Thursday, May 11, 2006
RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP BEFORE CHINA GP
Team Suzuki Press Office - May 9, 2006.Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is on its way to the Far East for round four of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship, as the team hopes to build on the encouraging performance in Turkey last week.The Polini Grand Prix of China will be only the second time that MotoGP has visited Shanghai and, during last year?s inaugural race, Rizla Suzuki rider John Hopkins led his first ever Grand Prix, a feat he is certainly hoping to emulate this weekend.The team travels to the 5.2km circuit buoyed by its recent performance in Istanbul where MotoGP rookie Chris Vermeulen took his first MotoGP pole position and then led the race. Hopkins also showed that the all new Rizla Suzuki GSV-R is getting closer to its rivals with a fantastic ride in second place during the early stages of the race.The Shanghai track features the longest straight on the MotoGP calendar where racers can achieve speeds in excess of 340km/h. This added to a combination of tight slow turns, rising and falling gradients and one of the most amazing hairpins in the world all add up to make Shanghai a quite breathtaking circuit.Rizla Suzuki MotoGP takes to the track on Friday 12th May for two practice sessions. This is followed on Saturday by another practice session and the exciting hour-long qualifying. The 22-lap race will get underway at 15.00hrs local time (07.00GMT).Paul Denning ? Team Manager:?We are all going to China in a positive frame of mind following the events of the last GP. Chris?s performance in the wet was incredible, and then to see both him and John run at the front of the race was very encouraging indeed.?We still know that we have a long way to go to get the GSV-R to the highest level and that Shanghai will be a very difficult circuit for us, but we are all focused on the job in hand and will be working as hard as always to get the best results. John really enjoyed it there in 2005 and China is also where he led his first ever GP. Chris will be at the circuit for the first time, but I know he has a fairly laid back view regarding the challenges of learning new course layouts.?Our riders are clearly capable of being competitive and that?s a big motivation for Suzuki in terms of getting the bike that final step closer to the podium pace.?
