Motourage

John Hopkins will race for the Rizla Suzuki team at the Czech Republic round of the MotoGP World Championship at Brno on Sunday August 14; his second appearance of the season for the Rizla Suzuki squad. However, this time he will competing alongside Alvaro Bautista rather than as his replacement.

Hopkins finished a very respectable 10th in Jerez

Hopkins filled in at Jerez while Bautista was recovering from a broken femur and scored a creditable 10th place at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Anglo-American racer last rode at Brno for Rizla Suzuki in 2007 and recorded his best-ever finish in a MotoGP race by bringing his Suzuki GSV-R home in second place – a result that went some way to seeing Hopkins secure fourth place in the Championship that season.

Hopkins is currently in second place in the British Superbike Championship onboard a Suzuki GSX-R1000 with the Samsung Crescent Racing team. His next event is at Silverstone in England, when he gets a taste of world championship motorcycle racing as he competes in the World Superbike series, also as a wild card, on Sunday July 29.

John Hopkins:
“It’s a real thrill to get the opportunity to ride at Brno, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m very pleased that we have been able to achieve it because it is something we have been working on for a long time. To be honest, it couldn’t be at a better track for me either. I had my best result in my MotoGP career at that track, and I’m really pumped that I am going there again. As far as the Suzuki goes, I think it’s a great bike, and the package is a lot better than when I last rode it in 2007. I think that in comparison to what I was able to do in Jerez, I believe I will be able to perform a lot better because back then I hadn’t been on a bike in a competitive environment for six or seven months.

“I got thrown in at the deep end in Spain, but this time I will have a lot more race-craft. It’s also a huge benefit for me to be riding alongside Alvaro instead of riding in place of him, so that will be really good; not just for me but for the whole team. With the two of us, we can help develop the bike and share the extra data to get the best out of the GSV-R. It will be better to be riding with him in the team instead of replacing him because nobody likes to see a rider injured, and having more bikes on the grid is always better for everyone.

“I really want to thank everyone at Suzuki for giving me this chance and my Samsung Crescent team back in England for letting me take the opportunity to go back to MotoGP – even if it is just for one ride at the moment.”

Paul Denning, Team Manager:
“Everyone at Rizla Suzuki is looking forward to welcoming John back into the fold for the Brno Grand Prix. It is a track that the GSV-R has gone well at in the past, a track that John really enjoys, and we’ll be doing everything we can to give him a decent platform to get a good result. We also hope that John’s MotoGP experience and data during the weekend will help us find a better solution for both riders and increase our performance overall.”

The Spanish MotoGP round in Jerez always provides excitement, and the 2011 edition was no exception. Rain provided uncertainty for the MotoGP riders, with tricky track conditions to contend with throughout the race. Nine riders – nearly half of the starting grid – fell victim to crashes. Honda’s Casey Stoner took off strongly at the start but couldn’t escape as Jorge Lorenzo, Marco Simoncelli and Valentino Rossi latched onto the Australian and made it a four-way battle, until Rossi made an ill-advised move and took Stoner to the ground with him. Rossi continued, Stoner was out, and Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa made it a Spanish one-two in a great race. Ducati rider Nicky Hayden rounded off the podium places.

Héctor Barberá adapted well to the change in conditions at the Circuito de Jerez, and was one of the riders to stay upright. The Mapfre Aspar rider had not felt truly comfortable in practice, and had qualified 13th on Saturday. The condition of the track as the race started was a great unknown, and from lap five the Spaniard realized that the surface was extremely slippery. That meant exercising caution rather than risking a crash, although some of his rivals didn’t use the same strategy. There were many crashes, but Barberá gradually moved up the order and crossed the line in sixth. It was his best finish in the premier class and a bright note on a strange weekend.

The next MotoGP race, round three, takes place in Portugal in three weeks’ time.

Héctor Barberá, 6th:
“We had a very strange race today. After five laps I realized that the bike couldn’t have slid about more if I had tried. I knew that the wet conditions would be a handicap, and the asphalt had very little grip. I decided to brave it out and try to use my skill to keep upright. I thing that it was the weirdest race of my life, and I was able to get my best result in MotoGP. I don’t really know how to express how I feel, but I am happy. This result is going to be very good for us, and it is a morale boost for us in a weekend that hadn’t gone quite as we had hoped. Maybe I didn’t ride as fast as I had intended, but seeing so many riders hit the deck made me think that it was better to be prudent. I suppose the majority of us riders thought the same. I feel comfortable with the way I am riding, and it is the first time that I have felt so good in the wet as a MotoGP rider.”

John Hopkins battles with Cardion AB Ducati rookie Karel Abraham

Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins raced his Suzuki GSV-R to a stunning top-10 finish at Jerez today in his first MotoGP race since 2008.

Hopkins started from 14th on the grid and got a good start that promoted him up the field on the first lap. As the riders settled down, he became part of a six-rider battle for eighth place and was regularly trading positions as the race developed. With the final few laps looming, Hopkins had extreme grip issues, causing him to lose some hard earned positions, but he still managed to keep a steady momentum and, as other riders were struggling to stay upright, Hopkins rode a smooth and controlled last part of the race to secure a well-deserved 10th position for the Rizla Suzuki team.
A crowd of 123,750 fans braved the rain that started to fall on the Jerez circuit from early in the morning. An eventful race saw many riders crash and remount in the difficult conditions, and early leaders Casey Stoner and Marco Simoncelli crash out of the race completely – along with three other riders who were unable to continue after crashing. Local hero and reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo rode to a convincing victory of more 19 seconds from compatriot Dani Pedrosa.

Rizla Suzuki will next be in action at the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril on Sunday, May 1, although nothing has yet been confirmed as to who will replace regular rider Álvaro Bautista if he is unable to compete due to the injury he sustained at Qatar.

John Hopkins:
“Well, I finished where I wanted to – I certainly wanted to get into the top-10! That was the goal for the whole weekend, but I did wonder if it was going to be a reality when I started on Friday. We pushed right from the start of practice and chipped away little-by-little to bring the lap-time down and just went about the job as professionally as possible. My main target at the start of the race was to try and jump up as many places as possible and get up into the group, because I knew that if I was in there I would be able to follow some guys and do the lap-times. We made up some positions early on, although I dropped back a few places and made a few mistakes – including a huge moment in turn three when I lost the rear and hit the paint – the bike was 90º sideways underneath me, when I should have been going forward! I was able to keep it upright and hang on to a group that included a couple of Ducati’s and some other guys in a battle for eighth. Then suddenly the tires dropped off a lot, but this was my first time in the wet for a while on a MotoGP bike and I’d never used the Bridgestone wets, so we didn’t have the electronics set completely in the right way and I chewed up the tire way too much at the beginning of the race. I dropped off the pace quite dramatically for the last part of the race and I saw many riders crashing, so I knew I was close to the top-10, but my main aim was to finish and bring the bike home.
“It has been an amazing weekend and I’m so grateful – again – to Rizla Suzuki for giving me this great opportunity, it’s been great and I’ve really enjoyed it, just to see everybody in the GP paddock has been awesome! Hopefully in the future you’ll see more of me here, but for now I need to concentrate on the BSB championship and we’ll see what happens. I once again want to say how thankful I am for this chance and it was great to see my ‘away-from-home family’ in the Suzuki garage again.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“John said to me yesterday that a top-10 would be a dream result in his comeback ride and to achieve it was richly deserved. He’s not put a wheel wrong all weekend, made no mistakes and shown clearly both his potential and that of the GSV-R. The race itself was crazy and just to keep the bike on two wheels for the last third of the race was an achievement in itself. It’s actually a shame that we used up the tires more quickly than some of our competitors, because for the first 10-laps John was in a six-way battle for eighth place and quite comfortably matching the lap-times and maneuvers of those around him. It’s the first time the 2011 bike has been used in the wet so the data from today should allow Suzuki and the team to make the bike a little more user friendly on the tires. I would like to pass on my personal thanks to John for the fantastic job he did here in Jerez, he showed true professionalism and it was a pleasure to have him back in the team.

“It was also great to have Álvaro here this weekend to support the team; we really appreciate his efforts to drive down from Madrid. He’s looking well and the recovery is going in the right direction. We hope to make an announcement regarding our plans at the next two races as soon as possible.”

Gran Premio bwin de Espana Race Classification:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 50.49.046: 2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +19.339: 2. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +29.085: 4. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) +29.551: 5. Valentino Rossi (Ducati) +1’02.227: 10. John Hopkins (Suzuki) +1’48.395:

World Championship Classification:
1. Lorenzo 45: 2. Pedrosa 36: 3. Casey Stoner (Honda) 25: 4. Hayden 23: 5. Rossi 20: 15. JOHN HOPKINS (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 6:

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo used his M1 to deliver a master class in wet riding today, delivering a flawless performance to take victory in front of his home crowd at Jerez. The second race of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship was played out on treacherous track conditions that claimed a number of victims over the 27 laps. Slipping comfortably into second in the first lap Lorenzo stayed in contention in the top three for several laps, keeping calm and graduating to first position as rivals Stoner, Rossi and Simoncelli all crashed out of contention. A steady rhythm and inch perfect lines finally saw the reigning World Champion take the checkered flag, his first ever professional race career win in the wet.

Teammate Ben Spies was denied his first MotoGP podium as a factory rider with just three laps remaining of the race. Having initially dropped to sixth from the start grid Spies’ riding style was on a par with Lorenzo, laying down smooth consistent laps on a track that was wet in some places and drying in others. Having gained half a second a lap on second place man Pedrosa he caught and passed him, raising the possibility of a Yamaha one two on the podium. Disaster then struck on turn five as slippery conditions and worn race tires brought the Texan’s race to a premature end, losing the front and sliding off the track.

Lorenzo’s victory propels him to the top of the MotoGP Championship standings with a tally of 45 points, nine points clear of Pedrosa in second. Spies heads to the next round in Estoril in four weeks’ time having dropped to 12th in the standings with ten points and looking to make up for today’s disappointment.

Jorge Lorenzo, 1st – Time: 50’49.046
“It has been one of my most patience races. It’s a great victory, which we needed and I feel so good. This is also the first time I have won in wet conditions, the first time ever! Now we are working to improve our bike, taking as much points as possible on the way. The King of Spain said to me that he would bring me good luck after our meeting last February in Madrid, he was right! With the competition so high this year I never imagined I would be leader after two races. I am so happy to have won this weekend, especially as my friends from Yamaha Indonesia came all the way here to support us; ‘Semakin di Depan’ means ‘One Step Ahead’ which was true today.”

Ben Spies, DNF
“I don’t think of it as a race today, it was more attrition. Once we moved into fourth behind Nicky I knew I could get past so just waited for the right moment. Dani was only a few seconds ahead of me and I thought for sure we could get on the podium. I slowly started to catch him, Jorge was obviously going to win but we could go one two. I put it all out there and caught Dani. As soon as I passed him I knew that we had second place under control, he wouldn’t be able to get back by but I needed to not make any mistakes. Every corner after I passed him I slowed down, taking it easy then all of a sudden I was on the floor. Obviously it was my mistake, but looking at the data I was going slower than I had all race. It was one of those things; I think the tires were the limiting factor today. I think it was a great show for the crowd though.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“A fantastic result and a fantastic race, it was very, very hard for the rider but he brought it home safely and under control; the best scenario that we could have imagined. I feel sorry for Ben, a one and two finish would have been really nice but unfortunately he went off, let’s see for the next race. For Jorge leading the Championship after two rounds as we did last year and with the competition we have at the moment is a dream. We’re looking forward to the next round at Estoril which is a favorite track for him too.”

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“It could have been a perfect weekend, unfortunately for a little crash it wasn’t. Jorge gave an impressive race, he showed his maturity; he thought through his tactics and deserved the race win. Ben was also clever, waiting and taking his time to get to second. Unfortunately in the wet like this a little mistake can compromise a race. I’m sorry for him with just two laps to go he deserved the podium. The team has worked very hard this weekend on both sides of the garage to deliver very competitive set ups for both riders, a great performance by the crews. For sure we go to Estoril with a good motivation, it’s a good circuit for Yamaha, and a good circuit for Jorge so we go with good prospects.”

After two bright, warm days of practice and qualifying, the skies over Jerez de la Frontera opened up yesterday’s MotoGP race, the first on the European continent for the 2011 season. Pramac Ducati’s Randy De Puniet recorded some good lap times, as he registered the fifth-fastest lap time in FP3 on Saturday morning. In the race, however, an imperfect start relegated him to13th position, but the Frenchman was able to climb back past six opponents. Unfortunately for him, his race finished on the 16th lap due to a slip on the wet surface. De Puniet’s teammate, Italian Loris Capirossi, completed the race in eleventh, the final position after the weather-induced attrition. In addition to the pain at the right shoulder, the Italian found some persisting problems in the front part of the bike. Then a technical problem, a defected spark plug, obligated the rider from Emilia to grit his teeth until the end of the race. The next event for Ducati Pramac is Estoril, Portugal in four weeks’ time, the third race of the World Championship.

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“Really a shame, we could have a good race, because some of the fastest riders have fallen into the first laps. Loris started quite well, but after a few laps he had a technical problem. The sound of his engine in the main straight line was too strange and we realized that something was wrong, but we have shown to him to continue his race doing everything possible. When he returned to the garage, we took the parts of the bike down and we saw that a candle was broken. Also a pity for Randy, he has made a very positive weekend until the race”.

Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – 11th in the race – 16th in MotoGP standing
“I see today as a positive day even if I finished so far from the first positions as I had to ride with a broken spark plug. We could have done better, we understood some things, we will try to put them in practice for Estoril. The break arrive at the right time, in fact, I’ll go to Monaco tomorrow for a consultation with the head of the hospital. I hope I will be able to begin soon therapy on the shoulder to face the next race in the best possible way”.

Randy De Puniet – DNF
“I’m disappointed and angry about what happened. I had a bad start; I was relegated in the last positions. Then I started pushing, I was doing well, until I found major problems with the front wheel. I tried to change the mapping, but I was not able to do it. I found it extremely difficult to manage the bike and when I slipped I couldn’t manage to restart the bike. Now I only have to think about doing well at Estoril, because this beginning of the championship hasn’t been good at all”.

The Pramac Racing Team wants to make a comeback after a disappointing first round of the MotoGP Championship in Qatar. That opportunity, for Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet, will come this weekend in Jerez, in the Andalusia province of Spain. Spain will host the largest number of GP events – four – of any country this season: Jerez, Catalunya in June, Aragon in mid-September that was selected after the further defection of the Hungarian GP and the de la Comunitat Valenciana, which will close the season.

MotoGP veteran Loris Capirossi hopes for success as he returns to Ducati for 2011

The Pramac Racing Team has a fairly good relationship with the track, having first scored a podium in 2003, courtesy of Max Biaggi for what was then Camel Pramac Pons Honda team. Following that season, there have been mixed results on the circuit, with several withdrawals and disappointing finishes. MotoGP veteran Loris Capirossi has had a good relationship with the track, having scored a victory in the premier class in 2006 and in the 250cc class in 1998. Randy De Puniet scored a 250cc podium in 2003 and a fourth-place MotoGP finish in 2009.

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“We regret the departure of Qatar, but now we think future, then at Jerez. We have the opportunity to redeem after the unfortunate start to the Losail, I’m sure the results will come because the team is working well”.

Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team
“The disappointment has passed, now I just think the next race. For Jerez I hope that luck is on our side, as far we had so many problems. I’m fine, I have no problem, apart from the blow to the hand in Qatar and the control of right arm, I should be 100%. Jerez is a track I’ve enjoyed in the past, and I definitely enjoy racing there. The bike is very better than the beginning, as always, I remain confident”.

Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team
“It was not easy starting in a manner so unlucky. But Qatar is now
gone; now we look for redemption in Jerez, a circuit I know well. I do not lose sight of my goals; I think only to work hard to improve the feeling with the bike. The progress we have been since the early day test at Losail, then the race went bad. I have to keep up this path”.

John Hopkins will be rolling back the years as he makes a return to MotoGP with the Rizla Suzuki team at this weekend’s Gran Premio bwin de Espana in Jerez.

Hopkins will be back with the team that he last rode for in 2007, when he took a podium position in his final race in Rizla Suzuki colors to secure fourth place in that season’s world championship. The Californian’s inclusion in the Suzuki squad is due to the enforced absence of regular rider Álvaro Bautista, who is recovering in Spain following surgery on the broken left femur that he suffered during the first event of the season in Qatar. Hopkins has now fully recovered from a wrist injury that almost ended his career last season and is currently in the middle of pre-season testing for the British Superbike Championship with the Samsung Crescent Racing team, where he is looking to re-build his form and make a full-time return to the world stage.

Jerez is one of the best attended Grands Prix on the calendar – nearly quarter-of-a-million people visited the 4,423-meter (2.748-mile) circuit throughout the three days of last year’s event. The fans that pack the grandstands serve up one of the most intense atmospheres experienced anywhere on the MotoGP calendar, and the track produces some great racing due to its undulating layout, hard-braking corners and endless camber changes, all adding to a colorful and exciting event.

Hopkins will take to the track on Friday for two free practice sessions, followed by another free practice session on Saturday morning and then the hour-long qualifying session in the afternoon to determine grid positions for Sunday 27-lap race, which gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).
Rizla Suzuki also hopes to welcome Bautista to Jerez as he plans to visit the race – unfortunately as a spectator – while he continues on his road to recovery. The Spanish star is making rapid improvements from the operation to repair his broken thigh bone and is hoping to make a return the racing action at the earliest possible opportunity.

John Hopkins:
“I was shocked by what happened to Álvaro, especially after such good winter testing, and I really wish him a speedy and full recovery – I wanted the opportunity to get back on a MotoGP bike, but not under these circumstances. I’m under no illusions that this will be tough weekend for me, as I’ve not been on a GP machine for a couple of years or ridden the new control tires – except for the filming I did in Qatar a couple of weeks ago – so I realize this will be a step up from what I have been riding recently. The bikes have moved on in the last three years, but when I rode the GSV-R at Losail it seemed so familiar and I immediately had a good feeling, but that was at filming pace, so it’s going to be a lot different at race pace! I know the Jerez track well, so it’s not like I need to learn a new circuit and I also know the team well so that that will help a lot. I will certainly be trying as hard as I can to get a good result and make sure that I don’t disappoint anybody – myself included. I want to say a big thank-you to Suzuki and Rizla for giving me this opportunity and I intend to pay back their faith with a good performance on my return to MotoGP.”

FTR Moto and the Monlau Competicion Team’s Kev Coghlan know they must win Sunday’s seventh and final round of the CEV Buckler Moto2 Spanish Championship to stand any chance of claiming the 2010 title.

Coghlan sits 21 points behind series leader Carmelo Morales with one race remaining and needs to win at Jerez and hope Morales fails to score points in the season finale

Coghlan won at Albacete in May and Aragon in July but was disqualified after his round-three victory at Jerez in June after a technical infringement with his Honda motor.

“We’ve had a bit of an up and down year but for a first season in Moto2 I think we’ve achieved more than we maybe expected,” said Coghlan. “I’ll be firmly head down from Friday morning and working towards the win on Sunday for FTR and the Monlau Team.”

One year after the FTR Moto2 machine’s Spanish Championship debut, FTR’s Steve Bones believes the performance of the M210 and its aerodynamics package have ensured Coghlan and the Monlau – Joe Darcey joint operation have remained competitive throughout 2010.

“Kev had a good opening sixth place at Catalunya on the M209 then once he got the M210 he won the next three races,” recalled Bones. “He’s finished fourth and fifth since so the consistency of Kev, the FTR M210 along with the Honda motor and Michelin tires is proven.

“At Jerez we just want to stay focused on repeating Kev’s victory of June this year and see if it is enough to win the Championship – strange things tend to happen in final rounds!”

Lorenzo produces ride of his life to take rousing victory in Jerez

Jorge Lorenzo produced one of the rides of his life to take a superb win in Spain today, the grandeur of a full-to-bursting Jerez providing a fitting amphitheatre for his first MotoGP win on home soil. Valentino Rossi finished third, making it a sixteenth double podium for the Fiat Yamaha pair since 2008.

Lorenzo got a bad start and had dropped from second to fifth by the second lap, as he struggled to find a rhythm with a full fuel tank. On lap five he was able to pass Casey Stoner and then, five laps on, Nicky Hayden but he looked destined to stay in third as he languished 1.5 seconds adrift of Rossi, who was in turn the same distance from Pedrosa. With a third of the race to go however the Spaniard picked up pace, suddenly the fastest man on track as he stormed up on his team-mate. On lap 22 he dispatched the Italian but with only five laps left and a two second gap a victory still looked unlikely. The tenacious youngster was not giving up however in pursuit of a sixth premier-class win and he rapidly gained on his fellow Spaniard to bring himself within striking distance on his penultimate lap. His first attempt to pass resulted in a dramatic moment as they both momentarily looked like running off track and in the end he had to leave it to the last lap to make the definitive move, passing Pedrosa on the brakes at the end of the back straight and crossing the line 0.543 seconds ahead. Lorenzo, who turns 23 on Tuesday, celebrated in hilarious style by leaping into the lake in the middle of the circuit, much to the rapture of the home fans who were already celebrating Spanish wins in the 125cc and Moto2 classes earlier in the day.

Rossi was happy to make the podium, having struggled all weekend to overcome his injured shoulder and set-up problems with his M1. The World Champion got a great start from the second row and was second behind Pedrosa for most of the race. He stayed in touch in the early stages but began to drop back as his bike started to slide, eventually giving best to his charging team-mate and settling for the final podium spot and a valuable 16 points, 0.4 seconds behind Pedrosa.

The Championship is now led by Lorenzo with 45 points, while Rossi is four points off him in second. The riders now have a three-week break before the French round at Le Mans on May 23.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st, Time: 45’17.538
“It has always been one of my dreams to win a MotoGP race in Spain and this was like a movie, everything that could possibly happen did! It was a very hard race because I made such a bad start and then found it very difficult in the first laps – I gave myself a tough job to do. After that I started to feel better and rode like a demon to get to the front. Once I passed Valentino I knew that I couldn’t take it easy, I had to try everything to win and it was all I could think about. I had a great fight with Dani and in one moment we nearly crashed so I had to try again, on the very last lap! I know it’s better to win races calmly, from the front, but lately that hasn’t been the way for us and I have had to fight on every lap. I saw the lake on Thursday and thought it would be funny to jump in and I think the fans liked it, but I didn’t really think about how heavy I’d be with wet leathers and for a minute I thought I wasn’t going to get out! This has been an amazing day; I can’t believe I’ve achieved this dream of mine, in front of all the Spanish fans at this magical place.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 3rd, Time: +0.890
“This just wasn’t our race this year. We have struggled all weekend, first with my shoulder and then with the bike, and in the race today I couldn’t do any more than third. I got a great start and was fast with the new tire, I tried to go with Dani but then I started to slide a lot and I just had to play it safe. I made no mistakes and I’m happy about my race in the circumstances, these 16 points are very important. At the end I had a front-row seat to the Spanish party and I admit I was sorry not to be involved, Jorge did a great job today and I think it was very exciting for all the fans. I want to say thank you to Dr. Costa and all the staff at the Clinica Mobile, plus everyone back in Italy who has worked on my shoulder to allow me to be able to race this weekend. I will hopefully be back to full strength in Le Mans so I’m looking forward to that.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“It’s fantastic to win this race in this way. The race itself was amazing, especially the last ten laps; a fight on the edge. Before the race started our target was just to be on the podium again and we managed the highest step, so we could not ask for more! Jorge was so fast at the end of the race, really amazing. We have wondered why he seems to get much stronger at the end of races; I think it’s a combination of his riding style and confidence, because from a technical point of view there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong. Apart from a less than perfect start, he controlled the bike very well during and kept a very good pace. He was able to keep the pace at the beginning and never gave up; he just got better. The target for the season remains the same, to keep aiming for the podium every weekend. We all know there are a lot of great riders out there and they all want to win, so it won’t be easy. We have always been confident about our potential and now we are even more so. Well done to Jorge and all the team.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Considering his recent injury we can see this as a very good result. The shoulder was okay and in fact the setting was the bigger problem, but the team did a great job to improve it as much as they could and we are happy that we made it onto the podium. Valentino got a fantastic start and was fast in the early stages but later on he couldn’t keep pace with Lorenzo and Pedrosa so 16 points is good for us today. We have some work to do for Le Mans, when we hope Valentino will be back to full fitness. Well done to Jorge and all his side of the garage, he did a great race today.”

Tough Spanish MotoGP race for Monster Yamaha Tech 3

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was left to contemplate what might have been after a difficult and disappointing Spanish MotoGP race at the Jerez circuit this afternoon.
Colin Edwards fought a determined battle at the rear of a frenetic battle for seventh position in front of a sun-drenched crowd of 122,048 passionate Spanish fans.
The Texan eventually had to settle for 12th position after he encountered small rear grip issues in the crucial final stages that left him unable to mount a sustained offensive on the exciting mid-pack dice.

It was also a frustrating first Jerez MotoGP experience for 25-year-old Ben Spies, who had started the race with high expectations after a brilliant performance in practice and qualifying.
The reigning World Superbike champion made a blistering start and gained two places on the opening lap to sit menacingly behind former world champion Casey Stoner in sixth position.
But just as Spies looked to consolidate his place in the leading group, he encountered a front-end issue that saw him unable to maintain his fast pace.
Despite his valiant efforts to continue and score valuable points for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, Spies opted to retire at the end of lap eight after he’d fallen out of the top ten.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team will be hoping for improved fortunes when the MotoGP world championship resumes in France later this month. The Le Mans clash is the all-important home race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, with high hopes of a strong display in the third round of the 2010 campaign.

Colin Edwards – Position: 12th, Time: +38.371
“I think I’ve had one good race at Jerez in my entire career and today wasn’t it. This weekend has been a struggle and I’ve never been comfortable on the bike to show the pace I know I am capable of. Right from the start I had issues with the rear grip and I couldn’t hold any load on the tire at full lean angle. That also created some problems with the front-end, so I just struggled with the balance of the bike. It’s the exact same issue that I had in Qatar even though the set-up I’m running is quite a bit different. I’d just like to be in a race. At the moment I just feel like I’m riding around and suffering. I can only look forward to Le Mans knowing that I go really well at that track and so does the Yamaha.”

Ben Spies – Position: DNF
“It’s just one of those things that can happen but it’s really unfortunate because after coming here and learning the track really quick I thought we had a really good package for the race. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team had worked really hard but I just had some problem with the front-end. I’m not sure what the problem is but I’ve looked at the data and you can clearly see I had an issue. The bike just wasn’t reacting like it should and it is a big shame. I got a really good start and was right behind Casey but pretty much from the first lap I knew I had a problem. I tried to round around the problem but at the end of the day I wasn’t going to be scoring any points and I’d have risked crashing if I’d continued. The consolation is that I know we had the speed for a good result and there are a lot of positive points to take from the weekend. We can go to Le Mans confident that I’ll be able to show more of my true potential.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“I won’t say it’s a disaster but it certainly is a big disappointment for us. We had high hopes after we saw how quickly Ben mastered the track and it wasn’t unrealistic to hope that he could have been at least in the top five again like in Qatar. He got a good start but after a few laps it was obvious that he couldn’t maintain his pace and he was losing ground. He had to pull into the pits and he said he didn’t have any feeling with the front. We’ll analyze the data and check everything with Bridgestone to see if we can find out exactly what caused the problem. It is a shame for Ben but we have to accept it. Colin was never really comfortable with the bike all weekend. He had an interesting fight but it wasn’t the result he wanted, so we’ll work hard to understand some of his issues. Hopefully Le Mans will be better because that is a hugely important race for Tech 3 and Monster.”

Circuit Length: 4423
Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1’39.818 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2009)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’38.189 (Jorge Lorenzo, 30/03/2008)
Last Year’s Winner: Valentino Rossi

2010 MotoGP Spain – Jerez de la Frontera 02/05/2010