Suzuki optimistic despite poor practice

Suzuki have been frontrunners at most races so far this year, but John Hopkins' eighth place in morning practice was their best performance on a difficult opening day in Holland.

"I can honestly say we struggled a bit with set-up this morning - we were nowhere near where we wanted to be," said Hopkins.

"This is one of the first tracks this year that we have showed up at and had to work really hard to get the bike how we want it.

"The crew has worked really hard to get us up to near where we have to be - we are still a bit behind, but we can make that up. We've got some stuff to try in the morning that I am sure will make things even better."

Hopkins believes the team made a breakthrough right at the end of the second session.

"In the last run at the end of this afternoon's session we found some big things that really moved us forward, it was almost like a night and day difference," he said.

"I now can't wait to get back out on track, it's a shame we don't have another hour today as I'm sure we could smooth some more things out and make a big step up."

Team manager Paul Denning agreed that Hopkins' pace at the end of the afternoon augered well for a better weekend.

"It's been a hard day for the whole team and we are now in a better position than this morning," he said.

"The gaps in performance of all the riders here at Assen seem quite small and we've yet to unlock the full potential of the GSV-R.

"However, towards the end of this afternoon's session, John took a significant step forward and now feels a lot more confident in the bike and his own ability to run with the front group."

Chris Vermeulen only managed 13th and 15th on the second Suzuki in practice and had several issues.

"We've had a few problems on the bike today, but the biggest has been the brakes," he said.

"We've had a bit of inconsistency and I've had to work the lever really hard and that has given me a bit of arm pump. We have tried a lot of things and improved considerably this afternoon.

"I did get a bit of chassis vibration later on in the session, but we know what that is caused by and we'll put it right tomorrow. We still have a lot to come from me and the bike around here and I know (chief technician) Tom (O'Kane) and the crew will be working flat out to find the answers that we need."

Denning added: "We will need to find some more solutions to help Chris - the position he is in is horrible, but the gap in lap time is not impossible to make up."