Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Young American John Hopkins finished 7th in today’s MotoGP race at Assen, Holland. Details to follow.

This just in from Desiree Crossman:
“JOHN GOT 7TH! It was brilliant. He was battling back and forth with Gibernau then Gibernau ended up crashing. He then got by Harada and something happened to McWilliams. So he worked his way up from 12th to 7th. He was catching up to Kenny when Shinya was catching up to him. John had Shinya at the finish line. I don’t know if Mugello is the only race to go to cause the atmosphere here is unbelievable here. It was a great race.! John set a goal to be in the top 8. He did it. On the last lap, Checa and Ukawa crashed in the chicane but still finished.”

Assen MotoGP Race Results:
1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 19 laps, 38:49.425
2. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, -2.233
3. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, -9.682
4. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, -13.308
5. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, -32.386
6. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, -33.278
7. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, -35.463
8. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, -35.619
9. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, -37.443
10. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, -48.100
11. Alex Hofmann, Yamaha YZR500, -48.325
12. Daijiro Kato, Honda NSR500, -49.371
13. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, -51.758
14. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, -71.790
15. Akira Ryo, Suzuki GSV-R, -194.399
16. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, -8 laps, DNF, mechanical
17. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, -11 laps, DNF, mechanical
18. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, -13 laps, DNF, crash
19. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, -13 laps, DNF, mechanical
20. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, -15 laps, DNF, crash
21. Pere Riba, Yamaha YZR500, -16 laps, DNF, mechanical


MotoGP World Championship Point Standings:

1. Rossi, 170 points
2. Ukawa, 108 points
3. Checa, 72 points
4. Barros, 71 points
5. Biaggi, 69 points
6. Capirossi, 65 points
7. Abe, 59 points
8. Kato, 51 points
9. Roberts, 38 points
10. Hopkins, 33 points


More, from Desiree Crossman:
“Apparently, there is speculation that John passed Nakano during a yellow flag. The crash that involved Checa and Ukawa was when Nakano passed John and John got him on the finish line. We’re waiting to see the verdict. But whatever the decision is, John is still 10th in the standings.”


More, from a press release issued by Suzuki:

RYO SCORES IN ASSEN

TEAM SUZUKI’S Akira Ryo got into the points at the seventh round of the MotoGP championship at Assen today, finishing 15th.

Ryo has scored in every MotoGP race he has entered this year on the awesome new Suzuki GSV-R race bike.

The 34-year-old Japanese rider reckoned he could have finished higher if the changeable Dutch weather had not interrupted half of the practice sessions. Ryo had never ridden at the notoriously difficult to learn Assen track before and with a lack of dry testing, found it difficult set up his bike for the race. Assen is widely acknowledged as one of the most difficult tracks on the MotoGP calendar to learn and to ride quickly.

The reigning All-Japan Superbike Champion raced using a GSV-R with a modified engine and chassis. Testing new parts and settings, he is content to leave Holland with a point scoring finish after making some significant progress in developing the 990cc four-stroke Suzuki MotoGP racer.

Starting from 21st on the grid, Ryo lapped consistently, getting faster as the race progressed, eventually finishing 15th.

Ryo said: “Without enough time in practice to find good settings, we thought we’d try something different. In this morning’s warm up session we decided to make some major revisions to the chassis set-up.

“The changes we made to the chassis setting didn’t work as expected and the bike felt very heavy through the turns. This is good progress in helping Suzuki to develop the GSV-R. We have tried something different and will be able to learn from this experience for the next race at Donington.”

Suzuki team manager Garry Taylor said: “This was always going to be a tough meeting for Akira as he has never raced at Assen before and it is a very hard track to learn. The weather didn’t help him during practice and qualifying, with it going from wet to dry and not allowing him to find his pace. But he has scored a point today.”

The GSV-R made its racing debut at the first round of the 2002 season, a full year earlier than expected. Ryo, riding as a wild-card entry at the first round of the Championship at Suzuka in April, finished runner-up. He has been called in as a mid-season Team Suzuki wild card entry to the MotoGP Championship to speed up the GSV-R’s development progress. He rode at Catalunya, Spain, in mid-June, finishing 11th. He will race at the British GP at Donington Park on July 14th.

Honda’s Valentino Rossi won the race and Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. finished sixth.



More, from Red Bull Yamaha:

Record Making Day for Red Bull Yamaha Riders

Red Bull Yamaha teammates, American John Hopkins and German Alex Hofmann both had a brilliant race today in the rain-free Dutch GP. Hopkins who started the race today in 10th position, as the highest placed Yamaha 2 stroke rider, had a stunning race in front of the 100,000 plus crowd. This his seventh GP of his short but illustrious career, saw him matching his talent against those with many more years experience.

Hopkins result today is his best yet, improving 3 places on his previous best finish (10th) which he achieved only two weeks ago at the Catalunya GP. Hopkins and reigning World Champion, Valentino Rossi are the only 2 Moto GP riders to finish in the points for each GP this season. Today’s result boosts the 19 year old rookie’s World classification into 10th place with 33 points, only 5 points behind fellow American and Former World Champion, Kenny Roberts.

Alex Hofmann rode superbly in only his second outing on the Red Bull Yamaha, bringing the crowd to its feet with a wheel to wheel battle with vd Goorbergh who finished in tenth place. Hofmann is the first German to ever race a Yamaha 2 stroke and the first German to ever score points in a Moto GP race.


John Hopkins: 7th
World Championship Classification – 10th with 33 points
“It was a really good race and finally I got the start that I wanted. For the first couple of laps I was racing with Gibernau and McWilliams in a tight pack and Harada was holding up all of us. We got around him and Gibernau and McWilliams were passing back in forth, making some really wild passes so I decided that I would let them pan out before I mixed it up with them. Soon after Gibernau crashed out and I was chasing Jeremy for the next few laps. He retired by lap 9 or so and from that point to about the last 3 laps it was a lonely race. Kenny Roberts was ahead and I set my sights on chipping away at the distance between us. I mowed him down from a 6-second break to 2.6 seconds and I felt like I would have got him if I would have had a few more laps.

“The bike went really well, the crew set the bike up great for me, the tyres worked well, thanks to Dunlop.

I’m really happy that I can continue to improve, this is what I am aiming for. I set my goal on finishing 8th so to be 7th is good. My intention is to finish a race in the Top 5 before the end of this Season.”


Alex Hofmann: 11th
Scoring 5 points for the Red Bull Yamaha Team
“This is a perfect day for me, finishing a Moto GP in 11th place and scoring 5 points for the Red Bull Yamaha Team. Today was my first real fight on the 500cc bike and it’s fun to racing against these guys.

“My start was not so good and it took me a few laps to find my rhythm, but eventually when I was settled I was doing times equal to the guys in 6th and 7th position. I finished today ahead of three, 250 World Champions, including the reigning 250 World Champion, so of course I am happy.”

I’m a little bit sad of course that my ride with Red Bull Yamaha is over, but this has been a great opportunity for me to show the GP Paddock of what I am capable of, in just 2 races. I really enjoyed my time with Red Bull Yamaha, Thank-you.”


Peter Clifford: Director of Racing
An absolutely superb ride from both guys, another very large step for John and just a brilliant second race from Alex. It’s been a real pleasure to turn our loss of Garry McCoy for a few rides into a chance for a young rider.


More, from another press release from Team Suzuki:

Team Suzuki News Service

ROBERTS SIXTH AFTER EARLY LEAD AT ASSEN

TEAM Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. made a flying start from the front row of the grid to lead the early laps of today’s Dutch TT, a stirring demonstration of the potential of the new Suzuki GSV-R 990cc MotoGP prototype.

Roberts ran with the leaders in the early stages, then settled for a safe sixth-place finish, moving himself up into the top 10 of the championship after a slow start to the season.

Team-mate Sete Gibernau was out of luck, falling without injury at the end of the seventh of 19 laps of the classic 6.027km circuit in the north of Holland, while in a fierce battle for seventh place. Gibernau had forged through from a starting position on the fourth row of the grid, after posting fastest times in the wet.

Factory wild card Suzuki rider Akira Ryo finished 15th, in the points at his first time at the difficult Dutch circuit, where a crowd of more than 101,000 fans braved rainy conditions for their first view of the new four-stroke regime in the top class of racing.

The track was dry for all three GP classes, culminating in the exciting MotoGP event won by defending champion Valentino Rossi from Brazilian star Alex Barros, with Spaniard Carlos Checa third.

KENNY ROBERT Jr. – Sixth Position
“I thought we would be better here, after good results at our tests in Barcelona … but this place is tough on you when your bike’s not working perfectly. I got a good start, but I already knew we’d be struggling to keep the pace when the leaders got going. Just keep our heads down and keep trying.”

SETE GIBERNAU – Did Not Finish
“I’m pretty mad. The bike was much better today than we had it in the dry on the first day of practice, and I had overcome my bad starting position and I was making progress. I was battling with McWilliams, but it was really hard to stay ahead because he could go faster than me through some of the corners – especially the left-hander before the final chicane. I was trying to get away, braking to my absolute maximum for the chicane, when I got onto the grass – and that was it. It’s a big disappointment, because we needed the points.”

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
“We are getting consistently closer to the podium race by race, which is encouraging, but obviously we won’t be happy until we are on it.”


More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Yamaha:

DUTCH TT, ASSEN
Race Day, Saturday June 29 2002

MARLBORO YAMAHA ON THE PODIUM AGAIN

Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1 rider Carlos Checa took third in this afternoon’s Dutch TT, the fourth race in a row that one of the team’s riders has stood on the podium. Team-mate Max Biaggi was less lucky but rode a typically determined race to fourth place. As usual at Assen, weather played an important role in the outcome of the race. Apart from this afternoon, the only dry track time riders had was on Thursday, requiring them to make educated guesses on set-up and tyres.

“Even if it was dry for the race, weather conditions played a part in this event,” explained Marlboro Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio. “Carlos made some little changes to his set-up, which took him a few laps to get accustomed to. They both once again rode very good races. Carlos had a great run, and his last-corner collision with Ukawa was just a racing incident. Max suffered, but he rode as hard as ever and without that problem he would’ve been right up there. Carlos is now third in the championship, which is a great reward for the whole team, now we need to keep working and look for better results at Donington and the Sachsenring.”

CHECA THIRD IN RACE AND CHAMPIONSHIP
Carlos Checa scored his second successive third-place finish today, surviving a last-corner collision with rival Tohru Ukawa (Honda) to move into third place in the World Championship. This was another impressive display from the Marlboro Yamaha Team rider, who came through from seventh on lap one to battle with Ukawa and team-mate Max Biaggi. In the final laps it was just Ukawa and Checa, the Japanese in the M1’s wheel tracks until he went for the inside line as they attacked the chicane for the final time. Both were forced off track and across the muddy grass, Checa staying on board, Ukawa toppling off, then remounting to finish fifth.

“I want to check my bike to see if there’s a magnet somewhere!” joked Checa. “I touched a lot of riders today – Rossi on the first lap, then Max, then Ukawa at the last corner. My leathers are covered in black tyre marks from the other riders, they’ll need repairing! The touch with Max was a bit scary – fifth gear and not easy to stay on the track! With Ukawa, I saw him coming as I flicked into the chicane, so I lifted up to go cut the corner, if I hadn’t, we would’ve both crashed. But I’m very satisfied with this result. We changed some chassis settings for the race, which we hadn’t been able to test on a dry track, so it took me a while to get used to how the bike was reacting. I was having trouble through some of the high-speed sections, and only after half the race did I feel really comfortable. Also, we chose a rear Michelin with which I’d only done five laps in practice, but it worked great, it helped me go faster towards the end.”

BIAGGI BATTLES TO STRONG FOURTH
A close second fastest in the sole dry qualifying session on Thursday, Max Biaggi was hoping for another podium finish at Assen today. But lack of dry-track time prevented the Marlboro Yamaha Team star from further work on chassis settings, aimed to improve the manoeuvrability of his YZR-M1. He ran well in the early stages, battling back and forth with Checa and Ukawa, but slipped back as he found the machine more of a handful in the closing stages.

“I was hoping for much better from this race,” said Biaggi, now fifth overall, just three points behind Checa. “The problem is that this track is very unusual – it’s all about high-speed direction changes – and this is the area of performance that we’ve been working to improve. The bike isn’t as manoeuvrable as I’d like it to be, and over race distance it’s hard to ride precisely. Just after half distance, when I was right with Carlos and Ukawa, I made a mistake at turn one, got a wheel on the grass, and that’s when I lost touch with them. I like the next two tracks at Donington and Sachsenring but we need to keep working to improve handling.”

BARROS MAKES ROSSI WORK FOR IT
Alex Barros led most of the race on his Honda NSR500 two-stroke but Rossi had horsepower to spare as he blasted past the Brazilian to score his sixth win from seven rides. “Alex was incredible, I’ve never seen anyone ride a 500 like that since I started riding big bikes in 2000,” said Rossi. “My bike was like a tractor to steer through the high-speed directions changes, but I felt comfortable because my engine was faster.” Barros’ team-mate Loris Capirossi was with the leaders when he fell at Witterdiep. The Italian broke his right wrist and will be out of racing until August’s Czech GP.

More, from Aprilia:

Tough day for Régis Laconi and the Cube.

Assen proved to be a bitter experience for Régis Laconi and the Cube after they were obliged, for the first time, to pull out of the race. An electronics problem on the bike put Régis out in lap 7 when he was in tenth place. A close investigation at the Racing Department in Noale will enable the engineers to discover the exact cause. After a somewhat imperfect start, Régis went down from eleventh to twelfth place at the end of lap one, but was tenth and moving up when the technical hitch dashed all his hopes. A pity for the Cube which, for the first time in its youthful career, failed to go under the chequered flag at the end of the race, and a pity for Régis too, as he sees an end to his own record of 30 consecutive races in the points zone of the big class.

# 55 Regis Laconi – (MS APRILIA RACING) – DNF

“I was giving it all I’d got, trying to work my way up after a start that certainly wasn’t brilliant. I had some problems of grip on the rear tyre, partly because I chose extreme trajectories and opened up all I could to make my first passes. Then in the left-hander before the chicane, the bike went for a real slide and I thought I’d got a serious tyre problem. But that wasn’t it. One of those losses of grip like I’ve had over the past few days. Then came the technical hitch and all hope was lost for a good result. It’s a pity because it’s the first time I haven’t managed to take the Cube all the way to the end and I must say I feel pretty upset about it. I still had plenty of energy left and I was ready to put up a good fight. But it’s all part of racing, and you’ve got to accept some disappointments”.