From a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

TEAM SUZUKI UP THE PACE AT WELKOM

Team Suzuki MotoGP riders Kenny Roberts Jr. and John Hopkins both upped the pace and bettered their qualifying times for the opening round of the series, the Africa’s GP at Welkom tomorrow.

Roberts, fifth yesterday, put in a time of 1:33.543 and Hopkins moved from 14th to 11th with 1:33.598. Both riders will be on the fourth row of the grid in the newly-introduced three-per-row echelon format, but are confident with the new machine and their tyre choices.

Roberts cut three-tenths of a second as he perfected his tyre choice and bike settings to match, while Hopkins made a huge improvement, some 1.5 seconds better today than yesterday to move up three positions. Times were very close, with both Suzukis within one second of pole time.

The strong qualifying performances by both riders confirm the significant improvements to the Suzuki as well as the obvious strengths of the team’s new Bridgestone tyres. The Suzuki lap times were a second better than the same riders set at the same track last year and both reported consistent performance from bikes and tyres, which bodes well for tomorrow’s race.

Today’s second and final timed session took place in fine, sunny weather at the high-altitude 4.242km Phakisa Freeway, outside the Free State gold mining town of Welkom. Yesterday’s wind had died away and forecast rain showers failed to materialise.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr: 10th Position, 1:33.543:

“We found a good race tyre that did a high 33, and that’s the one we’ll race tomorrow. John put more than 20 laps on it and it stayed consistent so that’s good news. We got pretty much everything out of the bike, within reason. With maybe a little more risk, I could have knocked off another three of four tenths of a second, but in reality it’s a long race and I have to get a good start and try and not make any mistakes. This is an easy track to make mistakes on. We know where we are at with the bike and we’re getting the most out of it. The level of engine performance and engine braking has improved from last year, but at the same time we’re probably still hurting compared with the other bikes … we have something coming after the next race to help cure that. There’s a lot of one laps out there by a lot of people. I did three or four 33s, and one of them was on race tyres, so I think we have got the best possible package out of our machine. The team deserves good results, so tomorrow I’ll do the best I can, and be aggressive, and see what happens from there.”

JOHN HOPKINS – 11th Position, 1:33.598:

“Right from the get-go this morning, I was able to get on it. I immediately went quicker than the day before. We’d made some suspension changes and looked at places where I needed to pick up the pace. I had a little think about that and then did it. We had no problems today. Everything went smoothly. In the morning I narrowed down a selection of possible race tyres, then in the afternoon picked from those. I did half race distance on one rear in the morning, then the rest of the distance in the afternoon and over 28 laps the times stayed consistent. Then I put qualifying tyres on and though I made a couple of little mistakes and it wasn’t perfect, I’m happy with it. I don’t expect anything but good things tomorrow.


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

HOPKINS EARNS CAREER-BEST AFRICA’S GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING RESULT

WELCKOM, South Africa (April 17, 2004) – Suzuki’s John Hopkins turned in his best ever Africa’s Grand Prix qualifying result Saturday in Welkom, South Africa. Hopkins, 20, of Ramona, Calif., turned a lap of one minute, 33.598 seconds on the 4.2 kilometer Phakisa Freeway circuit to place him 11th on the grid for Sunday’s opening round of the 2004 MotoGP season. He was pleased with the result.

“I spent most of the session simulating race distance on our race tire,” Hopkins explained. “I’m really happy with the race set-up we’ve been able to find. The bike is greatly improved and the Bridgestone tires are working great. Toward the end of the session we put on the soft tires and I went out to try and get a good time. I’d done so many laps on race tires I was in a rhythm that I found hard to shake out of.

“On the final lap of the session I made it past start-finish just before they waved the checkered flag, so I was fortunate. I put my head down and tried to put in the best lap I could. I sort of left it all on that final lap and I made a few mistakes, but still managed a decent time.”

The 11th-place qualifying position is the best Hopkins betters his previous effort in South Africa. In 2002 he qualified 14th and last year 16th.

“There are a 13 or 14 bikes all within a second of one another on race tires so it should be a pretty wild race,” Hopkins added. “I’m encouraged by the progress Suzuki has made during the off-season. Things are looking up for sure.”

Hopkins’ qualifying run was less than a second off the pole time set by defending world champion Valentino Rossi. Kenny Roberts qualified a solid 10th and the two Suzuki teammates will start side-by-side on the third row of Sunday’s grid.

“Bridgestone has only been to this circuit twice,” said Hopkins, who is starting his third season in MotoGP. “So it’s amazing what they’ve been able to accomplish. The race tire we have is consistent throughout so we should be in a good position for tomorrow’s race.”

Sunday’s race will be shown in America on Speed Channel at 2 p.m. Eastern.