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Rossi struggles in Japan practice
 Hopkins outshone Rossi in opening practice for Sunday's race in Japan MOTEGI, Japan -- Valentino Rossi, closing in on a fifth straight world title, struggled with his set-up in Friday's practice session for the Japanese Moto GP. The runaway championship leader was fourth quickest behind John Hopkins, but the 26-year-old Italian will not be unduly concerned ahead of Saturday's qualifying. Rossi needs only to finish second or better on his Yamaha in the 11th of 17 world championship races on Sunday to secure the title. Tires played a critical factor in Friday's times with Rossi's Michelins no match for the Bridgestone tires that led the way at their home grand prix. Suzuki's American Hopkins proved fastest, clocking one minute 47.95 seconds on his final lap of the afternoon. Italian Loris Capirossi, who signed up for another year with Ducati on Thursday, was second fastest with a lap of 1:48.05 ahead of American Kenny Roberts, who won at Motegi in 2000 when he won the world title, third for Suzuki. A 10th win of the year or second place on Sunday would secure Rossi's seventh world championship and his fifth in the top class. A fifth straight title would put him alongside with Giacomo Agostini and Mick Doohan as the only men to have won the world title in the top class five times or more. "We had a gearbox problem this morning ... so we probably lost about 15 minutes of the session," said Rossi. "My title rivals are behind me but at the moment I am not thinking about that. My target is to finish on the podium and then we'll see where everybody else is." 
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