Bad weather would help Ryo's quest, and give Roberts and Hopkins an extra opportunity to exploit their proven skills in difficult conditions – and it is always a possibility at the Twin-Ring Motegi circuit, built among mountains almost midway between the cities of Mito and Utsonamiya.
Hopkins, in his first year with the team, will be returning to action at Motegi after missing the last race at Rio de Janeiro. 'Hopper' fell heavily in qualifying, and though lucky to escape fractures, he was unable to take part in the race.
"John just tells me he's fine when I ask how he is," his mum Linda told
Crash.net. "I see how he is walking and I don't think he's fine, he would have ridden his motocross bike if he was and he hasn't brought it out of the garage once. But nothing is broken and he's tough, he'll be ok soon."
"I got all checked out back in the USA, and it turns out I have a torn muscle in my left calf, which is still real tender; and I sprained my wrist pretty good, and I've been having trouble holding on to the bars of a road bike," confirmed the #21. "But I've been cycling, and I should be a lot better for race weekend. I like the track... there's a lot of hard braking corners, and I don't mind a bit of hard braking!"
The Pacific GP is the 13th of 16 rounds, and the first in a trio of back-to-back flyway events, moving on to Sepang in Malaysia and Phillip Island in Australia before the finale in Valencia in November. Ryo will be racing as a wild card in the Malaysian round as well as at Motegi.
"We're coming to the end of a difficult season, and it would be good to get some improved results to show our progress – and our intentions for next season," said team manager Garry Taylor. "The riders, team and factory staff haven't let up working all year. I think we all need some sort of a reward for our efforts."
