Makoto Tamada surprised spectators with his impressive performance at the Portuguese Grand Prix this weekend. In his Bridgestone-fitted Camel Honda RC 211 V the Japanese driver, who won the Rio-Grand Prix in July, took second place in the race. World Champion Valentino Rossi took pole position and Brazilian Alex Barros came in third place.

Bridgestone believes the result “confirmed the qualities of the latest Bridgestone compound generation.” John Hopkins claimed sixth place on his Suzuki GSV-R he commented: ” After qualifying, I knew that our Bridgestone tyres had very consistent grip, so I saved it all for a final attack on Carlos Checa. I managed to get ahead of him onto the back straight, but then I ran onto the white line and went wide, and he got by again. Horsepower is our biggest issue at the moment, and you have to ride the corners really hard to make up for it. But even though I would have liked to finish fifth, this was a great race. My team gave me a good bike today, and the tyres were exceptional.”