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VERMULEN SECOND AT LAGUNA SECA |
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Monday, 23 July 2007 |
VERMULEN SECOND AT LAGUNA SECA
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP's Chris Vermeulen raced his Suzuki GSV-R to a fantastic second place in today's American Grand Prix.
Starting
from third on the grid, Vermeulen settled into that position for the
first three laps and then passed Dani Pedrosa and set about chasing
race leader Casey Stoner. Vermeulen and Stoner quickly pulled away from
the rest of the field and as hard as Vermeulen tried he couldn't quite
catch the current World Championship leader.
Vermeulen's
second place is his third podium of the season following a win in
France and third in the UK, and it is the first one he has achieved on
a dry track.
John Hopkins had the worst possible start to his
home GP: He got off the line well from the third row and was up at the
front going into the second turn, but a collision with another rider
left Hopkins on the floor with significant damage to his bike. The
gutsy Anglo-American picked himself and his bike up and made it back to
the pits. Hectic running repairs from his mechanics got him back on
track and Hopkins continued in the race. His lap-times for the rest of
the race were well on podium pace and but for the crash a top-three
position would certainly have been within his grasp. His efforts were
rewarded at the end as he crossed the line in 15th place to claim a
vital championship point.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now goes into the
season break in fourth place in the team's championship, with Vermeulen
also in fourth and Hopkins in sixth in the riders' classification.
The next round of the MotoGP World Championship will be at Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday 19th August.
Chris Vermeulen:
“I
am absolutely over the moon to be on the podium here at Laguna! Last
year we had a lot of pace as well, but it didn't quite work out in the
race. Suzuki has overcome that and we have had a trouble free weekend.
The Bridgestone tyres worked great and only myself and Casey had the
pace to do the lap-times at the beginning. Unfortunately I couldn't
quite hang with him all race but I am very happy to be second and now
let's go forward and get a few more of these.”
John Hopkins:
“What
can I say? It definitely sucks and I'm really disappointed. It was
especially disappointing that it was my home Grand Prix and I was out
of it so early on. Up until the crash everything was going well. I got
a good start and went into the turn right up there. Somehow Nicky came
wide and I went up the inside of him, but as I did that I guess he
didn't see me and as he cut back in we came together. He hit my front
brake lever and I went down. I got back to the pits and the crew did an
awesome job changing the parts so quickly so that I could get back in
the race. I wanted to carry on and use the race as a simulation, but
now that I have come in and seen my times compared to others I'm a bit
more disappointed - but hey that's racing! The Suzuki and the
Bridgestone tyres worked really well today, and thanks to Stuart and
all the guys for a great job all weekend. I'd like to congratulate
Chris on his podium; he should have had one last year so he deserved
that today. I'm pretty sure I'd have been there with him as well if
other things hadn't have happened!”
Paul Denning - Team Manager:
“It's
been a great event here in California. The Rizla Suzuki GSV-R and the
Bridgestone tyres have been a competitive package all weekend long. The
guys have ridden hard and today Chris got the dry podium that he
obviously deserved.
“The only negative point was the bad luck
for John at the start of the race. I am really grateful to him for
showing the commitment to get back to the pits and then to re-join the
race. I am equally grateful to the crew for making it rideable and a
point at the end of the race was the very least that he should have
achieved!
“We could have had two Rizla Suzukis on the podium
today. We didn't have an answer for Casey, but there is no question
that Chris and John were able to run with anybody else in terms of pace
here at Laguna.”
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Race Classification: 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 44'20.325: 2. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +9.865: 3. Marco Melandri (Honda) +25.641: 4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +30.664: 5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +35.622. 15. John Hopkins (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 2 LAPS:
World Championship Classification: 1. Stoner 221: 2. Rossi 177: 3. Pedrosa 155: 4. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 113: 5. Melandri 113: 6. John Hopkins (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 104.
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