Kawsaki Moto GP - Brno

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Brno
Date: 11/08/2008



KAWASAKI BACK ON TRACK AT BRNO
After almost seven weeks away from the racetrack, John Hopkins will make his racing return aboard Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR at this weekend's Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno.

The 25-year-old Anglo-American was forced to sit out the last three races, including his home Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, as a result of fractures to his left leg sustained in a high-speed qualifying crash ahead of the Dutch TT at Assen almost seven weeks ago.

Hopkins has been working hard over the past month, embarking on a punishing rehabilitation and training schedule as soon as he was able to walk on his injured leg, in order to ensure he is back to full fitness for his return to racing in the Czech Republic.

Kawasaki teammate, Anthony West, has also used the three-week summer break to work on his fitness back home on Australia's Gold Coast, but he's also used the time away from the pressures of the racetrack to regroup after a difficult first half of the season.

The 27-year-old Australian has put the disappointment of earlier races behind him and he heads back to Europe determined to kick-start the second half of the season with a strong performance aboard his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR at Brno.

But while Kawasaki's MotoGP pilots have both enjoyed time away from the racetrack during the annual summer break, the same is not true of Kawasaki's race engineers in Japan. Kawasaki's race department have worked through the break to continue the development of an evolution version of the Ninja ZX-RR engine that both Hopkins and West will ride for the first time at Brno.



Hopkins
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #21
"I'm feeling pretty good now, and I'm anxious to get back on track. I've now got full movement back in the injured knee and it's been fine during my training regime up to now. I don't think it's going to cause me any problems on the bike, but it's been almost seven weeks since I've thrown a leg over the Ninja ZX-RR, so I won't know for sure until we start free practice on Friday. Brno is a track I like a lot, and I believe it's the MotoGP track I've ridden most frequently in my career, which means I know the place like the back of my hand. Also, our Bridgestone tyres work well at this track, and this combined with the new parts that Kawasaki are bringing to the Czech Grand Prix means we've got some positive things to work with. Even though the rehab at home with family and friends has been enjoyable, I am really looking forward to seeing the team, getting back on the bike and finding again the total mental focus necessary for the best possible result this weekend."


West
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13
"After a difficult first half of the season, it's been good to have the chance to get home to the family in Australia and just kick back for a bit. The schedule during the first half of the year has been hectic and it's been difficult to step back and assess where we're at with the bike and to look objectively at some of the problems we've been having. This time away from the pressures of the racetrack has been pretty short, but it has allowed me to think things through and the conclusion is that the results during the first half of the year are well below what I'm capable of. I know that I can finish higher up the order on the Ninja ZX-RR, and we've seen this a couple of times already, but I need to be finishing in the top ten more consistently during the second half of the season. The break has been an ideal opportunity to recharge the batteries, and I'm heading back to Europe determined to finish the second part of the season with better results, starting this weekend in Brno."

[mfzx6r]

and its on live on foxtel

MotoGP Round 12 06:45 pm - 11:30 pm
Sunday August 17 2008
Genre: Sport Motorsport Rating: Screening Info: Widescreen Show Details: Czech Republic. Tune in for some of the all-time great races and possibly the most dramatic of all championships!

[red_dave]

and its on live on foxtel

MotoGP Round 12 06:45 pm - 11:30 pm
Sunday August 17 2008
Genre: Sport Motorsport Rating: Screening Info: Widescreen Show Details: Czech Republic. Tune in for some of the all-time great races and possibly the most dramatic of all championships!

Giggity giggity!

[sneakypete]

what chance it stays wet for the race..coz thats our hope...but maybe starting closer to the front will give them something to chase......excuse me..off to pray to the rain gods now...

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 2'11.657 284.735
2 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 2'12.846 283.762 1.189
3 21 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 2'12.959 279.647 1.302
4 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'13.002 275.089 1.345
5 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 2'13.352 271.561 1.695
6 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 2'14.064 278.135 2.407
7 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 2'14.535 265.356 2.878
8 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 2'14.718 277.349 3.061
9 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'14.805 276.003 3.148
10 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team Ducati 2'14.861 276.710 3.204
11 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 2'15.880 278.422 4.223
12 2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'16.032 271.288 4.375
13 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team Ducati 2'16.510 272.589 4.853
14 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda 2'17.632 264.511 5.975
15 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 2'20.074 257.204 8.417

[Makybe05]

woot, just watched it, go the kwaka's! in the interview i saw Bartholemy was talking podiums!
I've got to calm down, time for bed.

[mfzx6r]

Go team green !!!!!!!!!!!!

Its their best chance yet !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lone Wolf]

GO KAWASAKI !!!

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Brno
Date: 16/08/2008




FRONT ROW FOR COMEBACK KING HOPKINS IN BRNO
Kawasaki’s John Hopkins and Anthony West will start tomorrow’s Czech Republic Grand Prix from the front two rows of the grid after defying the treacherous wet conditions in today’s qualifying to finish in third and sixth positions respectively.

Hopkins has made an impressive return to the track after a three-race absence to score his first front row start of the season aboard his Ninja ZX-RR. The Anglo-American adopted a specific strategy at the Brno circuit, which allowed him to set the third fastest time in the early part of today’s timed session.

Hopkins cleverly decided to use a softer compound Bridgestone wet tyre before conditions worsened around the 5.403km track and set his quickest time on lap six of 10. The 25-year-old MotoGP pilot is confident ahead of tomorrow’s race, regardless of whether it is held in wet or dry conditions, as he believes the significant progress that the Kawasaki engineers have made over recent weeks will put him in a possible podium-challenging position.

West finished the day with a huge boost to his confidence, after a final lap surge around the rain-soaked track put him in sixth place overall. The 27-year-old continuously slashed his lap time throughout the hour-long qualifying session, despite conditions deteriorating with heavy rainfall.

The Kawasaki pilot was challenged with poor visibility, being held up by another rider and standing water around the circuit on his very final lap on a soft tyre, but the Australian was pleased to set his fastest time of the day to finish on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race.

A massive 12 seconds separated the entire MotoGP field with Bridgestone-shod machines dominating proceedings. As a result, both Kawasaki riders are looking forward to tomorrow’s 22-lap race come rain or shine.



Hopkins
#21 – 3rd – 2’12.959
“I am very happy with that. We played it exactly right and took a gamble at the beginning of the session, which meant we could put in a decent lap time before it began to rain harder. I made a little mistake on my fastest lap, but I didn’t want to push my knee too hard; today is only a small percentage of the weekend, so we took it easy in the latter part of the session. I am pleased for myself, but also for Kawasaki, as huge improvements have been made on the bike since I last rode it at Assen. The Bridgestone tyres are working really well too at this circuit and I feel confident for tomorrow whatever the conditions. Our aim is for a top five finish as I want to be realistic about what we can achieve, but we’ve definitely put ourselves in a great position for the race.”


West
#13 - 6th – 2’14.064
“I really didn’t expect to improve my time on our last lap, so the final result has been a real confidence boost. The conditions worsened throughout the session and there was a lot of standing water around the circuit, so the bike was aquaplaning in a lot of places. I was struggling to see and I got held up on my final lap on a soft tyre, but we still managed to move up a further three places. We’ve made a lot of improvements to the set-up of the machine, and although I’m not really sure how this will fair in the dry, starting from sixth means we’re in a strong position for the race.”



Kawasaki Competition Manager
"John's return to racing this weekend in Brno has certainly been an impressive one. Despite missing the last three races he was immediately on the pace here in Brno and I'm confident his strong comeback from injury will continue with a good result in tomorrow's race, whatever the conditions. Anthony also did a great job in qualifying, and I hope his sixth position in today's treacherous conditions will go some way to boosting his confidence. We know he has the natural talent to compete at this level, and I think he proved that to himself today. Based on their performance today, and with the improvements Kawasaki have made to the Ninja ZX-RR since Laguna, I am confident of strong performances from both of our riders in tomorrow's race."



1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 2'11.657; 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha +1.189; 3. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.302; 4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.345; 5. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.695; 6. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.407; 7. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP +2.878; 8. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini +3.061; 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +3.148; 10. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Teamw +3.204

[sneakypete]

AMAZING WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOU QUALIFY CLOSER TO THE FRONT!!!

[Wattie]

nice work for Westy, bloody hell Nakkers and the other ducrappi were on a mission eh?

[frog]

Woohooo where can I get a west rep helmet, it looked pretty sweet....

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Brno
Date: 17/08/2008



CAREER BEST WEST FLIES TO FIFTH AT BRNO
Kawasaki’s Anthony West achieved a MotoGP career best finish today, with a determined ride to fifth place aboard his Ninja ZX-RR at the Czech Republic Grand Prix.

With a complete contrast in weather conditions following yesterday’s rain-soaked qualifying, West made a strong start to the 22-lap dry race from sixth position on the grid. Fourth into the first corner, the Australian rider immediately came under attack from the pursuing pack and, despite doing everything in his power to keep them at bay, the Kawasaki pilot dropped back to settle into a steady rhythm in sixth place.

By the halfway mark West’s confidence had grown considerably. Casey Stoner's crash at the front of the race left West in fifth place, but he quickly moved up to fourth after passing his Kawasaki teammate, John Hopkins, who was starting to struggle with a lack of rear traction. The 27-year-old Australian fought to maintain quick and consistent lap-times before losing out to a resurgent Shinya Nakano in the closing stages at the 5.403km track.

West rode determinedly to the flag to achieve his best ever result in the premier class, crossing the line in an impressive fifth position aboard his Bridgestone-shod Ninja ZX-RR.

Hopkins started the race well from the front row of the grid and battled throughout the opening laps for third position with the Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi. The 25-year-old Anglo-American dropped back to settle into seventh place but, despite looking almost certain for a strong result on his return to racing from injury, a disappointed Hopkins was struggling for rear grip and got ambushed by a succession of riders in the closing stages, pushing him back to 11th position at the chequered flag.



West
#13 - 5th Position
“To finish fifth is a really great feeling and it just shows exactly what we are capable of achieving. I got a good start to the race, but I dropped down to sixth after a few laps and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to fight back, especially after not having much dry time on the bike here. However, my confidence grew as we went on and I was able to catch up with John and pass him for fourth at the halfway point. The grip levels dropped off towards the end, so there was nothing I could do about Shinya other than to continue lapping consistently to the flag. I felt so much more comfortable on the bike than I have done previously and the Bridgestone tyres definitely had an advantage over some of the other riders. I had to ride really hard today, in fact I didn’t even look at my pit board until halfway through, so there’s still more work to be done as we had to push a lot to get out of the turns fast enough. Thankfully it paid off and fifth place is my best result yet in MotoGP, so I’m really happy.”


Hopkins
#21 - 11th Position
“It’s obviously disappointing to finish the race in 11th place, especially after feeling so confident and strong early on. We took a gamble with our tyre choice today and used a rear tyre that nobody else had in their selection. I got a great start to the race and I sat behind the Suzuki riders while they battled things out for third. Unfortunately the tyre began to drop off and at the end of the race the left side just didn’t have any grip. Usually I can ride around a problem like this, but with the knee injury I’m carrying, I couldn’t prop the bike up to compensate for this lack of traction. The positive thing is that we were strong while the tyre was working well, and we achieved a front row start, so we have a goal to aim for in testing over the next few days. During the next two days of testing I’m looking forward to catching up on a lot of the riding I’ve missed through injury, improving the bike further and finding a solution to the problem we had today. I’d also like to congratulate Anthony; it’s great to see him riding like that again and he really deserved the result he achieved.”



Kawasaki Competition Manager
"I am happy with this weekend as we’ve had a good pace right from the start, which shows the potential results we can achieve. Anthony has really impressed me today because I wasn’t really expecting him to achieve a result like this in the dry and he rode a fantastic race throughout. I am sorry for John because he was strong early on in the race, but there was little he could do when the grip dropped off. We now have two days testing where John has some important track time to catch up on the races he’s missed in the last few weeks. We have some more parts to evaluate and we will also be working closely with Bridgestone to make improvements with the tyres. Overall I am pleased and I hope we can continue with this kind of form in the future.”



1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha 43'28.841; 2. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team +15.004; 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +21.689; 4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini +25.859; 5. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +29.465; 6. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +30.608; 7. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +36.453; 8. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini +37.750; 9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scot +38.822; 10. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +39.573; 11. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +39.610

[ty]

The best showing we've had for a long time - well done guys
Shame for Casey though.
ty

[triway]

...... I had to ride really hard today,...........we had to push a lot to get out of the turns fast enough..........

Um, this is MotoGP Westy, I hope you didn't just now realise that you need to push hard ALL the time! Maybe that's been your problem so far?

Great result, at least you had a chance to show what you can do on a competitive bike before they boot you....

[Big Al Glynn]

Yiiii haaaa, The Ant attacks and shows what he can do with these boys !!!!!!!!!!!!!!