John Hopkins has been forced to withdraw from the rest of this Sepang GP weekend. The American rider has suffered a relapse of the same hand injury that ruled him out of his wildcard appearance at Brno last August.

At Brno, the Anglo-American rider fractured the middle finger of his right hand and had to undergo surgery to plate it, he recovered enough to take part in the last rounds of British Superbike season where he finished second overall in the standings, however after taking part in yesterday’s practice sessions, he aggravated the injury which prompted him to pullout from the rest of the weekend.

“I knew my hand was sore after yesterday afternoon, because it was hurting when I was riding. It is definitely a lot more painful riding a MotoGP bike than it was the British Superbike, mainly due to the immense braking forces on the GSV-R. I woke up just before six this morning and I had quite a bit of pain so I tried to loosen it up and bend it, but that wasn’t an option. The screws and the plates in the finger have come apart and there’s just no movement in the knuckle at all, so I cannot bend the finger. If I get any further damage to the injury it could result in amputation and I certainly don’t want that! He is optimistic that the problem can be resolved in time and will not become a recurrent issue. My doctor is totally confident that he can fix it, but I just haven’t been able to rest it and give it the proper time needed to repair it over the last six weeks. I thought it would be fine to ride this weekend and had every hope of it working, but I didn’t expect the amount of force that goes into riding a GP bike would cause such a problem. It’s heartbreaking and I can’t express my disappointment. It’s such a shame and I couldn’t be more upset, but the priority now is to get it fixed and get myself ready for the 2012 season.”

Hopkins is on LCR Honda’s 2012 riders short list, as well as Crescent Suzuki’s who will debut in World Superbikes next season.

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After finishing second in this year’s British Superbike Championship, Crescent Suzuki has decided to make the jump to the big leagues and will be contesting in the 2012 World Superbike Championship.

The British based team owned by MotoGP’s Rizla Suzuki’s manager John Denning and run by Jack Valentine has made numerous wild card appearances in World Superbikes, their latest was at this year’s Silverstone round where John Hopkins grabbed the pole position and finished 5th and 7th in the two races.

The Anglo-American rider who lost the title in his rookie year in the BSB Championship by just two points, is on the top of Crescent Suzuki’s shopping list, but Hopkins wants to make a return to MotoGP and is still waiting on a decision by LCR Honda’s team manager Lucio Cecchinello and Hopkins might get it this weekend at Sepang, as he’s wildcarding for the Rizla Suzuki team.

Press release after the jump.

Continue reading: Crescent Suzuki to join World Superbikes in 2012

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John Hopkins has made no secret that after cleaning up his act, he wants to return to the international racing scene, and the Anglo-American rider’s last wildcard appearance in MotoGP at Brno in August, which unfortunately ended up with him withdrawing after fracturing his hand during practice, and wanting another shot at riding the GSX-R.

According to British website MCN.com Rizla Suzuki will be giving it to him, as he’ll be competing as a wildcard at the Sepang GP, October 23rd.

On the British Superbike homefront, Hopkins still retains the lead in championship after Sunday’s round 11 at Silverstone, which saw him take 1st in race 1 and a 3rd in race 2. The Samsung Crescent rider has an eight point advantage over Swan Yamaha’s Tommy Hill going into the final race of season at Brands Hatch.

Check out the video highlights of the BSB Silverstone round after the jump.

Continue reading: John Hopkins to get another MotoGP wildcard ride

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John Hopkins won both British Superbike races at Donington Park earlier this month, despite still being in recovery mode after the surgery that he had to fix the hand injury he picked up during his MotoGP wildcard ride at Brno last month.

However the Anglo-American rider, who is rumored to make a comeback to international racing in either MotoGP or World Superbikes, wasn’t satisfied with the healing process and the fact he still had pain in his finger decided to undergo a further check-up that revealed that he had areas still fractured in his middle finger and had to undergo surgery to have it micro-plated and screwed.

Hopkins said: “There was a lot of pain in my fingers at Donington Park, and I knew it wasn’t right and in fact I was very worried I’d aggravated the injury. So I rushed back to see my surgeon on the Monday. The x-rays showed that my middle finger wasn’t locating properly in the second knuckle. Fortunately the bone area that had previously been crushed was now nicely healed and so my surgeon was able to put in screws and plates so as to stabilize the finger. I could feel straight away that the finger was much stronger and it’s improved every day since. I’m now very confident that I’ll be able to ride at near-enough one hundred percent at Silverstone next weekend.”

The next Showdown will be at Silverstone this upcoming weekend, where Hopkins scored the pole position in his wildcard appearance in the World Superbike round and finished 5th and 7th for his Samsung Crescent Suzuki team.

Check out the video highlights of the Donington Park round, where Hopkins won both races despite his injury.

Continue reading: John Hopkins undergoes more surgery ahead of BSB Silverstone round

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John Hopkins second return appearance in MotoGP at Brno was cut short after he sustained a hand injury during a wet third free practice, leaving the Anglo American rider wanting another chance to ride for his old Rizla Suzuki team and show off what he can do before the end of this 2011 season.

Hopkins came back from his injury to win both British Superbike races at Donington Park on Sunday in the first Showdown which put him ahead of Tommy Hill by three points in the standings, and wants a full-time ride in MotoGP next season and Lucio Cecchinello of LCR Honda admitted he’s highly interested in picking up Hopkins, especially if his ongoing talks with Andrea Dovizioso should fall through.

With just two round left in British Superbike championship (Silverstone and Brands Hatch), Hopkins could easily take part in at least one of the last three rounds of the MotoGP championship.

Speaking to mcn.com he said, “There are still three races after the BSB championship and I have every intention of doing all I can to get out there.”

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As expected John Hopkins will be skipping this weekend’s 9th round of the British Superbike round at Cadwell Park.

The Anglo-American rider is still recovering from the finger injuries and the subsequent surgery he had to undergo after his crash during MotoGP’s free practice at Brno where he was riding as a wildcard for Rizla Suzuki.

Samsung Crescent Racing Team Manager Jack Valentine said:

“Unfortunately Hopper’s hand is not healed enough to race this weekend, and while this is disappointing to us and the fans it is the right decision when we consider the upcoming Showdown phase of the championship. Hopper’s been in daily contact as he’s undergone intensive laser treatment and hyperbaric chamber sessions. He’s explained the external pins are expected to be removed on Wednesday, but of course the weekend is too soon after that for his hand to be sufficiently healed. We will, we suspect, lose a few podium points to our rivals in the Showdown, but to race a superbike at a track such as this when you don’t have 100% strength in your throttle and brake hand is simply too dangerous both to the rider and his competitors and would only stand to slow Hopper’s recovery from the injury.

Hopkins has been linked to a return in MotoGP next season, either with Rizla Suzuki or as Italian media is reporting with LCR Honda.

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John Hopkins second appearance in MotoGP at Brno, was cut short after a crash during a wet FP3 left him with a break and dislocation to his third finger and a dislocation to his second finger of his right hand.

Hopkins underwent surgery two days ago after returning home and unfortunately for the Anglo-American rider who has had his fair share of injuries in his career, this one turned out to much more worse than what it seemed after he was treated at the Clinica Mobile.

“Today’s surgery went very well but the injury itself was much worse than what we originally expected. Exact recovery time and when I will be back on the bike is yet to be determined but I can say I will be 100% or close to by Donington Park,” Tweeted Hopkins, adding the pic of his newly operated hand.

Whether Hopkins will want to risk riding his Samsung Crescent Suzuki at the British Superbike 3 race round at Cadwell Park that takes place in nine days still remains to be seen, even if he’s already qualified for the Showdown.

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John Hopkins MotoGP weekend at Brno has been cut short after a crash in this morning’s wet FP3, that left the Rizla Suzuki wild card rider with a break and dislocation to his third finger and a dislocation to his second finger in his right hand.

Hopkins tweeted that he’ll after have to undergo surgery to correct the problem, “Brno weekend is over w/ surgery needed on my right hand ! I am very sorry to the team and all fans for having such a stupid crash!!”

“This morning’s injury is a huge disappointment to all of us at Rizla Suzuki and of course mostly to John,” said team manager Paul Denning. “He is completely devastated that he is not able to compete in the Grand Prix tomorrow, especially as his form yesterday was extremely promising. He was just building up to speed very gradually in the wet conditions and, on the first lap that he tried to push a little bit harder, he made a simple mistake and folded the front. It was on exactly the same corner that Casey had done the same thing at the start of the session, but John was just less lucky and as he entered the gravel trap the angle of his hand meant that the impact folded his fingers. This caused a substantial break to one finger and further damage to another. If the injury had been his left hand he would be on the GSV-R this afternoon, but to control a MotoGP bike and expect to be competitive with that injury to his throttle and braking hand is completely unrealistic.”

Continue reading: John Hopkins sustains injury, ruled out of Brno GP

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John Hopkins can be defined the comeback rider. After his personal and physical problems in 2010, that almost forced him to retire, the Anglo-American rider is back on track and burning hot and true this 2011 season and becoming a hot commodity.

Riding in the British Superbike Championship for Samsung Crescent Suzuki, Hopkins is currently second in the standings and during the Brands Hatch round last weekend picked up even more precious points (finishing second, third and fourth place) and after a stunning pole position at the World Superbike weekend at Silverstone (5th and 7th) the American is ready to return to MotoGP action at Brno as a wildcard.

“This is my third race in as many weeks and I am really looking forward to it! It’s been very busy and doing these three different championships back-to-back is quite a challenge, but I am really excited to be back in amongst the big boys at MotoGP. When I rode at Jerez earlier in the year I’d had no real 2011 racing experience so it was a bit ‘in at the deep end’. It was also the first time I’d raced with my wrist working properly since the operation, up until then it was still healing and the few times I’d been on a bike in 2011 had been for pre-season tests and the filming shoot at Qatar. Now I feel that I have gained more confidence and I’m riding better than ever. I’m really pumped that the race is at Brno because it is one of my favourite tracks and I hope I can go well. I’m under no illusions that it will be tough, because the other guys have been racing on MotoGP bikes all season and I’ll need some time to get up to speed with the bike and tyres, but I’ll be giving it all I’ve got to try to get a good result for the team.”

Hopkins is also one of the few riders in the world to have competed in three different championships in a single year, not to mention three different races in three consecutive weeks (WSBK, BSB and MotoGP).

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Superpole 1 saw one rider less on the grid at Silverstone after Tom Sykes crashed during FP2. The Kawasaki rider sprained his ankle and picked up a mild concussion. The first stint went to Eugene Laverty with a best lap of 2.04.919, and the first rider to go under the 2.05 mark. Michel Fabrizio taking second in the last minute after being down in 13th.

Max Biaggi managed a 4th spot despite a low side crash in the early minutes of the session after putting his tires outside the racing line. Ayrton Badovini also crashed out and he finished 12th. Carlos Checa almost didn’t make the cut and decided to go for a fast lap in the final minute which put him in 3rd.

Not making the cut to SP2 were Jakub Smrz, James Toseland and Maxime Berger.

Continue reading: John Hopkins nabs Superpole at Silverstone

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John Hopkins’s wildcard effort at Silverstone are now no longer a surprise as the Samsung Crescent Suzuki rider finished ahead of Carlos Checa in this tight QP2 practice.

The Anglo-American in the finale of the session lapped in 2.05.058s which was 0.045s faster than the Althea Ducati rider. The next two spots were taken by Ducati riders, Sylvain Guintoli on the Effenbert-Liberty machine, while Maxime Berger (Supersonic) continued his impressive performance from Q1 finishing fourth.

Marco Melandri who was a lowly 14th yesterday took fifth this morning, and Leon Camier had another strong showing with his sixth, while team mate and reigning World Champion Max Biaggi is still struggling at the back of the grid in 15th and barely made the Superpole cut.

Those who didn’t make it into Superpole were returnee Troy Corser, Castrol Honda’s replacement riders Alex Lowes and Fabrizio Lai, Joan Lascorz, Roberto Rolfo and Jon Kirkham.

Continue reading: WSBK Silverstone: John Hopkins sneaks up on Carlos Checa in QP2

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This morning’s World Superbike’s first free practice at Silverstone was under cloudy skies, with cool temperatures (15°C) and there were three unusual suspects in the first three spots; Samsung Crescent Suzuki’s John Hopkins, Leon Camier and Jakub Smrz.

Hopkins, who is currently second in the British Superbike was continuously in the top ten in the 60 minute session and layed down a 2.06.667 lap that took him to the top of the chart. Camier was 0.221s off pace on his home circuit and no doubt those rumors that he’s is going to be dropped at the end of the season have helped spur him on.

Jacob Smrz was third. The Czech rider is well known for his do or die last laps just before the chequered flag in practice sessions. A very welcome surprise was James Toseland in fourth, making his return from injury. He promised he would push as hard has he could at Silverstone and it looks like he’s meaning to keep his word.

The fifth spot went to points leader Carlos Checa, followed by another returnee from injury, Troy Corser. The BMW rider lingered at the back of the field for most the session only to find something in the finale, while team mate Leon Haslam finished right on his tail in seventh.

Michel Fabrizio was eighth followed by Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli rounding out the top ten. Castrol Honda’s replacement riders Alex Lowes and Fabrizio Lai were 12th and 22nd respectively. And if you’re wondering were Checa’s main rivals in the championship ended up, they were at the back of the grid, Marco Melandri took 14th while Max Biaggi was down in 16th.

Continue reading: WSBK Silverstone: John Hopkins struts his stuff in FP1

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