Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins saw his hopes of a podium dashed today as he crashed out from fourth place during the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
Hopkins had been involved in a 13-lap battle with World Champion Nicky Hayden, and had just managed to get past him and begin to chase down the front three when disaster struck on lap 17. Suzuki’s Anglo-American star lost grip at the front end of the bike as a gust of wind caused him to run wide on a fast right-hand corner. He was unhurt in the crash, and although he re-mounted his battered GSV-R, was unable to collect any championship points as he brought his bike home in 19th place.
Chris Vermeulen had another eventful race – similar to the last outing in Qatar. He started from 14th on the grid and was relegated a couple more places during the first lap, but the determined Australian fought back to claim ninth place, passing some very experienced riders in the process. The third member of the this week’s Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team, Kousuke Akiyoshi, just missed out on the points during his first-ever European GP. He rode hard all race and finished in a respectable 17th place despite this being only his second ever Grand Prix start.
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