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Pacific Grand Prix, Motegi

RACE DAY 6th October 2002

JOHN HOPKINS and Garry McCoy finished 14th and 17th respectively in this afternoon's Pacific GP as round 13 of the MotoGP world championship came to a disappointing conclusion for the Red Bull Yamaha squad.
American Hopkins had produced a typically battling display to force his way up to 11th place by the end of lap 16, and he looked on course for yet another strong finish in his rookie season.
But as deterioration in grip from his Dunlop tyres began to take hold, the 19-year-old was powerless to stop himself from slipping down the standings.
Despite his problems, "The Hopper" has now scored points in 11 out of 13 races this year and a strong finish to the campaign could see him become the youngest rider to finish in the top 10 of the premier class world championship.
It was an equally frustrating day at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit for Australian McCoy who also suffered grip problems as the 24-lap race developed.
The 30-year-old saw his run of five successive points-scoring finishes come to an end as he failed to recover from a poor start. As he tried to force his way back into contention, McCoy's early race pace was badly hit when oil leaking from another machine splattered on his screen and visor.

JOHN HOPKINS ­ 14th World championship 12th ­ 53pts
"There's not really much I can say about that other than the rear tyre I had just faded badly towards the end of the race. I can't say it was a wrong tyre choice either. Once it started to slide around towards the end of the race I tried to adapt my riding style to the way the tyre was working but I just wasn't able to do it. It got so bad at one stage that I was having trouble ducking into corners. I've got some points but I'm sure we could have had some more. I felt comfortable leading that bunch when I was 11th. I've got to thank the team for all their effort this weekend, we've worked really hard and hopefully things will be better in Malaysia."

GARRY McCOY­ 17th World championship 20th ­ 32pts
"I jumped off the line really well but when I shifted to second the motor choked up but when it finally cleared I was right at the back. It was pretty messy trying to pass guys in the early laps and with Yoshikawa on the M1, he would just blast by me on the straights and I'd get him in the corners. I was really pushing and using a lot of energy and I was probably working the tyre a lot to make some progress. The race tyre worked really well on Saturday when the was a much higher track temperature but today I just didn't have any mid-corner grip.

PETER CLIFFFORD ­ TEAM DIRECTOR
"Today was very disappointing for both guys. They did what they could in the circumstances but it would seem we have not found the right combination for them this weekend. We obviously intend to do a great deal better in a weeks time in Malaysia.
 

SATURDAY 5th October 2002

RED BULL Yamaha duo Garry McCoy and John Hopkins will start alongside each other on the fourth row of the grid for tomorrow's Pacific GP at the Twin Ring Motegi.
McCoy and Hopkins finished 15th and 16th fastest respectively after both encountered late drama in this afternoon's final qualifying session.
Australian McCoy was once again caught up in some heavy traffic that disrupted his efforts to bump himself further up the grid. His best lap time of 1.50.702 was a massive 2.1s under his previous best ever lap time at the Twin Ring Motegi, and saw him slice 1.4s off his best time from yesterday. Unfortunately it only improved on his provisional grid position by three places.
It was an equally eventful finale for American Hopkins, who pulled off a miraculous recovery having almost crashed his YZR500 in the closing moments.
Trying to utilise the extra traction of Dunlop's qualifying tyre, Hopkins had all but tumbled off his bike when he somehow managed to save himself from hitting the gravel trap.
The evidence of the "Hopper's" brilliant save was clear afterwards as his leathers were badly scuffed on the right side.

GARRY McCOY ­ 15th 1.50.702
"On my second last run I was behind Tohru Ukawa when he drifted wide in the hairpin out on the back section of the track. It was on my hot lap and I had to chuck it under him but because I had to take a tighter line and I messed up my exit. On my final run I came across a lot of traffic. There were bikes everywhere and at one stage it seemed like a wall in front of me. I'm feeling pretty good with the race package we've got, but there's a race between the two-strokes and the four-strokes even more than ever now. I'm 2.1s faster than I've ever been at this track and I'm only 15th. It just looks so easy on a four-stroke. Earlier today I was talking to Loris Capirossi, and he said Alex Barros had told him the four-stroke is now a real 500 and the two-strokes that the rest of us are on is just like a 250."

JOHN HOPKINS ­ 16th 1.50.849
"I'm a little disappointed to be starting from where I am on the grid. I wanted to start a lot further up. But on my last flying lap I'd crashed but somehow managed to save it. I was in T2 going into a right-hander and I was pushing really hard when I lost the front end. I just dug everything in and it was a case of defying the laws of gravity. I really wanted to keep the bike upright because I thought I'd have time for another flying lap. But by the time I'd managed to stop the front sliding, only my heel was hanging on the tail section. I feel really confident for the race tomorrow. I was only 0.2s slower on race tyres than I was on qualifiers which is a big surprise, but that shows we've worked on finding a really good race set-up.

PETER CLIFFFORD ­ TEAM DIRECTOR
"Obviously the grid positions are not what we wanted. Unfortunately both final runs didn't work for John or Garry. John did a brilliant job to keep it on the wheels and I'm sure both guys will be able improve their positions in tomorrow's race. Both guys seem very confident with their race set-ups.

FRIDAY 4th October 2002

RED BULL Yamaha rookie John Hopkins ended his first day at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit full of optimism having finished 12th fastest in today's opening qualifying session.
The American teenager once again proved his effectiveness at learning new tracks quickly as he found the heavy braking nature of the 2.983 miles circuit perfectly suited to his aggressive riding style.
Hopkins set his fastest time on his last lap having opted to break with his normal weekend routine by running a Dunlop qualifier in the closing stages.
His best time of 1.51.356 saw 'Hopper' shave a massive 1.8s off his best time from this morning's free practice session, and was just reward for his efforts in surprisingly hot and humid conditions for the Twin Ring Motegi.
Team-mate Garry McCoy ended the session down in 18th place, although he is confident of significant improvements tomorrow after his final run was thwarted by slower riders. That was still 2.5s quicker than this morning's session when set-up and brake problems had hindered the 30-year-old.
The Pacific GP, round 13 of the 2002 MotoGP season, is the start of three back-to-back flyaway races that will include Malaysia and McCoy¹s home race at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia over the next two weeks.


JOHN HOPKINS ­ 12th 1.51.356
"Today went really well considering this is another track that I've never been to before. I spent most of the session trying out race tyres, but we never really found anything I particularly liked. We put in a qualifying tyre near the end, which we wouldn't normally do on a Friday unless rain is forecast for the next day. I just got my head down and extended my braking markers and found I could go much quicker. I learned that I was braking too early and that made me too slow at the apex of the corner. Now I pretty much know where the limits are but I still think I can brake even deeper tomorrow. I really like the track. There's a lot of hard braking which I like. It allows you to be really aggressive on the brakes and that's good for my style."

GARRY McCOY ­ 18th 1.52.125
"I had some problems this morning. One bike felt it was vibrating a lot while the other one had front and rear brake problems. I was thinking more about fixing the problems than riding fast. I'm pretty happy with this afternoon and I'm close to picking a race tyre already. I had a qualifier at the end of the session and on my flying lap I came across Kenny Roberts and Sete Gibernau. They just seemed to be cruising and by the time I'd found a hole through them, it was a bit too late. I thought it was a good lap."

PETER CLIFFFORD ­ DIRECTOR OF RACING
"That was another excellent performance from John. He was excellent all day and showed his ability at learning tracks quickly. At the start of the year he had to learn the bike as well as the tracks, but know he only has to learn the tracks his improvement is even faster. Garry has more to give tomorrow but his final run was spoilt today.