After the disappointment of another technical DNF last time out at
Donington Park,
John Hopkins and Kawasaki bounced back during day one of the Dutch TT as the Anglo-American took an upgraded version of the ZX-RR to eighth position - less than half a second behind second fastest man
Valentino Rossi.
"It's been a good start for us today," confirmed John, riding with a back injury since Catalunya. "We have had some new specification engine parts to test and these have definitely shown an improvement.
"We're running pretty much the same set-up as last time out and the Kawasaki seems to be getting around here really well. The competition is close and apart from Casey [Stoner], who is a long way ahead, we're running the same times as everyone else so I'm pretty happy with that.
"The injury is starting to feel better now and I'm really feeling confident ahead of qualifying tomorrow," he added.
Team-mate Ant West, optimistic after a top ten finish last Sunday at Donington Park, struggled with chatter and a lack of exit grip on his way to 15th.
"I'm a bit frustrated to be honest," admitted the Australian. "I came here thinking that our set-up from Donington Park would be a good starting point for this circuit, but that's not been the case today. We've had some problems with chatter that we haven't had before, and we're struggling a little bit with drive out of the turns.
"But, my crew already have some ideas on how we can improve things tonight, which we'll check out during practice tomorrow morning. It looks like we've got a bit of a fight on our hands this weekend, but that's all part of the job. I really like the Assen circuit, so I hope we can get things sorted ready for qualifying tomorrow," he added.
