Hopkins fast in F1 car, Liuzzi 'loves' MotoGP.

Tuesday at Valencia saw Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins and Toro Rosso F1 star Tonio Liuzzi swap teams and machines, for a special high-speed taste of the other's racing world.

"I've been looking forward to today for weeks now," said Hopkins of his V10-powered test drive. "Ever since I had the seat fitting, this experience could not have come soon enough and today was a dream come true. At first it was a bit overwhelming, looking at all the buttons on the steering wheel, but once I understood the most important thing is to keep the heat in the tyres under braking then it all got easier.

"It's easy to say you can do this but when the time actually comes, it's quite a challenge and I spun it a couple of times. Then I began to get the hang of braking very late and on my final run I got a feeling for the car moving around underneath me. I could feel it drifting and I could sense the front end pushing coming out of the corners. I was trying my hardest and going for it without being reckless."

Before the test, Hopkins admitted his target was to get his F1 lap time down to his MotoGP pace from the Valencia Grand Prix weekend - but he did much more than that: The Anglo-American set a lap of 1min 31.663secs during Saturday's qualifying session, but a very impressive 1min 19.8secs in the F1 car, which is only around five-seconds off a competitive F1 driver's time at the track!

"By the end of the run, it began to feel natural to me," explained Hopkins, who took his first MotoGP pole position earlier this season. "I think I'd consider racing one of these in the future. I always knew it would be easier for me to get into four wheels than for Tonio on two, but with his lack of experience I think he did real good. He popped a wheelie and got his knee down!"

So what did Liuzzi think of his ride on the V4 powered 990cc Rizla Suzuki?

"It was an orgasm! It was amazingly cool! It was really great!" grinned the excitable Italian. "I've always loved bikes but after today, I love them even more, because the guys who race these are unbelievable and not human. The bike is like a crazy horse and it is really difficult to keep the front end down. I was trying, but I kept something in reserve because I could feel the shadow of Franz and Gerhard (Toro Rosso team bosses Tost and Berger) telling me to be careful as I am testing in two weeks! I think you just need to take more risks than I was prepared to take today.

"The way you tackle the lap is very different on two wheels, as the most important thing is to have the balls to keep the throttle open," he continued. "It was a fantastic adrenalin rush. The most amazing thing about the bike was the grip, as you can lean right over. Unbelievable! I would love to have a race on this bike."

And what did Liuzzi think of his fellow Red Bull backed racer?

"The Formula 1 car is a much more complicated technically to drive than the bike," reckoned Tonio. "But once John got the hang of the car and how it handled, he was very impressive and very fast."