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Silver Bullet is very grateful to receive this material from Desiree Crossman, reporting on John (Hopper) Hopkin`s MotoGP exploits and her own newsy, behind the GP scene column that is not always PC.
Desiree will be providing Silver Bullet with her column on a regular basis.
Check out HOPPER`S WEBSITE
Hello!
First, let\'s get a weather update. Fine day expecting crap the next two days, cold and rainy. So I can\'t show off my tan? Bummer. Anyway, so today was a critical day for the riders.
Proton KR got their new 4 stroke bike. I think it still needs some improvement as does any new bike, but it looks good and the boys seem to ride it right. You know Jeremy can ride the life out of any bike, good on him. Nobu too.
Alex and Marco are up to par with their injuries. I know they\'re not 100% still, at least I don\'t think. But Alex was on it and he was on pole for the last few minutes of qualifying and then he crashed. I think Marco was 5th the last time I saw the board. And you guessed who got pole!
Anyway, for the first session, John and Max ran off the track at the same place the same time. At first I saw Max run off and in the back round I can see john right behind him, but he didn\'t crash, just got back on the track.
In the second session, apart from what I just wrote, Alex crashed in the last few minutes and either couldn\'t get his bike to start again or just decided to call it. Nori was doing quite well too, but he ended up crashing. I don\'t know exactly where he ended up in the final results but it wasn\'t too bad. Troy didn\'t too shabby, I think this was his first time here. Loris was on it as usual, I believe he got 3rd in qualifying?
Towards the end of the session, John went by with Gaz McCoy, and on the tv screen I could see Gaz in the first section but not John. I couldn\'t tell if he crashed or the bike broke(again), so I stood up and everyone was wondering where he went. Then we saw him come in from the back of th garage and so the mechanics got his spare ready and he went out with about 10 minutes to go in the session. Apparently the bike did brake, or stall, no gas, I don\'t know. I try to not hear what happened. I don\'t ask John either cause\' he\'s already frustrated as it is.............oh wait...........ah, it dropped a valve. Andy the Ohlins guy told me. So anyway, John went out there and rode his ass off, from 20th to 9th. He was the fastest in one section and had a quick lap bringing him to that place. Did alright on the spare bike. He ended up 11th though cause\' two riders got him, but it was good for the circumstances.
Kenny was going good in the first session, but I think he was 15th for the second. Everyone was picking up the pace. He got a new motorhome and it\'s sound proof. Can\'t hear ANYTHING! Good deal. Roe was telling me she can take a full bath without having to conserve water.
In the last few minutes, Marco was on a hot lap but crashed in the first section. Norick was trying to dodge the bike on the track, but he ended up running off too. Oh well, the session was over anyway and no one was seriously injured which is good.
Anyway, there\'s my update for the day, I\'ll check back tommorrow for Q2. Like I said, it\'s suppose to rain so I don\'t doubt if the times will improve. WCM couldn\'t ride again, which is a real bummer. It\'s not the riders fault FIM can\'t technically defy a rule.I don\'t know the exact circumstances, but shouldn\'t punish the riders.
Des.
