From a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

KAGAYAMA JOINS HOPKINS AT ASSEN

Team Suzuki regular John Hopkins will have a new temporary team-mate at the Dutch TT at Assen next Saturday.

With 2000 Suzuki World Champion Kenny Roberts Junior sidelined by injury for a second successive race, factory Suzuki rider Yukio Kagayama makes a Grand Prix return on the second GSV-R MotoGP prototype.

Hopkins, who turned 20 earlier this year, will be maintaining his 100-percent start record in his first season with the factory Suzuki team. Hopkins was also injured at the Italian GP, where Roberts suffered chest injuries; but was able to ride on through the pain barrier one week later at the Catalunyan GP.

Kagayama, Suzuki rider since 1993, has ridden in GPs as a substitute and a wild card several times over the years, with a best of sixth in 1998 in Malaysia. The 29-year-old Japanese rider, who has earned a reputation as a determined and spirited racer, comes to Assen hotfoot from Brands Hatch, where he is campaigning a Rizla Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the British Superbike championship series.

The pair will face one of the greatest challenges on the World Championship trail at the long and technically challenging Assen circuit. Although one section was revised last year, the circuit has retained all the character and difficulty that earned it the respectful nickname: the Cathedral.

With Suzuki’s new 2003 GSV-R developing race by race, Hopkins and Kagayama hope that the circuit might help them take another step towards the radical new motorcycle’s obvious full potential. Assen replaces the more usual modern tight corners with long and complex sets of faster more sweeping curves. Technique, and a well-set-up motorcycle, can be combined to iron out other performance differences.

The team is fresh from two days of testing after the last round at Catalunya, where 1993 Suzuki World Champion Kevin Schwantz was in the pits and at the trackside. All-time racing hero Schwantz achieved all of his 25 500cc GP wins riding a factory Suzuki, and gave valuable support and advice.

“I believe that the new GSV-R is capable of being competitive, but there are some problems that need to be fixed, especially with handling. I’ll do whatever I can to help them find the answers,” said Schwantz, who in retirement runs a series of racing schools in the USA, and now also in Europe.

Team manager Garry Taylor welcomed the input. “The factory engineers and the team are working flat out. Kevin’s help has given us even more impetus, and helped the team spirit.

“We really appreciate John’s efforts, especially in recent weeks, and wish Kenny a speedy recovery and return. We’re also looking forward to working with Yukio again – he really gives it everything he’s got.

“And we’re all confident of success in our goal … of putting the factory Suzuki riders back up front, where they belong.”

Assen is the seventh of 16 rounds in the World Championship.

JOHN HOPKINS – READY TO KEEP LEARNING
It’s been good to have a weekend off to recuperate … I was feeling pretty knocked about after Mugello, and the whole weekend in Catalunya was very difficult and very uncomfortable. Assen is an awesome track, and I’m looking forward to going back there. I was seventh last year, my best finish of the year, and I really enjoyed it. They say you learn more about Assen every time you go back, so here’s hoping.

YUKIO KAGAYAMA – I FEEL LUCKY
I rode the GSV-R a lot last year, including at GPs and in the All-Japan championship, where I won three races. We were working on developing the new 2003 machine, and this will be my first chance to race it. Also my first time at Assen. I feel very lucky.

ABOUT THIS RACE
The Dutch TT is the most historic race on the World Championship calendar, pre-dating the World Championship series, now in its 55th year. The first TT on the public roads around the town of Assen, in the flat and windswept northern province of Drenthe, was held in 1925, and “Speed Week” has continued ever since, interrupted only by World War Two. Held close to mid-summer’s day, the race draws huge crowds, a northern rival to Jerez as the most popular GP. Tradition dictates that the Dutch TT is held on a Saturday – all other GPs take place on Sunday. This year, after the success of a similar change last year during the football World Cup, racing has been delayed by an hour over the normal schedule to make the most of the long daylight. At the same time, strict crowd control measures have been introduced, banning alcohol and canned drinks at the track, to reduce the likelihood of a track invasion, as happened last year. “Enjoy, don’t destroy,” is the motto of the event.

ABOUT THIS TRACK
The longest and fastest track on the calendar was altered last year –the stretch behind the paddock moved backwards to make more space, while reproducing the previous layout as far as possible. As a result, Kevin Schwantz’s 1991 lap record, set on a 500cc Suzuki, was never broken. The new version has lost 22 metres and now measures 3.745 miles, and the average speed rose by almost one mile an hour, preserving the status as the fastest circuit at more than 110mph. The new version still retains traces of its public-roads origins – it only became a closed circuit in the Nineties, when a new bypass road was completed. It is especially unique in its complexity – each section of the circuit is made up of strings of mainly high-speed corners. A mistake in any one bend costs times throughout the remainder of that section, and Assen puts a premium on good machine handling, as well as smooth and accurate riding. The “cathedral of motorcycle racing” has earned its status, and is a favourite with fans and riders alike.


GP DATA

Assen Circuit

Circuit Length: 3.745 miles / 6.027 km

Lap Record: 2:00.973 – 111.446 mph / 179.355 km/h. Valentino Rossi (Honda) 2002


2002 Results

Race Winner: Rossi (Honda)

Race Average: 38.49.425 -109.966 mph / 176.973 km/h

Fastest Race Lap: see lap record

Pole Position: Rossi (Honda) 2:01.691

Kenny Roberts: Sixth, qualified third, 2:01.836 (Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki)
Fastest Race Lap: 2:02.896

Sete Gibernau: DNF, qualified 16th, 2:03.908 (Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki)
Fastest Race Lap: 2:03.563

John Hopkins: Seventh, qualified tenth, 2:02.764
Fastest Race Lap: 2:03.507