Suzuki call up Hopkins for Jerez
Added on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Suzuki call up Hopkins for Jerez
John Hopkins will replace the injured Álvaro Bautista in Jerez this weekend, marking a temporary return to MotoGP for the first time since 2007.
Hopkins, who will ride in the British Superbike championship this season, has been listed as Suzuki’s “reserve” rider following their decision earlier in the year to run a single-rider team and the Anglo-American was in Qatar for the season opener two weeks ago for promotional reasons.
The 27-year-old will replace Spaniard Álvaro Bautista, who is recovering in Spain following surgery on the broken left femur that he suffered during the first event of the season in Qatar and although Hopkins conceded that the situation wasn’t ideal, he was nonetheless happy to be making a return to the Grand Prix grid.
“I was shocked by what happened to Álvaro, especially after such good winter testing, and I really wish him a speedy and full recovery,” said Hopkins.”I wanted the opportunity to get back on a MotoGP bike, but not under these circumstances.
“I’m under no illusions that this will be tough weekend for me, as I’ve not been on a GP machine for a couple of years or ridden the new control tyres – except for the filming I did in Qatar a couple of weeks ago – so I realise this will be a step up from what I have been riding recently. The bikes have moved on in the last three years, but when I rode the GSV-R at Losail it seemed so familiar and I immediately had a good feeling, but that was at filming pace, so it’s going to be a lot different at race pace.
“I know the Jerez track well, so it’s not like I need to learn a new circuit and I also know the team well so that that will help a lot. I will certainly be trying as hard as I can to get a good result and make sure that I don’t disappoint anybody – myself included. I want to say a big thank-you to Suzuki and Rizla for giving me this opportunity and I intend to pay back their faith with a good performance on my return to MotoGP.”
