Post by BADGER on May 5, 2008 21:42:07 GMT
Unhappy 100th for Hopkins.
John Hopkins wasn't able to mark his 100th MotoGP race as he had hoped, the Kawasaki rider finishing - where he had started - in 14th.
Hopper had been fifth fastest on Friday, before an accident in qualifying contributed to his lowly grid position, forcing him to push hard to try and gain ground on the opening lap.
Unfortunately, the Anglo-American clashed with Gresini Honda rider Alex de Angelis - leaving him with a painful puncture wound after catching his knee on his own foot peg - while mistakes and rear traction problems hampered his attempts to regain ground.
"By the time we got to the race, the circuit had started to dry out and we had to make a decision on tyre choice, which maybe wasn't the best," said John, who took his first MotoGP podium at Shanghai last season. "I struggled right from the start with rear traction problems, and I pushed hard to make my way through the field. I made a few mistakes and ran off the track in places, it was a really tough race. I'm very disappointed as it's not the result I wanted for my hundredth grand prix, but we must stay focussed and try to make amends at the next round."
Team-mate Anthony West crossed the line a further 20 seconds back in 17th place. Like Hopkins, the 27-year-old Australian was frustrated by a lack of rear grip from the start of the race, but he also identified a lack of front-end grip under braking as being a major factor in his disappointing result.
Kawasaki's engineers will now look to the data to identify the problem ahead of the next race, which takes place at Le Mans in just two weeks time.
"I was looking for a better result than this today," said West. "The conditions were not ideal as the track was quite slippery after being wet this morning and it gradually dried out during the race. I followed John for a few laps and I think we were both experiencing similar problems with a lack of rear grip. I ran off the track in places because I just couldn't make the bike stick. I'm frustrated, as we need to make headway with these issues we've been having, but I'm determined for us to make a step forwards very soon."
John Hopkins wasn't able to mark his 100th MotoGP race as he had hoped, the Kawasaki rider finishing - where he had started - in 14th.
Hopper had been fifth fastest on Friday, before an accident in qualifying contributed to his lowly grid position, forcing him to push hard to try and gain ground on the opening lap.
Unfortunately, the Anglo-American clashed with Gresini Honda rider Alex de Angelis - leaving him with a painful puncture wound after catching his knee on his own foot peg - while mistakes and rear traction problems hampered his attempts to regain ground.
"By the time we got to the race, the circuit had started to dry out and we had to make a decision on tyre choice, which maybe wasn't the best," said John, who took his first MotoGP podium at Shanghai last season. "I struggled right from the start with rear traction problems, and I pushed hard to make my way through the field. I made a few mistakes and ran off the track in places, it was a really tough race. I'm very disappointed as it's not the result I wanted for my hundredth grand prix, but we must stay focussed and try to make amends at the next round."
Team-mate Anthony West crossed the line a further 20 seconds back in 17th place. Like Hopkins, the 27-year-old Australian was frustrated by a lack of rear grip from the start of the race, but he also identified a lack of front-end grip under braking as being a major factor in his disappointing result.
Kawasaki's engineers will now look to the data to identify the problem ahead of the next race, which takes place at Le Mans in just two weeks time.
"I was looking for a better result than this today," said West. "The conditions were not ideal as the track was quite slippery after being wet this morning and it gradually dried out during the race. I followed John for a few laps and I think we were both experiencing similar problems with a lack of rear grip. I ran off the track in places because I just couldn't make the bike stick. I'm frustrated, as we need to make headway with these issues we've been having, but I'm determined for us to make a step forwards very soon."