Hopkins On Donington Park Front Row
Cycle News Staff | October 8, 2011
John Hopkins will start tomorrow’s 2011 MCE British Superbike title showdown at Donington Park from the third spot on the front row after qualifying behind Swan Yamaha teammates Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty today.
Hill topped all the practice sessions heading into qualifying and ended up going quicker still, turning in a 1:28.869. Hill was the only rider to crack the 1:29 barrier and it put him .4 of a second ahead of his teammate Laverty and almost a second quicker than Hopkins, who is racing at Donington after just having the pins taken out of his broken fingers.
Final Qualifying
1. Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 1:28.869
2. Michael Laverty (Yamaha) 1:29.258
3. John Hopkins (Suzuki) 1:1:29.649
4. Peter Hickman (Honda) 1:30.174
5. Shane Byrne (Honda) 1:30.373
6. Jon Kirkham (Suzuki) 1:30.388
7. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 1:30.439
8. Josh Brookes (Suzuki) 1:30.474
9. Graeme Gowland (Honda) 1:30.542
10. James Ellison (Honda) 1:30.646
