MotoReview

With Dani Pedrosa on pole position and Valentino Rossi a couple of rows back on a bike that seemed to go well at the French track, it looked as though the race could be our first chance to see the hugely talented Spanish rookie go head-to-head with the man who has dominated GP motorcycle racing ever since it's ‘MotoGP' rebranding. And it was.

As the riders made their way onto the grid race control declared it a wet race; it wasn't raining but there were enough ominous-looking clouds that it made sense to do so. After this announcement any rider can enter the pits, switch to their second bike and rejoin the race, as long as the bike is on a different type of tyres (e.g. slicks to wets). Fortunately the rain held off until the chequered flag was raised at the end of the 28 lap race.

When the lights went out John Hopkins got a great start on the Suzuki GSV-R and was leading the pack, ahead of Pedrosa, Capirossi, Melandri and Rossi. The Suzuki rider managed to build up a bit of a gap between himself and the chasing pack and was looking to be in a good position, so long as his tyres held up. By lap three Valentino Rossi was up to third and then put in a typically smooth and effortless looking overtake to pass Pedrosa for second place.

A couple of laps later Rossi scythed past Hopkins for the lead; it looked as though the #46 rider and the M1 were back on form and looking to show the rookies exactly how it's done.

On lap 8 John Hopkins lost the front of his GSV-R from second place. The Anglo-American rider managed to get the bike upright and on track again but he'd lost a huge amount of time and was eventually able to scrape through in 15th.