Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday Qualifying Results:

MotoGP:

1. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:47.230
2. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:47.275
3. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:47.650
4. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:47.814
5. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:47.886
6. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:47.929
7. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:47.963
8. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:48.071
9. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, 1:48.174
10. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:48.195
11. Colin EDWARDS, Honda, 1:48.221
12. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, 1:48.425
13. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, 1:48.658
14. Neil HODGSON, Ducati, 1:48.728
15. Norick ABE, Yamaha, 1:48.731
16. Tohru UKAWA, Honda, 1:48.874
17. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:48.885
18. Ruben XAUS, Ducati, 1:49.034
19. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:49.203
20. Olivier JACQUE, Moriwaki, 1:49.545
21. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Aprilia, 1:49.700
22. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, 1:51.718
23. Shane BYRNE, Aprilia, 1:51.928

Not qualified (Out 107%) 1:54.736

24. Youichi UI, Harris WCM, 1:55.738


(Team press releases are listed in the order they are received.)


More, from a press release issued by Galouises Fortuna Yamaha:

ROSSI SECOND QUICKEST AFTER FIRST MOTEGI SESSIONS

Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi today continued the strong form that has given him a substantial MotoGP series lead, finishing a narrow second fastest in this afternoon’s first qualifying session for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. His team-mate Carlos Checa fared less well in the afternoon session, suffering two falls; a stark contrast to the fastest time of all that he set in the unofficial first qualifying session this morning.

Rossi headed the time sheets early in this afternoon’s session but just after thirty minutes of the permitted one hour had elapsed Alex Barros (Honda) deposed him, just when Rossi took some time to adapt his Yamaha YZR-M1 to the nuances of the stop-go Motegi circuit for race conditions.

With 19 minutes left Rossi once more took the provisional pole position but a late flurry of competition soon after, between the Suzuki of John Hopkins and the Honda of Makoto Tamada, saw the name at the top of the time sheets alternate three times.

In the final minutes, a rear tyre change allowed Rossi to set his best single lap of the day, a 1:47.275, only 0.045 seconds from provisional pole man Hopkins. The provisional front row was rounded off by top Honda rider of the day Tamada in third, with a 1:47.650. All three of the front row runners beat the previous track best, 1:47.696, at the first time of asking. Checa’s late session misfortune put him 13th overall, with a best time of 1:48.658. Rossi’s closest challenger for the overall title, Sete Gibernau (Honda) ended his day tenth quickest, on 1:48.195.

VALENTINO ROSSI (2nd, 1:47.275)

“I’m happy because the bike is going well here, and better this afternoon than this morning. It feels stable and good to ride. We’ve made good improvements since the Brno test and also at the Estoril test, and we have a bit better pace. I was unable to get provisional pole, Hopkins rode really well, and he is up front. I made one really good lap. Honda and Suzuki seem very competitive here but so are we. This is not my favourite circuit but when the bike works well the track always seems better.”

CARLOS CHECA (13th, 1:48.658)

“Not the best day. Two tumbles in the timed session, one at the beginning and another at the end. It was unexpected because this morning’s session was good. I made a small mistake in turn one and then I had to swap to my second bike, which I was not as comfortable with. With a soft rear tyre fitted just before the end the feel was a little scary from the front but I pushed quite a lot. Maybe I pushed a bit too hard on the brakes, trying to get a good lap time. I just want to forget about today and restart tomorrow.”

DAVIDE BRIVIO, TEAM DIRECTOR

“Valentino had a very good day. We were able to keep a good pace through all of the timed session and only missed provisional pole by a small margin. Vale’s best lap was slower in the first section but he recovered in T3 and T4 and that was very impressive. So far we’re looking OK and what we tested at the Estoril test has worked well. For Carlos, it was a case of good this morning then two crashes this afternoon. He can go fast but now we need to put together a good session and he can be ready for the race as well.”


More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

FRUSTRATION FOR NAKANO AT MOTEGI

Home race advantage counted for little in a tough first day of qualifying at a warm and humid Motegi, as Fuchs Kawasaki riders Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano qualified 17th and 19th on the provisional grid for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.

Hofmann spent both of today’s one hour sessions occupying maximum track time in his first MotoGP appearance at the stop-go track north-west of Tokyo. His last race appearance here was in the 250cc category in 2001.

Upgrading his track knowledge and modifying his riding style were Hofmann’s main priorities, and he impressively improved his best lap from free practice by 2.5 seconds in the afternoon session.

Meanwhile Nakano’s preparations suffered a setback in morning free practice when a mechanical problem triggered an engine oil fire. Although quickly extinguished by track marshals, the damage to major components was extensive.

As a result, Nakano was restricted to just one ZX-RR for the afternoon qualifying session, with the bike running in standard specification. Compounding Nakano’s frustration was a persistent gear-shifter problem that cost the popular Japanese rider almost 30 minutes of track time in qualifying.

For this race both Nakano and Hofmann have one each of their ZX-RR machines fitted with the latest Magneti Marelli fuel injection system, to enable back-to-back evaluation with their standard race bikes.

Additionally, both of Hofmann’s bikes are using the latest twin-exit exhaust system from Akrapovic.

The stop-go 4.8 kilometre Motegi track has a heavy concentration of first and second gear corners, eight out of 14 in fact, with an emphasis on braking stability and acceleration out of slow speed corners.

Alex Hofmann: 17th (1:48.885)
“I spent a lot of time finding a rhythm for this track and I still have some work to do, especially in the final sector through the fast chicane and onto the main straight. I’m sure I can find some time by changing my lines and style through his section. It is very competitive and I’m less than half a second outside of being 12th on the grid, so I’m feeling okay after my first day here in three years. The Magneti Marelli system has a smoother power delivery and feels more controllable and, while there is not a big difference at the moment, there is a lot of potential.”

Shinya Nakano: 19th (1:49.203)
“No luck for me today at my home race. The engine problem this morning meant I had only one bike for qualifying, but we just couldn’t find a solution to an electronic problem with the speed-shifter. I lost a lot time and I have done very little set-up work to find a good package for the race. But we have a lot of data, I know this track very well and I have a lot of confidence that the Kawasaki engineers will find some solutions. On the positive side the latest Bridgestone tyres are looking good here, as we saw with John Hopkins and Tamada-san in qualifying.”

Harald Eckl: Team Manager
“Motegi is a difficult track for the Ninja ZX-RR at its current stage of development, and we suffer with our engine characteristic here with all the low gear corners. But we have an excellent range of Bridgestone tyres that are working well here, and that will be a strong point over race distance. It was a difficult day for Shinya, with an engine failure in the morning restricting him to one bike in the afternoon and then his back-up machine had a gearshift problem. Alex is doing an excellent job in his first visit here for three years, and I expect more from him once he settles into a rhythm on this difficult track.”


More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Hopkins storms to provisional pole at Motegi

John Hopkins topped a MotoGP qualifying session for the first time in his career today with a stunning provisional pole position for the Camel Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi. The Suzuki rider is in the form of his life, having clinched his highest grid and race positions at Estoril two weeks ago with sixth place in both instances, and today proved too much for current World Champion Valentino Rossi, who could only manage the second fastest time.

“I like this track, the hard braking really suits my style,” said Hopkins. We have a good base setting with the bike now and my aim is to be in the top five in every session. We have received some new engine parts here from Suzuki which have helped a lot and we’ve got the extra horsepower we were looking for. The bike has made a big step forward and so have the Bridgestone tyres – I’m having more fun riding than I have ever had!”

Hopkins and Rossi, riding the Yamaha, led an anti-Honda cavalry at the circuit famously owned by the Japanese factory, with Makoto Tamada their top rider in third place and completing the provisional front row. Tamada had looked closest to dislodging Hopkins at the top of the time sheets but ended up 0.420 seconds adrift after a hot lap from the youngster four minutes from the end left him clear of his rivals and out of touch of a late attempt from Rossi.

Whilst Tamada’s team-mate Max Biaggi qualified fourth fastest, Loris Capirossi made it four factories in the top five on the Ducati. Kenny Roberts, partner to Hopkins at Suzuki, clinched the final second row spot in sixth place, meaning the next highest Honda was Alex Barros in seventh, followed closely by his team-mate Nicky Hayden, who was riding for the first time since breaking his collarbone in a supermoto crash three weeks ago.

Sete Gibernau had a tough first day as he continues his quest to recover ground on Rossi at the top of the championship, qualifying tenth fastest behind Troy Bayliss. Colin Edwards was eleventh fastest ahead of Marco Melandri, who completes the provisional fourth row. Carlos Checa, the fastest man in the morning free practice, crashed twice in the afternoon but was uninjured and qualified in thirteenth place.

Sebastian Porto continued his good run of qualifying form in the first practice session for the 250cc race at Motegi, clinching provisional pole with a lap just two tenths outside Shinya Nakano’s long-standing record from 2000. The Argentinean, who has qualified in the top two at the last six rounds, clocked his best time with twenty minutes of the session remaining and remained out of the reach of local wildcard Yuki Takahashi, who closed to within 0.088 seconds with his last lap.

Last year’s winner Toni Elias, who also took victory in the last round at Estoril, was third fastest whilst Alex de Angelis completes the provisional front row in fourth. Randy de Puniet qualified fifth fastest to head up the provisional second row from team-mates Hiroshi Aoyama and Dani Pedrosa, who leads the championship, and Anthony West.

Andrea Dovizioso dominated the first qualifying session for the 125cc class and hung onto provisional pole position after a late attack from Casey Stoner. Dovizioso made a clear statement of his intentions as he looks to defend a 29-point advantage over Aprilia’s Hector Barberá at the top of the standings. Barberá was third fastest today, whilst Mika Kallio joined KTM team-mate Stoner on the provisional front row.


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

Third quickest and provisional front row for Makoto Tamada
in Motegi, just ahead of Max Biaggi, fourth fastest

It was a positive first day for the yellow Camel Honda team in Motegi at the Camel GP of Japan weekend. Makoto and Max registered the 3rd and 4th fastest times in the first qualifying session, looking for a fast lap not only for a good starting position on the grid for Sunday’s race, but also to get a pace which could make the difference in the race. The bike’s set-up will be refined in the final two practice sessions tomorrow, when the last tyre choices will also be made for raceday.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)

“We finished with the 3rd and 4th fastest times and we have room to improve also. Today’s tests were important to prepare for tomorrow’s work, which we see us choose the tyres for Sunday’s race. So the first contact with Motegi today has seen our riders amongst the front four, and both Max and Makoto also got a good rhythm going, we will just continue in this way to make sure we are fighting for the win during the race.”

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin Tyres) – 4th – 1:47.814

“I’m quite satisfied with this first qualifying practice because we seem to have set off on the right foot. With the race tyres I have quite good rhythm, but it wasn’t as fine with the qualifying tyres. The rubber was too soft, and though obviously you get better grip which gives you a big advantage on one side of the coin, in certain conditions it increases the chattering we get. It was because of that today that I was held back by two or three tenths, and I couldn’t make the most of them. As regards the rest of the bike, as I said it’s going quite well, apart from one section on the track, T2, where I’m losing four or five tenths every lap, but I should be able to improve that tomorrow.”

Gianluca Montiron – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada Team Manager)

“We’ve tried various settings but we still haven’t found the best solution, and we also have some new material from Bridgestone to test, so we’re still trying to find the right combination. With the data we have collected today we will decide our work schedule tomorrow, which will be important to make the jump forwards so we can fight with the leaders in the race. Makoto didn’t make the most of the soft tyres to get his lap time so tomorrow we’ll hope to get him further up the grid.”

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone Tyres) – 3rd – 1:47.650

“We’ve made a few steps forwards in trying to eradicate the chattering problem I had in Estoril and we are also doing some good work on the tyre front. I need a better race rhythm to be competitive and tomorrow we will try various tyre combinations to get this sorted. I will also be looking to make the most of the soft tyres to get a better position on the start grid.”


More, from a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

AOKI BATTLES GREMLINS AT HOME GP

Nobuatsu Aoki: 22nd, 1:51.718

Proton Team KR rider Nobuatsu Aoki was 22nd fastest in today’s first qualifying session for Sunday’s Japanese GP, within the qualifying time should rain spoil tomorrow’s second and final session – but frustrated when he was forced to stop out on the circuit, reducing his chances of finding improvement.

The Japanese rider is again riding alone at his home race, with team-mate Kurtis Roberts recuperating from surgery last week, to a wrist fracture he suffered at Brno two races ago.

Fresh from highly promising tests after the last round with the prototype KTM V4 engine, built in Austria, Aoki was back on the team’s regular V5 motor, which lacks power compared with the best of the rest. While the fine handling from the carved-from-solid chassis can compensate at more technical tracks, the 4.801km Motegi circuit is more “stop-and-go”, with tight corners linked by short straights, and little opportunity to exploit high corner speeds.

Aoki had nonetheless hoped for better, after promising tests of new Dunlop tyres after the last round in Portugual … but his chances to assess the new rubber at this circuit were reduced when an engine ailment forced him to pull out by the trackside during this afternoon’s session, hitching a lift back to the pits on a marshal’s scooter to switch to his spare machine.

Today’s first qualifying sessions took place in mainly sunny conditions, though there was a light shower of rain in the morning. There is the chance of rain tomorrow, the second and final day of qualifying before Sunday’s race. The Japanese GP is the 12th of 16 World Championship rounds this year, and the first of a quartet of “flyaway” GPs before the final round at Valencia at the end of October.

NOBUATSU AOKI

Not a good day. This track is very hard work for us, because it is stop-and-go, and we are lacking horsepower. Now we have a big gap from the top of more than four seconds, which is not so nice. This afternoon I had a problem with one bike – I’m not sure what, but it started making a lot of smoke, and I had to pull over. We were making improvements to the chassis and suspension, and the latest tyres seem to be working better … but the engine problem meant a lack of time to test them properly. Should be better tomorrow.

KENNY ROBERTS – Team Principal

Our tests with the KTM engine went very well. We knew it had good power and performance, but we were very surpised with how well it worked round the race-track … but it will take time to get it into race trim. We should be better here with what we have, but it’s not showing up. The speed is okay. I’m not really sure why we’re not on the pace.


More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda/Gresini Racing:

ROUGH AND SMOOTH ON THE FIRST DAY AT MOTEGI

JAPANESE GP – 1st qualifying session

The Telefónica MoviStar Honda MotoGP team had a more difficult start than expected to the Japanese Grand Prix. Sete Gibernau suffered from the same set-up problems as at Estoril two weeks ago and even though his time is not far off the provisional pole effort of John Hopkins, he is not convinced by either his grid position or his feeling with the Honda. Sete completed 21 laps in the afternoon session with a best lap of 1:48.947, nine tenths off the American Suzuki rider. Colin Edwards took delivery of a new chassis at Motegi which has considerably improved his feeling. The American flirted with the front row until the end of the session when he returned to fit qualifying tyres but was held up by traffic and dropped to eleventh place.


SETE GIBERNAU (10th, 1:48.195): “Obviously the weekend has not started in the best possible way, but hopefully it’s only today. We have gathered a lot of data but we have the same problem as in Estoril. We spent Monday there to solve it but we’ve found the same thing again today. The positive thing is that we still have two sessions ahead of us and there is time to react. We need to improve the grid position and work on the race rhtyhm, which we don’t have at the moment”.


COLIN EDWARDS (11th, 1:48.221): “Honda have brought the new chassis for me here and I have felt comfortable with it from the start. Now I can turn much easier and control the bike better. We have made a lot of changes over the course of the day and improved with each one. I have a good rhythm on race tyres and went into the mid 47s on a qualifying tyre without too much difficulty, although maybe we should have waited a little longer before going out because there was a lot of traffic. I’m looking forward to making more improvements tomorrow”.


FAUSTO GRESINI (team manager): “It wasn’t a positive day for us today. Both Sete and Colin are quite low down although the positive news is that neither of them are too far from pole. The team will give their maximum as always to try and solve the problems in the two sessions we have left tomorrow”.


More, from a press release issued by d’Antin Ducati:

A HOPEFUL START

The d´Antin MotoGP riders were pleasantly surprised after their first contact with the Motegi circuit today. Neil Hodgson finished fourteenth, with Rubén Xaus in eighteenth on the provisional grid, on a first day of practices where temperatures soared to around 30ºC.

NEIL HODGSON: “I’m happy, because it’s my first day here, and the feeling is good both with the bike-tyre combination and the circuit. I’m confident of fine-tuning a few things and lowering my time, although everyone is going quick here and the times are very tight, meaning it will be tough to make up too many positions on the grid. We have to be happy with being amongst the top twelve or fourteen on the grid, but I’m hopeful it can be better. The circuit surprised me, because having seen the races on the television I thought it would be boring, but it’s quite exciting to ride. I enjoyed myself, especially going under the bridge because that was a new experience for me!”

RUBÉN XAUS: “The overall result today is quite pleasing because this is the first time I’m riding on this track, although I had a problem with the rear brake and if it hadn’t been for that I could have got a better result. We have to keep refining the set-up because this is a circuit in which you get into hard braking zones very quickly, and I think we can improve a lot there. The area before the entry into the final straightaway is crucial and I know that I have to be more effective there, but I like the track and what we have to do is keep working and improving.”


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

HOPKINS ON MOTEGI POLE!
Team Suzuki Press Office, Motegi, Japan – September 17, 2004:

Team Suzuki MotoGP rider John Hopkins rode his Suzuki GSV-R MotoGP prototype to the fastest time in today’s first qualifying session for Sunday’s Japanese GP, underlining his pace by running fastest on race tyres with ten minutes left, then fastest again when all riders fitted soft-compound qualifying tyres at the end of the session.

Team-mate Kenny Roberts Jr. was less than seven tenths of a second slower, to slot into sixth overall, with the 2000 World Champion promising more to come if the team can find overnight solutions to some small but costly machine balance difficulties.

Hopkins’s only problem came when his extreme lean angle and hard riding style meant he touched down his elbow on one of the all-action circuit’s kerbs, giving himself a momentarily painful but fortunately not injurious bang.

The 21-year-old Anglo-American’s time puts him in line for his first pole position, if the threat of rain for tomorrow comes to reality. If so, today’s dry times will determine the grid, with Hopkins at the head of it. His strong qualifying performance comes just two weeks after a career-best sixth place at the last round, the Portuguese GP at Estoril.

Both Suzuki teamsters are enjoying the benefit of new exhaust pipes and associated engine settings at the traditional racing manufacturer’s home GP. Although top-end power remains as before, the new pipes have brought a very significant boost to mid-range power. This not only improves the GSV-R’s overall rideability, but also the machine’s acceleration. This is important at the 4.801km Twin-Ring Motegi circuit, which has a “stop-and-go” character, with a number of relatively slow corners linked by short straights.

The Japanese GP, 12th of 16 World Championship rounds, is the first of four “flyaway” GPs, before the final round back in Europe, at Valencia at the end of October. Today’s first practice sessions took place in mainly fine weather, with just a few spots of rain in the morning. It was not enough to wet the track, but there is a chance of heavier rain tomorrow.

JOHN HOPKINS – First position, 1:47.230:

“I like this track, with all its hard braking, and we have a really good base set-up now, and for the past few races I’m disappointed if I’m not in the top five. Here we have some new engine parts that have given us some more horsepower, and everything is working out great. The power is in the middle of the range, and while it does improve the throttle connection and make the bike easier to ride, the main advantage is just in having more grunt. The bike has made a big improvement, and so have the Bridgestone tyres – both the race tyres and the qualifiers. We were struggling with a bit of chatter on the race tyres, but this is normal and we’ve already made it better. We’ll do more if it’s dry tomorrow. At the moment, I’m having more fun riding than I’ve ever had.”

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. – Sixth position, 1:47.929:


“I’m not really happy with the way the bike is set up on race tyres at the moment. That is our biggest concern. I’m doing mid to low ‘49s on race tyres, and that is not going to be enough to stay with the top or even the second group. Our main consideration for tonight is to get the bike balanced on race tyres. If we do that, then the qualifier will work better. We have some ideas floating around. Suzuki has really come up with a lot of new stuff that is in the right direction. I think it is just the beginning stage of what you’re going to see for the duration of this year and early next year. They have a lot of great plans in place to keep improving the bike, and both John and myself have a lot of new parts here. It definitely helps us ride easier and go faster.”


GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager:


“John just keeps on getting better and bette r. He was particularfy impressive at the end, the way he just kept reeling off red helmets (fastest section time of session) when nobody else could do it. Kenny is looking for that elusive perfect setting. Wait and see what happens tomorrow … he should have more to come, as long as it doesn’t rain.”


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

POSITIVE START FOR DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RIDERS AT MOTEGI

Motegi (Japan), Friday 17 September 2004 – The Ducati Marlboro Team returned to the Motegi circuit after its one and only appearance in last year’s Pacific GP and completed the first day of qualifying for the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi with a positive fifth quickest time for Loris Capirossi and ninth place for Troy Bayliss.

Both engineers and riders of the Italian team expressed satisfaction over today’s results but are ready to resume set-up work on the Ducati Desmosedici GP4 tomorrow morning with a fresh set of data accumulated during today’s session, which saw American John Hopkins emerge as the provisional pole-sitter.

“The result was quite positive for the first day at this circuit, which we know very little about” commented Livio Suppo, director of the Ducati Marlboro Team. “On paper the Motegi track didn’t look very friendly for us, instead today our riders lapped quite well on both qualifying and race tyres. Clearly the general balance of the Desmosedici GP4 has improved a lot: of course we still have more work to do but we are certain we can improve and today is a good starting-point”.

Loris Capirossi ended the first day of qualifying at the Motegi circuit in fifth position, which earned him a provisional row 2 grid slot for Sunday’s race. The Italian, who scored the last-ever podium finish for a two-stroke 500 GP bike at this circuit in 2002, was quite pleased with his performance today and is convinced he can further improve on Saturday.

“I’m pleased with the way things went today, fifth quickest time on this track is not bad at all” declared Loris. “Unfortunately I was not able to do many laps because I had a few minor problems that prevented me from setting the bike up exactly the way I wanted, but all things considered we’re not in a bad position and even with race tyres we have quite a good pace. However we must improve and we’ve still got a few more ideas for tomorrow’s two hours of practice and qualifying”.

Ducati Marlboro team-mate Troy Bayliss, with ninth quickest time today, holds a provisional third row grid position.

“I am pretty happy, we made good progress for the first day and that’s the best qualifying I’ve done for a while” declared Troy. “I felt comfortable on the bike and the race tyre was really good. I made a little mistake in my quick lap because one split was not so good. Hopefully I can improve the feeling at the front a bit more to make a little step further forward tomorrow and then I’ll be feeling quite good about the race on Sunday.”


More, from a press release issued by MS Aprilia:


Tough start at the Twin Ring for Aprilia duo

MS Aprilia Racing duo Jeremy McWilliams and Shane Byrne had a troublesome opening day as the Japanese GP got underway at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.

The stop/start nature of the 4.8km circuit, dominated by a series of brutal heavy braking points and low-gear acceleration caused McWilliams a frustrating day. He was left fighting a persistent chatter problem on his Cube three-cylinder machine and he ended the opening qualifying session with the 21st fastest time. He clocked a best lap of 1.49.700s and though disappointed not to have been higher up the provisional grid, he is confident that overnight set-up changes will see him in a more challenging position for Sunday’s 24-lap MotoGP encounter.

“It was a tough day, “said the experienced 40-year-old. “We just haven’t been able to find a quick fix some to some of the problems but hopefully the team will find something to help tomorrow. This circuit is just a lot of straights linked by short turns and hairpins. You come from high speed to first and second gear tight turns and that’s where I’m having problems. It is in the second and third time sections that you need to make up a lot of time, but I’m struggling because of the chatter.

Today proved a tough return to action for Byrne after he missed the last round in Estoril, Portugal. Shakey suffered a badly dislocated left wrist in a crash at last month’s Czech Republic GP at Brno. Having undergone intensive laser and physiotherapy treatment during his one-month lay-off, he returned to post the 23rd fastest time. He managed to set a best time of 1.51.928s, and only completed 15 laps with the wrist still not 100 per cent fit. Shakey’s main problem is under heavy braking, and he said: “I was struggling a bit out there. I’m fine once I’m in the corner and accelerating out, but braking and turning in is causing me a big problem. No amount of physio can prepare you for the sensation of riding a MotoGP bike.” Shakey’s engineers modified his seat to help him sit lower to protect some of the intense forces placed on the wrist under braking. This afternoon he had foam fitted to either side of his Cube’s fuel tank to help him grip the bike with his legs and ease some of the pressure on his wrist.

This weekend’s race, round 12 of the world championship, is the start of a gruelling round the world-the-world jaunt that takes the paddock to Qatar, Malaysia and Australia before the final round in Valencia.


More, from a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist:

HOPKINS EARNS PROVISIONAL POLE IN JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

MOTEGI, Japan (Sept. 17) – Suzuki MotoGP rider John Hopkins scored the provisional pole Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi. It marked the latest milestone in the recent upsurge in Hopkins’ racing career.

Hopkins rode his Suzuki GSV-R to a time of 1:47.230 on the 4.8-kilometer Motegi circuit. He clocked in just ahead of world champion Valentino Rossi and home country rider Makoto Tamada.

“I like this track, with all its hard braking, and we have a really good base set-up now, and for the past few races I’m disappointed if I’m not in the top five,” Hopk