Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128150
World Championship Road Race Series Round 1 : .Japanese Gra[ld Prix Tohru Ukawa (11) and Abe (8) battled for most of the race, until Ukawa threw It down the road with three laps to go. "I lost very much in the lead from came onto the front straight between but Rossi was determined and won the slow speed," he said, adding that Rossi and lapper Daijiro Katoh, the trio by 1.550 seconds it was "impossible" to control the three-wide, with Rossi moving to the "That was a great result," Rossi acceleration the way the Suzuki front and holding Ryo back. Ryo had said. "I am so happy. I have had a only did a few laps this morning." but was balked by Laconi in the chi- When Rossi finally decided to cane. make his move, it was into the chi- Still, Ryo was close, 0.163 of a cane on the 16th lap. second at the start of the final lap, "I overtake on the entrance to the chicane," Rossi said. "My bike is stable on the brakes, so it's possible to Checa (7) put the Yamaha M1 on the podium in its first race, making it an all-tour-stoke winn....s circle to start the new MotoGP era. try there: Ryo didn't quit. His best chance came starting the 19th lap, when he APRIL 1 7, 2002' day and yesterday morning. We have hardly done any testing in the wet. I another chance ending that same lap, could. 12 difficult weekend with a crash on Fri- cue I • n • _ s John Hopkins had a day like none other, two crashes on his way to a 12th-place finish in his first MotoGP Grand Prix on the Red Bull Yamaha WCM YZR500. "I never had a day so eventful in a race," Hopkins said. The trouble came with the rain. Hopkins, a long-time Michelin runner, had never ridden with Dunlop tires in the rain. The team had only the 20-minute warm-up to make a tire choice and they chose wrong on the front. "I was having a bit of slides on braking," Hopkins said. "That's what caused the first [crash) going into the chicane. Just getting some slides on the brakes, braking late into the chicane, then ran it wide and kind of tipped it over in the mud. Then picked it back up and figured I could still make up quite a bit of ground. " It was less of a crash than a tip-over. Nothing was damaged. Hopkins got going again and was closing on a group of five riders in front of him when he crashed again, tucking the front end in a left-hander. "I guess I got a little ahead of myself and saw that I was only a second behind the group and made up a lot of time on them so just got ahead of myself and put it in there a little too hard," he said. This time, the Yamaha hit a foam barrier, losing only the left footpeg. "I saw that it was intact, me and the bike, decided to bring it in to get a footpeg, get the rocks out of the fairing, then go back out and finish the race and see if we got lucky or not - and we got lucky," he said. "I was just cruising, I was probably 15 to 20 seconds off the pace because I didn't even have a shifter." All that was left was a stub. Hopkins could shift up. but not down, so he had to use his hand. "We would've replaced that too when we came In, but It was just cracked on both sides, couldn't really tell It was broken on both sides, so when I shifted it broke off." All in all, it was a learning weekend, not only for the rain, but for the dry. Having used Michelins for much of his career, Hopkins is still adjusting to the Dunlops. "Unbelievable difference," he said. "They're just two. seems like two completely different kinds of rubber. You got Michelins, they tend to stick a little better, but once they go they go real quick. Michelins they seem to when they go off they just keep going off, they don't really level off and get consistent. One thing with the Dunlops, they start fading away and then they stay consistent all throughout and then you can actually judge at the end of the race. Once it starts going off, you know it'll be good for the next three, four, five laps - five laps. "I've actually started sliding quite a bit more with the Dunlops and changed my style completely with the 500. I learned a lot from other riders Iineswise and just definitely looking at comers and just the track in general from a completely different perspective." Hopkins gets to spend five days at home in Ramona, California, before heading for round two in Welkom, South Africa. From there, he goes to France, where he'll be living in an apartment near his trainer in the town of Claremont. "I can still ride motocross and train the whole time I'm there," he said.