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Stunning double podium for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP |
Stunning double podium for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins raced their Rizla Suzuki GSV-R's to
second and
third places respectively, to give Suzuki its first double podium in the
MotoGP era,
at Misano in Italy today.
Starting from the middle of the third row Vermeulen got a great start
and was in
fourth place by the first corner. He made up a further place during the
first lap as
he passed seven-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, and then set about
chasing
team-mate Hopkins.
Hopkins had had an equally good start and was straight into second
place, close
behind eventual winner Casey Stoner. Hopkins and Vermeulen traded
fastest laps over
the first six laps of the race before Vermeulen caught and overtook his
team-mate on
lap six. Rizla Suzuki's Australian star closed the gap on his fellow
countryman
Stoner, but was eventually unable to reel in the runaway championship
leader.
A crowd of just over 57,000 bathed in glorious sunshine as they
witnessed Suzuki's
first double podium since 2001. The Team has now moved up into third
position in the
Team's Championship and is only two points away from second place.
Vermeulen and
Hopkins both consolidated their fourth and fifth places in the rider's
classification and moved even closer to Dani Pedrosa in third after he
failed to
finish today, having crashed on the first lap.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in Misano for a full day of testing
tomorrow
before heading off to the next round of the MotoGP World Championship,
to be held at
Estoril in Portugal on Sunday 16th September.
Chris Vermeulen:
"I am very happy to be on the podium. I said earlier this year that
there would be
two Rizla Suzukis on there before the end of the year, and I am very
pleased to have
been proved right. Obviously I'm happy to be in front of John, but
congratulations
to him and the whole team on this great result. We had no data on the
bikes before
we came here and Suzuki and Bridgestone have both done a great job to
give us such a
fantastic package for a new circuit. I got a good start from the third
row, which
was nice because I was dreading starting back there as it is so
difficult to pass
around here. I got up to fourth early on, but I still had to pass John
and Valentino
– two of the hardest guys in the paddock to get around. After I got
through them I
tried to catch Casey and thought I was doing so, but I think I used up a
bit too
much of my rear tyre trying to catch him and at the end he pulled away a
bit. Once
again I would like to pass on my thanks to Tom and all my crew, plus all
the guys at
Bridgestone for this weekend."
John Hopkins:
"What can I say, two Rizla Suzukis on the podium so that isn't too bad a
day! I got
a great start which was crucial and I was lucky to avoid the accident at
turn one. I
wanted to hang on to Casey early on for as long as I could, the
Bridgestone tyres
worked really well right from the start and the bike also felt good. I
had an
incident when I pushed a bit too hard coming in to a fast right and had
a big
front-end slide. That cost me some time as it spooked me up a bit and
because of
that my lap-times dropped off. I could hear Chris behind me, he came up
the inside
and passed me - I knew he had a strong pace and I tried to hang on to
him. I hung on
for as long as possible until I had a problem with a knee-slider that
came loose and
I had to take it off and put it back on! That is neither here nor there
though,
Chris and Casey rode at a hell of a pace and I didn't really have
anything for them.
I'm happy to get this position for the Team and for Suzuki. It's a great
performance
today and now we'll be pushing tomorrow to try and make more
improvements. Then it's
on to Estoril where I have very high hopes!"
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
"Today represents another landmark in Suzuki's return to competitiveness
in MotoGP.
It's the first time since 2001 that two Suzukis have been on the podium
and the
first time ever since the introduction of the four-stroke regulations.
It's a
reflection on the hard work put in by Suzuki, the crew, the riders,
Bridgestone and
all our technical partners. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is now only two points
behind Fiat
Yamaha in the Team Championship, and with the performances shown
recently by both of
the riders we could possibly take second place over the coming races. It
also gives
us great confidence as we look to build on these results into 2008.I
want to say
well done to everybody involved, great job guys.
"Rizla Suzuki would also like to congratulate Casey Stoner on another
unbelievable
performance today. There has been a lot of nonsense spoken in MotoGP
this year
regarding tyre regulations, engine performance, etc. etc. I believe that
the
difference at the moment is Casey and we're focusing our best efforts to
improve our
own performance to beat him and that's what everybody should be doing at
this time!"
GP Cinzano Di San Marino E Riviera Di Rimini Race Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 44'34.720: 2. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI
MOTOGP) +4.851:
3. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +16.002: 4. Marco Melandri (Honda)
+22.737: 5.
Loris Capirossi (Ducati) +24.787:
World Championship Classification:
1. Stoner 271: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 186: 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
168: 4.
CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 144: 5. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI
MOTOGP)
140:
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