Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

first one, I was actually quite pleased," Relaxing in his motor home, Edwards once again talked about the pressure of the weekend and the pressure of the race. "I had 50 folks from Texas here who came out to see me race," Edwards said. "The pressure was not a big deal. I actually enjoy the pressure, and when the red light goes out, you're racin'. Obviously, this being the home Grand Prix, yeah, okay, you hang it out. I was to my limit for sure. It was fun, and now that it's over, I can say that I had a good time." Now that it's over, Edwards plans a short vacation before getting back to business. "We're just going to Vegas for a couple days to hang out," Edwards said. "I got a cousin who lives out there, who's going to take care of us. We're just going to hang, and whatever happens in Vegas, who cares? I mean, my wife's coming with me [laughs]. This [U.S.] odyssey actually starred a week and a half ago. My team come over, I had to go to Daytona last weekend - Jeff Gordon invited me to a NASCAR race, then I had to fly out to California and do some autographs and PR stuff for Dorna. This last week and a half has been absolutely off the f-ing page. It has been crazy, but now it's done. I don't know what I'm running on, but I seem to be doing all right. A couple more Bud Lights, and I'll be dialed in." And don't confuse a Colin Edwards vacation for rest. "Nah, I'll get all the rest I need when I'm dead," Edwards said. Scott Rousseou John Hopkins the top of the time sheets in the first practice session of the weekend for the MotoGP bikes. His 1:24.785 put him into third, behind two other riders with plenty of Laguna Seca experience: Troy Bayliss (World Superbike winner 2002) and Hayden (AMA Superbike winner 2000). At the end of Friday, Hopkins was still in the top five after improving his lap time to a I:24.679, just under a half a second behind Hayden in first. "Coming here to America, I've waited for this my whole life," Hopkins said. ''I'm really excited to be here. Today went really well: The first session we were first; out of all three sessions, we never finished out of the top five. We're already concentrating solely on race tires, we know what the track is like, and we've set up the bike, so that's a positive. There's a couple of places that we need to make up some time. I don't think that I've used my full potential yet, which is good. I'm not maxed out; it's always good to have that extra in reserve. I feel comfortable doing the times I did today. My prediction was that we were going to do faster lap times, but I think this track has a lot of limitations of what any bike can do. You can only go so fast before a motorcycle lifts off going over turn one and going up into the Corkscrew and stuff. I predict that it's [the race] going to be faster lap times, but we haven't even hit the qualifiers [tires] yet." When asked about his personal opinion of Laguna Seca and how the other MotoGP riders were going to react, he had this to say at the end of day one. "There are going to be a lot of riders complain- ing," he said. "Honestly, truthfully, I love the track »"Coming here to America, I've waited for this my whole life... I'm really excited to be here." Just like his colleague Nicky Hayden, John Hopkins has waited a long time to ride in front of his American fans at his home grand priX. In his four years on the Suzuki team, Hopkins has shown great promise and is without a doubt one of the rising starts in the MotoGP paddock. He often rides the wheels off his Suzuki only to be relegated to the back of the pack and let down by his not-yet-competitive GSV-R. But lack of effort is one thing that Hopkins will never be accused of. The last time a grand prix visited the United States in 1994 Hopkins was I I years old, and haVing not raced in front of his fans since he left for Europe at the start of the 2002 season, Hopkins had high expectations for Laguna Seca. Hopkins ended his first home GP in eighth after pushing his Suzuki to the limit, but he proved that he wouldn't lay down or make excuses despite his bike's lack of performance. Here's a day-by-day look at the U.S. GP with John Hopkins. Friday: Things got off to a great start on Friday as Hopkins immediately jumped to and enjoy every minute of riding around here, even though I did clip a cement wall today [running wide on the exit of turn siX]. I ran off there, and that was like 'whooooo.· There are going to be a lot of riders that are going to be complaining a lot. But we need this race, and we need everyone to compete. MotoGP has so much potential, and we just need to show the American fans what this sport is all about." Saturday: With a full day under his belt and the lap times beginning to improve dramatically, Hopkins kept the pressure on and proved that he was able to keep his Suzuki at the front of the pack. This was encouraging for Hopkins, as his team was working more on their race setup than simply putting in a single fast lap. At the end of the day's first free practice session, Hopkins found himself in the top three with a I:24.05 I lap time, shaving almost a second off his best time from Friday. He had also cut his deficit to Hayden and only trailed the Honda rider by .333 seconds. The day's final outing for the MotoGP riders was qualifying, and it would be crucial to get a good position on the grid, as the Laguna Seca track can prove to be a difficult place to pass on. His final qualifying time was I:23.493 on his Bridgestone qUalifying tires, but Hayden had crushed the field by being the only rider to dip into the 22s with a I:22.670. After temporarily slotting onto the front row in final qualifying and then getting relegated to the final position on the second row in sixth when the smoke cleared, this is what Hopkins had to say ''I'm pretty much disappointed," he said. "We want to be on the front row. Like I figured, everyone is on a level playing field now. No one is out of the loop now, everyone knows where they're going, and everyone knows the track. You had the front-runners gunning for it. You have Valentino [Rossi] and [Alex] Barros riding hard, and Nicky rode really well. It's just so tight, we gave it everything we had, and I know we can be there on race tires. It's just going to be about getting a good start and going for it. I look forward to tomorrow and going for that podium." When asked if he was satisfied with the team's progress in getting the bike set up for Sunday's race, Hopkins said he was. "Yeah, definitely. We're able to run up front in the low 24s pretty consistently throughout our time on race tires; that is what the race pace is going to be tomorrow," he said. "It's 32 laps, it's a long race and it's all about getting a good start and hanging in there in the beginning. Once the race pace gets settled, it's going to be the guy who saves their tire to the end. Passing is difficult here so it's crucial to get a good start. Sunday: The start of the MotoGP race looked encouraging for Hopkins. He got a good start from his position on the second row of the grid. In the early running, he held Briefly... Continued from page 26 experience at keeping up so much comer speed, and these bikes carry that much. Even the tires are made more for keeping on the side and keeping the speed up in the corners. I'm not carrying as they do." The question of whether Repsol and Telefonica will join forces in 2006 is close to being resolved. At the request of Telefonica MoviStar, the Spanish giants met in Madrid the week prior to the U.S. GP. The discussion centered around forming one fourrider works team for next year, a proposal that had earlier been floated. The original proposal was to form one big team with Telefonica and Repsol, but that was rejected because of the fear of losing the Gresini team, currently backed by MoviSrar. The new proposal would Repsol featured prominently on two of the bikes, with Telefonica in a secondary position, and the other two would be the reverse. A resolution to the situation was forced when HRC signed a contract with 2SOcc World Champion Dani Pedrosa, the Telef6nica MoviStar Honda rider who's expected to graduate to MotoGP for next season. With Pedrosa in the Senior class, Telef6nica has to be connected with HRC to get signage on Pedrosa. Nicky Hayden's first pole came in the 38th start of his Grand Prix career. His previous qualifying best was a second at Mugello last year. Hayden became the first American to start on the pole since Suzuki's Kenny Roberts Jr. at last year's Rio GP. Hayden, who turns 24 on July 29, is also the youngest rider to start a MotoGP race from pole since Valentino Rossi at the 2002 British Grand Prix. American legends Freddie Spencer and Kevin Schwantz believe that Nicky Hayden's sensational debut victory could give him the confidence to emerge as Valentino Rossi's big future threat. After watching Americans claim a first and second in a premier-elass GP for the first time since 1993 when Schwantz beat Rainey at Jerez, Spencer said: "His confidence will go thrOUgh the roof now. I think this will really help Nicky get that monkey of his back, and I know how critical it is to get that first win. Once you get that first one out of the way, then you know what it takes to win the race, and now is his big chance to really show what he is made of." Schwantz, the 1993 World Champion said: "I don't know what he's been missing. But it seems as soon as a rider can get a win under his belt in whatever situation, whether its pissing down with rain or at a new track, it helps them move on to the next level they need. It might be the kick in the pants that sends Nicky to that next level where he can challenge Valentino." Exceptions were made for the U.S. GP in a number of areas, most visibly paddock access. Normal protocol prohibits organizers from selling paddock passes, but organizers sold 13,000 paddock passes which, during certain parts of the day, granted access to a patch of the MotoGP paddock between the garages and the temporary office and motor home areas. It wasn't full access, with marshals able to clear the area at times, while it was flooded at others. For a rider to get from his garage to his box could be considered either an act of bravery or lunacy, or neither, depending on the rider's popularity. An IRTA official said the exception was made because the American race fans are accustomed to being near the riders. CYCLE NEWS • JULY 20,2005 29

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