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John Hopkins: A 2006 in Review |
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Saturday, 11 November 2006 |
 Could 2007 be his year?
Racer Digest: How would you describe your 2006 season?
John Hopkins: To be honest with you, I thought it went alright. We had quite a few good grid positions and we finished consistently throughout the season. We had a bit of upset in the beginning of the season at some races and without any control, ended up not scoring any points or anything. That set us back a little bit because we could have finished quite a bit higher in the points if we had been able to score some points in those races. I would have liked to have gotten on the podium, but unfortunately we never made it this year, but at the end of the day we scored a lot of points I don’t think it was too bad. The Suzuki is progressively improving.
RD: It is obvious that Bridgestone has stepped up as well, are you a lot closer to having a complete package that puts you at the front?
JH: Yeah, I think that everything is pointing upwards for us. Suzuki is working really hard and they are putting a lot of budget into it this year, more than they ever have before. On top of that Bridgestones are getting better and better and I think they are going to have a pretty good set up next year. I think Bridgestones are going to be quite good, a lot of teams are going over to them next year. It definitely could be our best season at Suzuki.
RD: There were rumors that several teams were courting you for the 2006 season. What factors were a part of your decision to stay at Suzuki?
JH: The basic thing is the crew chief. Having a good crew chief and having good mechanics and all that around you is a big positive. That was a lot of the reason why I stayed. Another reason as well was that I got a lot of promises from the factory, promises from the team manager saying about the budget and showed us the figures that they were putting in and that stuff. It was a lot of things really. The main one was really that I really wouldn’t want to jump ship and go to another bike that really was a proven winner, when I have already been with the Suzuki 4 stroke since… except for one year, since the beginning. The satisfaction of being able to put that bike on the podium consistently or running at the front consistently is a lot more of an honor, I would say than going to a bike that is already a proven winner.
RD: How have things changed for you personally since coming into MotoGP five years ago?
JH: Everything. It’s a lot of ways, a lot of things have changed. My fitness and everything, I train all the time now. Other than that, you improve, your riding skills, your everything, it all improves over four or five years.
RD: When Kenny left for 2006 you became the experienced rider on the team. How has this year been different from the others?
JH: It’s been good. I’ve been able to get a lot of input on the bike and put a lot of my own input into the bike. So it’s good, because as well Chris (Vermuelen – Hopkin’s teammate) is always 100 percent determined and at the end of the day you always want to beat your teammate and that. It’s been good because he’s been pushing 100 percent whereas Kenny never did for a lot of the rides when I was at Suzuki. It’s been a really good year and a competitive year. We’ve been able to step it up in speed and consistency as well.
RD: Are you doing the mainstay of the development work?
JH: No, not really. Our team is really good in the sense that we are really good back and forth comparing notes and everything. Me and Chris actually have completely different styles and we set the bike up completely different. It’s good because we get the best of both worlds out of the bike. Because there are certain things that he does better and certain things that I do better so if we can get the package to do it all consistently good, then I think we’ll have an all around good bike. The way it is working right now, I think it’s perfect. Both of us are both working just as hard.
RD: How are your getting along with your new teammate Chris V?
JH: I get along with Chris quite well. I think he is a good guy, you know we don’t really hang out too much outside of the race track, but at the race track we talk and go over things and work together. It’s a pretty good relationship at the moment.
RD: How do you see yourself stacking up against the competition when the season finally rolls around on the new bikes?
JH: Just getting the best out of my bike, that is the main thing. And making sure that I am capable of doing the best that I can. It is unpredictable at the moment how it is going to go. A lot of guys, a lot of new riding styles. I don’t know, it’s going to be good. You have the young riders especially going for it hard since they came off the 250 not too long ago and holding the corner speed on that. My goal is to get the most out of my machine and myself basically. And then, at the end of the day we are at the front where we want to be, that is more than positive.
RD: How has testing the 800 been this year?
JH: Well, I’ve only ridden the bike once, for two sessions in a day and a half. It’s good you know, I think it is going to suit my style because I learned to ride on bikes that were quite underpowered so my corner speeds had to be higher. I think it is going to suit my style a little bit and what we have tested so far it is the best machine we have ever had at this point in the year. So there are many things to look forward to, and it’s quite exciting really.
RD: I know that the 800s are smaller and the times are pretty close, but do they feel slower?
JH: No, physically it feels slower, the motor is slower but you hold quite a bit more corner speed really.
RD: How does all this testing translate to the real racing world? Some guys can be fast in testing and compete for 20th place when the flag drops. What makes the difference?
JH: It is the same as it has always been every year, really. Testing and into the racing, but we got a lot more testing to do and a lot more track time, we are going to end up being sick of it by the time we even have to go to the first race. Once we leave home in January the riders and mechanics aren’t going to be able to go anywhere. You’re going to have to live out of your suitcase until after the first race in March. No rider really has more than four days off from January to March.
Any time we get the chance to chat with an American hopeful I'll take it and you can be sure that when the time comes, John Hopkins will be fighting for the win in 2007. Throughout the upcoming season we will have more time to talk with John and get his perspective on the MotoGP scene.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 January 2007 )
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Friday, 03 November 2006 |
Tommy Hayden has been very busy lately. After finishing up a long year of development on the Kawasaki Superbike project, he decided to make the move to the Factory Suzuki Team alongside Mat Mladin and Ben Spies. A few short weeks after his own season was over he has puddle jumped back and forth to Europe through the lows and highs of his brother's GP season. As soon as that was over, back to Willow Springs to test with his new bike and team.I caught up with him on day two of his new career path and despite a busy schedule, the oldest Hayden is in good spirits and seems to be enjoying his current plight.
Racer Digest: How was Valencia?
Tommy Hayden: It was super exciting, you know I went to Portugal and we kind of had an emotional roller coaster I guess you could say. I mean you talk about extreme lows and highs in just a couple of weeks. It was pretty exciting coming into the last race all the hype was really exciting and really fun, and it worked out really good for Nick. It was just a really cool weekend to be there and to be a part of it was good.
RD: Are you sick of traveling?
TH: Well I’ve done a lot lately, I mean, I guess technically this is supposed to be my off season, but I’m traveling more than during the season. I was in Portugal and then I came home and then went back to Spain and then straight out here for the test at Willow (Springs, CA) We are going to Malaysia next week so definitely getting some miles in. But I have been having a good time and enjoying it so it’s been fun.
RD:Describe your year on the Kawasaki Superbike
TH: It definitely wasn’t anything special, I mean I had a few good races with getting on the podium, but no wins. I didn’t expect to come out in the first year on a new bike and dominate, but I hoped that we could have challenged a bit closer. It was definitely a little bit disappointing for me. That was a little bit frustrating at times through the season but I do feel like I learned some stuff and I had a few good races. This year I am on some equipment that has pretty much dominated over the last few years with different riders. The bikes are good and the team has a pretty good track record over the last ten years. I think they have won eight or nine of the last ten Superbike titles so it definitely seems like I’m in a good place. I’ve got to try and make the most of it.
RD: Were there any problems with the team, or was it time for a change?
TH: Towards the end of the summer there were some things that I thought could have been handled better. There’s definitely a few things that I feel like some people let me down. But I don’t want to, the easiest thing to do is to bad mouth your old employer like that. They were good to me for a long time, I won a lot of races, two championships and enjoyed my time there. My team, my guys, my actual mechanics, the guys working on the bike, those guys are going to be hard to replace. I had a lot of good times with those guys, you know I really believed in them. That made my decision a little bit tough, but towards the end of last year I just didn’t agree with a few things and how some things were handled. I just decided maybe it was time to make a change and do something different, so that is kind of what happened.
RD: You and I spoke in the summer about developing the Kawasaki Superbike, were you getting the kind of support that you needed from the factory?
TH: They were helping. You know in my opinion, I think we could have used some more help. We could have worked together a little bit better. I think that there are definitely some other companies that are working together more closely. Especially in the first year I felt like we were developing, but we started out going really good through the winter tests and then, I don’t know for what ever reason it just seemed like it slowed down. Maybe they were content with what we were doing, I’m not actually sure but the bike pretty much stayed the same through the summer. That, I think, wasn’t a good thing. It didn’t help anybody any.
RD: What are some of the things that drew you to Suzuki?
TH: Well obviously, like I said, their track record. Over the last ten years in the Superbike class it looked like they had the bike to beat, they had a good team, that looks pretty good to me. That was one of the big things and I’m kind of looking forward to being teammates with Mat (Mladin). The guy that has experience and everything that he has accomplished over the last ten years, I hope to be able to learn some stuff from him. That was something that I thought about and they expressed a lot of interest and really showed that they wanted me a lot. That’s always a good feeling, and I think that’s a good way to start things off.
RD: Were they the only ones that were after you?
TH: Seriously, we had talked to a few people, but once they were showing a strong of an interest as they were, they were pushing for me, I had my mind made up. That is where I wanted to go, so I didn’t give anything else much thought.
RD: I know that you only have been with them for one day, but what are some of your initial impressions of what you have done so far?
TH: It’s only been one day, but over the last month I’ve been to the shop and different things a few times, met with my crew and my whole team. The machine’s good, I mean obviously every team works different and they have a different mentality over there a little bit and the team’s good. Nothing I see that I don’t like, it’s just different. Everyone seems to work hard and got the same goal and that is to win races and what ever it takes to do that, it seems like they are open for.
RD: You got to test the bike yesterday (November 1st) right?
TH: Yeah, I tested yesterday.
RD: How was it?
TH: It was good. It was kind of a weird day really. I’ve been with the same team for five years so a lot of the normal, my routine and things I’m used to, and different things, it was just kind of weird yesterday. At the same time, I think it was really exciting and really cool to just have some new colors on and a lot of new faces. Everyone was really good and made me feel welcomed. I had a good day. We had great weather and got a lot of laps in. It was good. The bikes seemed really good straight away. We didn’t take a lot of time to get used to either bike. I rode both bikes and felt pretty comfortable on them straight away. Obviously they are different than what I am used to riding, you know they have a lot of different characteristics, but nothing that I didn’t like. Just a little bit different, so I just need some more time and I am really looking forward to it. I can’t wait for next week so I can get out and do some more testing.
RD: Stepping up from development rider to an established team, do you think success will come much easier now that you don’t have to develop and race at the same time?
TH: I hope so. That is the way that I want it to be, but you know how it is in this world. Things don’t always happen the way you want. That is one thing that drew me towards moving over to Yoshimura. It is pretty well established. I think hopefully the bike is as good as it looks like it has been over the last few years and then it is just up to me. I just worry about my riding and concentrate on what I feel are different weaknesses maybe and what I can improve on and try to work on that and just worry about that part of it, instead of all the things that go through your mind when you are developing a bike.
RD: In the middle of the summer the AMA said okay we can do traction control. Did you guys start work on any of that over at Kawasaki, or was that just a foregone conclusion?
TH: Yeah, we did start on it. Towards the end of the season we had a few tests, we had a few of our engineers from Japan come over and started playing with it, but that’s not a turnkey deal, it’s a serious project and it needs to be adapted to your riding style and different things. It’s a long road if you are starting from scratch. You know, we had it and we had it working fairly good. I don’t think we ever really got it good enough to where we could go around the track faster. But it was working and we were using it some, maybe it was helping the tire a little bit, but I would say there’s definitely a lot of room left to go on that.
RD: Did you try the system out on the GSX-R at all?
TH: A little bit. You know they had some stuff they were working on. Just right at the end, I kind of messed with it a little bit, just trying to get a feel for what they had. There is so much new stuff and so many other things to do yesterday (November 1st) that was going to be probably a little bit more down the road at the next test or something where I start using that.
RD: A lot of the guys I have talked to have said that it is hard to over come that thought in your head to just keep the throttle open the whole time, and commit to leaving that open.
TH: Yeah, but you see a lot of people still crash with it. It’s not training wheels, you know it’s not magic. It’s just a little aid. It can definitely still get away from you and it’s not completely idiot proof. So you still got to respect the bike and it’s hard to get a little bit of trust, but it’s not like you can get in the corner and hold it wide open because it’s not going to fix that. It’s not the fix for all problems and I have ridden some pretty good systems. I’ve rode the GP bike and different things and they have a pretty advanced system there and it works alright, but you still have to ride it. There still is throttle control involved, like I said it is not magic.
RD: It sounds like things are going pretty well then, when we talked at Mid Ohio in August the results hadn’t come yet and it just seemed like it was a rough go a little bit. It’s good to hear you are doing well.
TH: Thanks, I appreciate it. You know I am pretty excited and I have had a good off season so far. I have been enjoying myself and I am really looking forward to this season. I am really motivated and excited and I can’t wait. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 March 2007 )
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