difficult. We are
nowhere near close to a good set-up and we still have a lot of work to do and we are
already thinking about Saturday and seeing...” full story on rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk