Hopkins In For Sepang

Henny Ray Abrams | September 29, 2011

John Hopkins is hoping he shows up in Sepang for his MotoGP wild card ride on the Rizla Suzuki as the British Superbike Champion. That job comes October 8-9 in the season finale triple-header at Brands Hatch. Hopkins will race in his second MotoGP of the season in Malaysia on October 23.This would be Hopkins’s third MotoGP start of the season if not for the hand injury he suffered during practice at the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno. He’s had several surgeries since then on the injured right hand – mostly on a badly injured finger. Last weekend he finished first and third in the two British Superbike Championship races at Silverstone, putting himself in position to win the title at Brands Hatch next weekend.Hopkins filled in for Alvaro Bautista in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on April 3, finishing 10th. He suffered his hand injury during practice for the Czech GP on August 12.”I am really pumped to get this chance to ride in a MotoGP race with the Rizla Suzuki team,” Hopkins said. “I thought after Brno that I wouldn’t get the opportunity again and was really disappointed that I missed out there due to a silly mistake, so to be heading to Sepang is fantastic. It is one of my favorite tracks and I know it well because we used to test there a lot. My main focus is on the British Championship at the moment, but as soon as that is over I will be in MotoGP mode and putting all my efforts into getting a good result at Sepang and showing that I can perform at the highest level. I really want to get back into MotoGP and this is a great chance to show what I can do.”Again I need to thank everyone at Rizla Suzuki for giving me this opportunity and my Samsung Crescent team – I hope that by the time I get back on the MotoGP bike we will have been celebrating something really big at Brands Hatch.”