MotoGP – Motegi Day 1 – Hopkins is the best Suzuki rider

Today's free practice saw John Hopkins secure fourth position: the Bridgestones and the Suzuki GSV-R worked perfectly, right from the first moment on the track, so as to avoid having to prepare an entire setting for the bike. In fact the driver and his mechanics concentrated on the suspension and some other mechanical improvements, and then started thinking about the tires to test tomorrow.

“The day went pretty smoothly, – explained 'Hopper' – as the Bridgestone tires worked very well and the Suzuki too. We had to fix a couple of things, including the suspension, but we didn't have to do a whole setup because everything seemed to work well from the first exit from the garage. Tomorrow we will try a couple of things and test the durability of one of today's best tyres, but ultimately we are in great shape and everything seems to be going well.”

Chiara Folci