Kawsaki Moto GP China

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Shanghai
Date: 28/04/2008


CHINA TO MARK CENTENARY FOR HOPKINS
This weekend, the Grand Prix of China will be a cause for celebration in the Kawasaki Racing Team. When he starts the race on Sunday, number 21 rider, John Hopkins, will be marking his 100th race in MotoGP and where better to do it than at the track which gave him his first premier class podium spot last year.

The Anglo-American, almost back to full fitness after a highside in Australia in January, cannot wait to meet the demands of the 5.281km Shanghai track and see what he can achieve this year aboard his Ninja ZX-RR.

In addition to 2007's third place, Hopkins has previously managed fourth and seventh positions in earlier rounds at the circuit, so boasts a good history there. Furthermore, he managed his best finish so far on the Kawasaki, last time out at the Portuguese Grand Prix, when he rode over the line in fifth position and, bearing in mind Shanghai's fast but sweeping layout is known to suit the ZX-RR, it's an excited squad with high hopes which heads for China this week.

Meanwhile, Anthony West, fresh from some gruelling training in America, is determined to improve on his recent results and feels optimistic for the weekend. After adjustments were made to the base setting of his motorcycle after the last round at Estoril, and the successful testing of some new Bridgestone tyres, the 27-year-old Australian believes the race at Shanghai could well prove his chance to shine.



Hopkins
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #21
"It's been a really good two weeks at home in California. I've done quite a bit of work on the house and I've spent some time out motocrossing, so I'm feeling really relaxed. I'm looking forward to the next round as we had a strong result in Estoril and a successful post-race test. The Bridgestone tyres are working well, as is the Ninja ZX-RR, and I am confident we can build on what we've achieved so far. Last year Shanghai was where I managed to get my first MotoGP podium and my aim is to do the same again with the Kawasaki."


West
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13
“Since the last round in Estoril I’ve spent time away in America doing some cycling, which has been quite different as I normally go running as part of my training. I’ve enjoyed the break in my usual routine, so I think this has been quite useful. The next round at Shanghai should be better suited to the Ninja ZX-RR, as the corners are fast flowing in comparison to the tracks we’ve been at already this season. I am determined to improve our results and I’ll be pushing hard to achieve this.”

[red_dave]

Carn' Hopper... Lets see what this year's bike is really made of!

[holly]

but Ant West has lost the plot a bit? looked good last year but this year!

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Shanghai
Date: 02/05/2008




PROMISING START FOR KAWASAKI IN CHINA
The Grand Prix of China began today with the first two practice sessions of the weekend. In perfect warm, dry conditions, the premier class field headed out onto the 5.281km circuit at Shanghai with Kawasaki riders, John Hopkins and Anthony West, aboard their Bridgestone-shod Ninja ZX-RRs.

The 24-year-old Hopkins who, on starting Sunday's race, will become the youngest ever rider to achieve the landmark of partaking in 100 MotoGP rounds, came fifth fastest in both sessions, improving his times in the afternoon with a best lap of 2'00.591. Just over half a second off the leader, the Anglo-American is looking strong at the track, which boasts a fast, sweeping layout, well suited to the Kawasaki machine.

Meanwhile, West put his best lap in during the morning practice, with a time of 2'01.984 and a staggering top speed of 320.0kmh. The 27-year-old Australian was one of a number of riders, including pack-leader Valentino Rossi, whose early times were their strongest of the day and, as the Kawasaki squad experimented with settings on the ZX-RR, West's position on combined times was 15th in the group.

Practice continues tomorrow morning, followed by the qualifying session in the afternoon, at 13.55 hours, local time, prior to Sunday's 22-lap race.



Hopkins
#21: 5th - 28 Laps – 2'00.591
"Today we worked on setting up the machine to suit my preferences around this circuit. I really like this track and I've always gone quite well here. In the afternoon session we tried a few different Bridgestone tyre combinations to find a choice that will last the distance on Sunday. We also evaluated various parts and we've finished practice very positively. I'm feeling confident and tomorrow we need to qualify well to put us in the best possible stead for the race."


West
#13: 15th - 39 Laps – 2'01.984
"Although the times are not brilliant, we are making some progress and our fastest laps have been in the closing stages of each session. Hopefully, this means there is more to come, and we can continue going faster. Our biggest problem is with the power delivery and corner exit, where I feel we are losing a lot of time due to a lack of traction. Tonight we will review the data and try to find a solution to continue moving forwards."



Kawasaki Technical Manager
"In practice today we've been working on our Shanghai race set-up. We haven't needed to make many changes for John from the last round at Estoril, so we've just been optimising the base setting we already have. We are not that far from the front but we need to improve the machine performance a little to be with the leaders. Anthony is slowly regaining his confidence and although his lap times are not quite where he needs to be, he is moving forwards. We will look at the data overnight and see which areas he needs to improve on tomorrow."



1. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha 1'59.906; 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.257; 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.455; 4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +0.647; 5. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.685; 6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.701; 7. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Honda Gresini +1.025; 8. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.058; 9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scott +1.068; 10. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.158; 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Shanghai
Date: 03/05/2008



SURPRISES IN STORE AT SHANGHAI?
Tomorrow's Grand Prix of China will see Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR riders, John Hopkins and Anthony West, starting from 14th and 18th positions, respectively, after a tough qualifying session this afternoon.

For Hopkins, the day proved especially frustrating as his times were putting him at the front of the field but then he suffered a lowside, at the almost 360˚ turn one, and his chances of recovering a better starting position for his 100th MotoGP race were gone.

However, after showing what strong form he is on all weekend, with consistent and impressive improvement on race tyres, those in front of him on the grid will have to watch their backs, as he's got a point to prove.

For West, the qualifying session also proved difficult but his times have been getting ever better throughout the weekend so far. Furthermore, with extremely heavy rain forecast for Sunday, many would consider the Bridgestone-shod, wet weather maestro a good bet for a solid result.

After a day that saw a large number of riders lowsiding and running off, and bikes violently shaking their heads, it looks like tomorrow's 22-lap round could prove a particularly entertaining, and unpredictable, one.




Hopkins
#21: 14th – 1'59.740
"We were expecting a lot better than this after three good practice sessions here. The bike feels strong at this circuit, we know we have a good race tyre for tomorrow if it's dry and I'm feeling confident. But we've made our job a lot harder by not qualifying higher up the grid. We had two different types of qualifying tyre today, and one type worked well, but I made a couple of mistakes on my flying laps. The other type was virtually unusable because of the chatter it induced. In fact it was so bad, it virtually bounced me off the bike at the start of my last qualifying run. I'm disappointed because I was expecting much better but we've got a good set-up for the race. Now I just need to get my head down and go as hard as I can from the start."


West
#13: 18th – 2'00.838
"We came into this weekend with high hopes after a successful test at Estoril but we've ended up disappointed again. We seem to have the same problem that's been plaguing us since the start of the season, where the bike just seems to spin up as soon as you touch the throttle on corner exit. John doesn't seem to have the same issues, so we know it's not a fundamental problem, but for now we're struggling to find a solution. It's frustrating but we're not giving up and I'll push as hard as I can. Rain is forecast and, while most people will be hoping it stays dry, a wet race wouldn't be unwelcome on my side of the pit box!"



Kawasaki Technical Manager
"We had some problems during qualifying, which means that John hasn't qualified as well as we were expecting. He's starting from further back on the grid than we would have liked but I'm confident he will make up places from the start of the race tomorrow, as he is happy with the performance of the bike in race trim. We need to continue working with Anthony during warm-up tomorrow, to see if we can improve his feeling with the bike. Of course, if the rain forecast for the race does actually materialise, then maybe he will surprise a few people!"



1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 1'58.139; 2. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +0.355; 3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.452; 4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +0.572; 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.716; 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.802; 7. James Toseland (GBR) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.115; 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.186; 9. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR +1.218; 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +1.368; 14. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.601; 18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.699

[triway]

Carn' Hopper... Lets see what this year's bike is really made of!

I hope they are made of more than what we just saw in this race!

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Sepang
Date: 04/05/2008


TRICKY CONDITIONS HAMPER KAWASAKI IN SHANGHAI
Kawasaki's John Hopkins and Anthony West were left frustrated today, after rear traction problems left them unable to fulfil their true potential in this afternoon's 22-lap Chinese Grand Prix. Hopkins finished a difficult race in 14th position, with West crossing the line a further 20 seconds back in 17th place.

After qualifying on the fifth row of the grid yesterday, Hopkins was quick to make up places from the start of today's race. The Anglo-American put himself in touch with the leaders, including eventual race winner Valentino Rossi, by riding around the outside of the field at turn one. Unfortunately, Hopkins had it all to do again after a coming together with Alex de Angelis forced him to run on at the end of the main straight, and left him nursing a painful puncture wound after catching his knee on his own foot peg.

Rear traction problems hampered the 24-year-old Kawasaki pilot's attempts to work his way back through the field, but his persistence and determination were rewarded with two valuable championship points, as he fought his way up to 14th place by race end.

The main straight also caused problems for West, who was passed by his teammate after running off the track early on in the race. Like Hopkins, the 27-year-old Australian was frustrated by a lack of rear grip from the start of the race, but he also identified a lack of front-end grip under braking as being a major factor in his disappointing result.

With both riders having declared themselves satisfied with the performance of their Ninja ZX-RR machines in race trim and on race tyres yesterday, the reason for such an unexpected deterioration in rear traction was not immediately apparent. Kawasaki's engineers will now look to the data to identify the problem ahead of the next race, which takes place at Le Mans in just two weeks time.





Hopkins
#21 - 14th
"We went out in the wet warm-up session this morning with high hopes of a good result in the rain or dry today. By the time we got to the race, the circuit had started to dry out and we had to make a decision on tyre choice, which maybe wasn't the best. I struggled right from the start with rear traction problems, and I pushed hard to make my way through the field. I made a few mistakes and ran off the track in places, it was a really tough race. I'm very disappointed as it's not the result I wanted for my hundredth Grand Prix, but we must stay focussed and try to make amends at the next round."


West
#13 - 17th
"I was looking for a better result than this today. The conditions were not ideal as the track was quite slippery after being wet this morning and it gradually dried out during the race. I followed John for a few laps and I think we were both experiencing similar problems with a lack of rear grip. I ran off the track in places because I just couldn't make the bike stick. I'm frustrated, as we need to make headway with these issues we've been having, but I'm determined for us to make a step forwards very soon."



Kawasaki Competition Manager
"I am disappointed with the result today as it isn't where I predicted us to be. We are not here to finish in the positions we achieved in the race. Shanghai is a circuit that we've performed quite well at in the past and I felt that we would gain better results here than in the opening rounds of the season. We suffered with rear traction problems in the race and both riders struggled to find grip. Now we have to look forward to Le Mans and everybody must work hard to improve our results there."



1. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha 44'08.061; 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +3.890; 3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +15.928; 4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +22.494; 5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +26.957; 6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +28.369; 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 +29.780; 8. Toni Elias (ITA) Alice d'Antin Ducati +30.225; 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +31.440; 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +35.969; 14. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +45.855; 17. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1'05.593

[mfzx6r]

Pathetic

[red_dave]

Pathetic

And there's talk about swapping Westy and Tamada...

Crap result considerng Mr Big Kahuna kawasaki was there too

[mick_dundee]

Results all year have been dissapointing (again/still) and the reality is Westy is performing far worse than Hopkins and indeed far worse than last year as well so a cut might be likely

[Lone Wolf]

And they were so positive about this round, hate to see how they really perform when they're not feeling positive

[ZXR750]

I must of missed something. Did Hoppa and Westy finally finish???

[Lone Wolf]

3rd last & last

[sneakypete]

something is not right at Team Green... we know both of these guys can ride ride the wheels of a bike, but a factory team should not be sitting at the back like this so consistently...i reckon the engineers have screwed something up

[penno]

Both guys can ride a bike but can they develop and set one up?

Kawasaki were definately hamstrung by not having Hopkins available during the off season and West has stated previously that he was not up to the workload required of him during testing.

Hopkins has had a pretty cruisy run, into MotoGP at a very young age and from what I've read didn't work real hard previously - just got on the thing and went hard. Westy has always (except for the brief KTM ride) rode stuff that was well developed and in the case of his WSS foray a bike that was a proven race winner.

I really hope that Kawasaki get their shit together because I fear for West's career. I can't imagine him getting a lot more chances - I hope I'm wrong.