Hopkins Looking Forward to Brno

Henny Ray Abrams | July 24, 2008

Kawasaki’s John Hopkins began training today with an eye toward returning to fitness for the Czech Grand Prix in Brno after the traditional MotoGP summer break. Hopkins has been on crutches since a 140 mph crash during qualifying for the Dutch TT left him with a double fracture of the right tibia, a broken left ankle, and left knee damage. Following successful surgery by Dr. Arthur Ting, Hopkins was told he would need three weeks of complete rest and that the convalescence would be six to eight weeks. But Hopkins is ahead of schedule, despite not doing a very good job of listening to doctor’s orders. Though he was told not to put weight on his left foot until this coming weekend, he spent much of this past weekend’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on crutches, his left foot in an air cast. Now that he’s home, he’s begun training for Brno, which is three weeks away. “Actually, today was the first day just swimming. I actually swam laps today,” Hopkins said in a phone call. “Today was the first day of training for me. We’re definitely a week ahead of what they want it to be. It’s moving along really good. By Brno we should be able to ride and by Indy we should be back to 100%.” Hopkins said he can walk around his house on crutches, but takes off the air cast at night. “I can walk around, I can walk up the stairs day in and day out,” he said. After a disastrous first half of the season, Hopkins is eager to get back on the ZXRR in Brno. He’ll have the use of a new chassis, a new motor, and some swingarm and linkage adjustments. “Right now, with the new motor, the new parts, the chassis, I would say our season’s going to start basically in Brno,” he said.