John Hopkins

After a month of intense speculation about the fate of John Hopkins, and whether the American would be joining the brand new FB Corse MotoGP project or heading back to the US to ride for John Ulrich's Team Hammer in the AMA Pro series, Hopkins' destiny is finally sealed. Last night, the newly christened Team M4 Monster Suzuki issued a press release announcing that John Hopkins will be riding for the team in the American Superbike class in the US in 2010.

This announcement confirms the news reported by MotoMatters.com earlier this week that Hopkins would be going back to the US. Hopper himself had told the crowd at the Anaheim Supercross meeting that he was intending to race in the AMA. This was then reported on MotoMatters.com, to the apparent annoyance of John Hopkins' mother Linda, who posted a waspish rebuttal over on Hopper's own website.

The John Hopkins saga is over. An announcement has been made. The time, place and method used to make the announcement exemplified just why Hopper's decision to return to the AMA or move to MotoGP has become such a saga. For at the Anaheim Supercross round on Sunday, John Hopkins announced to the assembled crowd that he would be racing the M4 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in the AMA Pro American Superbike class for 2010. This news was then disseminated further by Cycle World's managing editor Matthew Miles, who posted the following tweet on Cycle World's official Twitter page:

John Hopkins just announced to the crowd at Anaheim that he will race an M4 Suzuki GSX-R1000 in AMA Pro American Superbike in 2010. MPM

Hopkins had previously made a verbal commitment to the FB Corse team, who are developing their three-cylinder MotoGP prototype, designed by Oral Engineering and based on the engine originally built for BMW's stillborn MotoGP effort. The role would primarily be that of test rider, with an unknown number of races as a wildcard entry. That commitment was contingent on Hopper being able to test the bike before signing a contract, but a number of circumstances prevented that from happening.

The signs are growing that John Hopkins has come to a decision about his future. That future, it seems likely, is in his home country of the United States of America rather than Italy. The grounds for such a conclusion were first spotted by the Italian website BikeRacing.it: The entry list for the American Superbike class in the AMA includes the following line item:

As anyone who has followed Hopkins' career for any length of time knows, #21 is John Hopkins' number. And M4 Suzuki is Team Hammer, the team run by Roadracing World Editor and Hopkins' former mentor, John Ulrich.

Normally, the month of January is a quiet time in the world of MotoGP and motorcycle racing. Last year, that quiet was ruptured by the fallout from Kawasaki's decision to withdraw from MotoGP, and one of the major players in that scenario is making waves in 2010. John Hopkins, who lost his 2009 ride when Kawasaki canned their team, has been desperate not to be caught out for the second year in a row, and has had been linked with a number of options.

The main team the American has been associated with is the brand new FB Corse project, which is to field a three-cylinder 800cc bike designed by Oral Engineering, based on the bike the Italian engineering firm originally built for BMW. However, the FB Corse 34100, as the machine has been christened, is still very much under development and the question of how much racing the team will do is still unclear.

Given this uncertainty, Hopkins appears to have been hedging his bets. The M4 Suzuki team - which is scheduled to contest the AMA's American Superbike championship next season-  announced last week that Hopkins would be testing for the team at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. This news, which included a statement from a team source to the effect that they were trying to tie Hopkins to a deal to race the bike in AMA for 2010, seemed to preclude any further involvement by Hopkins in FB Corse's MotoGP project.

After a year which started without a ride and was later blighted by injuries, John Hopkins career looked to be heading into a dead end. The competitive rides in both MotoGP and World Superbikes filled up, leaving the former factory Suzuki and Kawasaki MotoGP  rider without a seat in 2010.

His salvation looked like coming from Italy, where the FB Corse MotoGP team had pencilled him in as their rider for the development year 2010. The role would mainly involve a lot of testing of the 800cc triple, designed by Oral Engineering and based on the previous design for BMW. However, the FB Corse team were confident of competing in several MotoGP rounds as a wildcard, and possibly even racing a full season. But given that development on the FB Corse MotoGP bike is still at an early stage, the bike is unlikely to be competitive.

So it looks like John Hopkins is turning his attentions elsewhere. Despite having a verbal agreement to ride the FB Corse bike, Hopper's management is hard at work making alternative arrangements back in the US. A story over on GPOne.com had previously linked Hopkins to a ride on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki in the AMA, but given the American's long-standing relationship with Monster Energy, the likelihood of Hopper riding for another brand of energy drink seemed highly unlikely.

The FB Corse project grows more serious in its intent. When it was first announced in September 2009, there was some scepticism as to whether the bike would actually make an appearance on the grid. The inline triple was based around the engine, designed and built by the Italian engineering firm Oral Engineering, which BMW had intended to use for their abandoned MotoGP project, and there was some doubt that the engine design could be competitive. As the start of the season approaches, however, the participation of FB Corse is looking ever more likely.

The team had previously announced that they had signed former Suzuki and Kawasaki MotoGP star John Hopkins, though Hopkins' manager denied that the American had put his signature to the deal and was still in negotiations. While Hopper's participation is still not 100% certain, the role of test rider has already been agreed with Luca Cadalora, former 125 and 250cc World Champion, and 500cc race winner. The 46-year-old Italian has followed the progress of the FB Corse project with interest, and has agreed to give the bike a shakedown test at Vallelunga in the next few weeks. 

The fate of John Hopkins continues to be clouded in mystery. A week ago, it looked like the former Suzuki and Kawasaki MotoGP rider was headed back to MotoGP, with various sources reporting that Hopper had signed to ride with the fledgling FB Corse MotoGP project.

Yesterday, though, Hopkins' manager told Roadracing World's David Swarts that the deal was far from done. According to the Roadracing World story, Bob Moore confirmed that Hopper was in talks with FB Corse about the Italian team's plans to enter a limited number of MotoGP races as a wildcard, but denied that any contracts had been signed. Hopkins is still considering his options, which include racing in the Superbike class in the AMA Pro series run by the DMG, according to Roadracing World.

To describe John Hopkins' career since leaving Suzuki as "checkered" would be to indulge in understatement. Hopper left the stability of the Suzuki team for a difficult and painful year with Kawasaki, before the Akashi factory decided to pull out of MotoGP, leaving the American without a ride. Hopkins' next step was to the Stiggy Honda team in World Superbikes, where he had some success before suffering a couple of horrific crashes which put him out of operation for most of the season. Adding insult to injury - painfully literally in the case of Hopper - came the announcement at the end of the 2009 season that Stiggy Racing would be pulling out of racing altogether, leaving Hopkins high and dry once again.

Fortunately, perhaps, for the American, Hopkins could yet have found a ride for 2010. Hopper had earlier been linked with a return to the AMA, but with the US national series in its current disastrous state, this was perceived as being very much the last resort. Yesterday, salvation appears to have come from Italy, with the Italian FB Corse team announcing that they hoped to finalize a deal with Hopkins when he visits Italy for the launch of the team's new three-cylinder MotoGP bike in January 21st.

It's no secret that the wretched global economic crisis has taken its toll on motorcycle racing. Unfortunately, teams dropping out of series or curtailing their involvement have become distressingly commonplace. The latest casualty of this war of attrition in the WSBK paddock is reportedly the Stiggy Racing Team. Already reduced to 1 rider in superbike and supersport for the rest of the season due to tight money woes, Stiggy, according to caradisiac.com,  will not field a superbike squad in 2010. This is an especially cruel blow for the team who had been rumored to be switching over to Yamaha machinery and, according to some conjecture, taking over the Yamaha factory squad.  However, Stiggy will reportedly be fielding the Yamaha R6 in WSS next season. Lead rider Leon "Pocket Rocket" Haslam has been having a stellar year and should have no difficulty finding a ride for next season and has been rumored to be in discussions with Alstare Suzuki among others. The future in World Superbikes for American John Hopkins, who has had a mostly abysmal injury-ridden year, looks to be in grave doubt.

To say that John Hopkins has had a torrid season would be the understatement of the year. First, he lost his ride in the Kawasaki MotoGP team, after the Japanese factory decided to pull out of MotoGP. He was fortunate to find a new seat alongside Leon Haslam in the Stiggy Racing Honda team in World Superbikes, but that only lasted a couple of rounds, before a huge crash at Assen saw him break his hip, forcing him to miss four World Superbike rounds. Once back to reasonable fitness and able to race again, he got involved in a huge first-corner pile up at the Nurburgring, and had another bike ride over him completely.

At first, it seemed that Hopkins had got away with it completely, but that would break a streak of bad luck that has dogged the American all year. Upon further investigation, it turned out that in addition to some minor injuries to his wrist and shoulde, and a further aggravation of the hip injury he suffered earlier this year, Hopkins had also suffered some very slight bruising to the brain. The bruising was sufficient cause for concern for Dr Ting to have a specialist look at it, and there was good news and bad news. The good news is that the bleeding from the hemorrhage has stopped, and the bruise is very small, meaning Hopper won't require surgery.

The bad news, though, is that Hopkins will be kept under observation for the next 6 weeks, after which the American will undergo a further scan to check whether the bruising is still there. That basically means that Hopkins will not be able to ride for all that period, which ends - Hopkins' terrible luck again - right after the final World Superbike round at Portimao in Portugal in October.

While silly season has been at boiling point over in MotoGP, things have been fairly quiet in the World Superbike paddock. Three factors have held up movement in the series: Firstly, the Lorenzo Saga, which had a direct bearing on the future of WSBK title candidate Ben Spies, who was in line to move up to the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP team to await his turn at Fiat Yamaha. Secondly, the incipient arrival of the Moto2 class has a host of riders in both the World Superbikes and World Supersport series thinking about switching, seeing the new class as a possibly entry to MotoGP, which remains the series that almost every rider wants end up in at one point or other. And thirdly, despite the fact that the World Superbikes series is considerably cheaper than MotoGP, the global economic crisis has struck the World Superbike paddock just as hard as it has hit the MotoGP series, and a host of teams are holding off on the 2010 plans, and even struggling with finishing out the year.

With the rider line up in MotoGP starting to take shape, there are signs of movement in the World Superbike series as well. Perhaps the most though-provoking switch is not one that a rider will be making, though, but rather the switch by the Stiggy Racing team from Honda to Yamaha. According to the Italian magazine MotoSprint, the Sweden-based team run by former 250 GP star Johan Stigefelt is disillusioned with the level of support the team has received from Honda this season, and as we predicted earlier in a column for the American magazine Road Racer X, the team will make a dramatic switch to Yamaha.

As MotoGPMatters.com revealed last week, Jamie Hacking has been confirmed as Makoto Tamada's replacement at PBM Kawasaki for the US round of World Superbikes at Miller Motorsports Park, Utah. The American - born in Oswaldtwistle, in the north of England - has seen action in the World Superbike series before, running as a wildcard in 1998 and 1999 at Laguna Seca, his best result a 7th place finish. However, Hacking has been one of the few riders in the world to make the Kawasaki ZX-10R truly competitive in Superbike racing, and Miller is a track where Hacking has an outstanding record. Hacking has a tough act to follow, after South African Sheridan Morais scored a 13th and 11th place finish in his World Superbike debut in Kyalami, and beating his team mate Broc Parkes.

Hacking won't be the only AMA rider acting as a replacement, as Jake Zemke has been called up to sub for John Hopkins. Hopper's recovery from the horrific crash at Assen - the second year in succession he's been savaged by the Dutch track - is proceeding well, but it is far too early for the American to start racing again. As a consequence, American veteran Zemke will be riding Hopkins' Stiggy Racing Honda. Zemke is currently riding a Honda CBR600RR in the AMA Daytona Sportbike class, and is the reigning champion in the now defunct AMA Formula Xtreme championship. Zemke raced a Honda CBR1000RR in AMA Superbikes from 2004 to 2007 with American Honda.

After Assen disrupted John Hopkins' career for the second year in succession, the Stiggy Racing team was left looking for a replacement for the man who had only just joined the team. Hopkins' injury - a dislocated hip with a fractured femur - leaves the American out of racing for at least two, and maybe three rounds.

First of these is magnificent Monza, a jewel of a track set in a huge park on the outskirts of Milan. At that legendary track, another American, Jake Zemke, will ride Hopkins' CBR1000RR. Zemke is the reigning AMA Formula Xtreme champion, a class that has now been replaced by the incomprehensible Daytona Sportbike class in the AMA Pro Racing Championship, and is currently riding for Erion Honda's Daytona Sportbike entry. Zemke previously rode a Honda CBR1000RR for American Honda in the AMA Superbike series alongside Miguel Duhamel.

This will be Zemke's second attempt at Monza. Previously, Zemke was scheduled to substitute for Roberto Rolfo aboard the Althea Honda here in 2008, but last-minute paperwork problems with the AMA prevented Zemke from taking part. This weekend, Zemke will be replacing Hopkins - who replaced Rolfo, though over results, not injury - at the Italian track. Hopkins will also be out at Kyalami in two weeks' time, but that event clashes with the next AMA round at Infineon Raceway, or Sears Point as it was known, ruling Zemke out there. Both Hopkins and Zemke share a manager, a contributing factor to Zemke's taking the ride, but like several American racers, Zemke has indicated an interest in joining the World Superbike paddock permanently.

John Hopkins' luck at Assen went from bad to worse at Assen. After just four laps of free practice at his second ever World Superbike meeting, the American suffered a huge highside and dislocated a hip. Initial reports suggested that no bones had been broken, but once Hopkins had been flown back to California and examined by Dr. Ting, a world-renowned specialist in motorcycle racing injuries, it was found that in addition to the muscle and sinew damage he had suffered in the dislocation, Hopper had also fractured his femur. Dr. Ting operated on Hopkins on Monday, inserting screws to fix the fracture, and the American has already left the hospital to start his recovery at his California home.

Hopkins hopes to be fit again in time for the US round of World Superbikes at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah on May 31st, but that may be a little optimistic. Dr. Ting said that these injuries normally require 6 weeks of convalescence before they are ready to withstand the strains of racing, but Miller is just over four weeks away. However, as Miller is Hopkins' home round, there is a good chance the American will gamble on racing not fully fit.

In further news from the World Superbike paddock, the PSG-1 team has announced that they will not be flying to South Africa and the US for the Kyalami and Miller rounds of the World Superbike series. The San Marino-based team is seriously short of cash, and have already reduced their line up from two to just one rider, dropping Ayrton Badovini earlier this year. PSG-1 is further handicapped by their decision to field Kawasakis: as good a road bike as the ZX-10R is, in race trim it has failed to be competitive, either for private teams such as PSG-1 or for the factory-backed effort of PBM Kawasaki.

Assen has not been kind to John Hopkins. The last time Hopper visited the Dutch track, a huge crash saw him smash his leg and ruled him out of racing for two races, and the injury left him struggling for form and riding in pain for virtually the rest of the season. To add insult to injury, the American lost his ride for the 2009 season when Kawasaki pulled the plug on its MotoGP operation.

His fortunes looked to have revived after Hopkins found a new home in World Superbikes with the Stiggy Racing team. His first races on the bike were solid, given that he had spent just a few hours on the bike, and was up against a host of riders who were on their third race of the season.

But his revival has been short-lived. After just four laps of the first session of free practice for the World Superbike round at Assen, Hopkins had a huge crash, injuring himself badly enough to be transported to a local hospital. The doctors there found he had suffered a badly dislocated hip, an injury painful enough to rule him out of racing this weekend. The team has not confirmed that he will not be taking part in Sunday's races, but a team spokesperson told MotoGPMatters.com that Hopkins was in so much pain that he is highly unlikely to be taking part.

The silver lining for Hopkins is that he didn't break any bones in the crash. It is as yet unknown whether he will be fit in time for the next round of World Superbikes at Monza on May 8th.