Misano- WSBK- Day 1

WSBK: Fabrizio edges out Spies

At end of Misano Q1( moto-live.com)

19/06/09 19:16

Michel Fabrizio Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) slammed in two quick laps in rapid succession at the end of today's Misano Q1 to end up with the provisional pole at the Misano World Circuit. The Italian's time of 1 minute 37.016 seconds was good enough to edge out Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) from the top slot, after the Texan rookie had headed the standings almost throughout. Third and fourth on the provisional front row of the grid went to the still injured Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) and British rider Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). The top 19 positions in today's standings are all contained within one second, confirming the current equilibrium reigning in Superbike. The provisional front row is also made up of four different manufacturers - Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda – with a fifth, Kawasaki, opening up the second row following a superb performance by Broc Parkes. The session also confirmed the constant improvement of the Ten Kate Honda team, with Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa in sixth and seventh position respectively, ahead of points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), four-tenths of a second down on his team-mate. After two difficult events, BMW have bounced back into the top 10, with Troy Corser running well throughout and ending up tenth overall. This time round BMW went better than Aprilia, as Shinya Nakano could only manage 11th and Max Biaggi 16th, eight-tenths off the polesitter. For the moment John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) is outside the Superpole top 20, the American down in 26th position on his return to action following his Assen crash. Misano Superbike - Free Practice 1st Session (worldsbk.com) 1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.049 284 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.154 3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.591 4 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'38.616 5 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.645 6 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'38.746 7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.750 8 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.935 9 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.043 10 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.047 11 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.095 12 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.154 13 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'39.155 14 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'39.165 15 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'39.181 16 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.302 17 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.590 18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'39.659 19 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.814 20 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.863 21 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'39.907 22 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'39.978 23 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.196 24 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'40.297 25 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.305 26 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'40.385 27 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'40.443 28 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.772 29 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'42.365 Misano Superbike - Qualifying 1st Session (worldsbk.com) 1 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.016 2 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.102 3 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'37.209 4 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.238 5 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'37.281 6 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.396 7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.441 8 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'37.451 9 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.490 10 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.503 11 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.630 12 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.702 13 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'37.710 14 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.773 15 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'37.786 16 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.813 17 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'37.898 18 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'37.979 19 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.992 20 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.441 21 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.522 22 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.671 23 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.755 24 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.827 25 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.828 26 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.856 27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.067 28 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.308 29 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'40.489 Hopkins is back on track At Misano 19/06/09 15:51 (moto-live.com) American John Hopkins makes his return to the series this weekend for a second chance to show how well he can fare on the Stiggy Racing Honda Superbike. The high profile entrant to the Superbike series made a promising start with his new team at Valencia, but had to back down only two weeks later, after a horrific crash in the opening practice at Assen sidelined the ex-MotoGP rider for four rounds. A tough and determined John Hopkins has recuperated from his injuries in just six weeks time though, and is eager to hunt down the front runners of the Superbike field once again at one of his favourite tracks this weekend. " Misano is a track I do like a lot. I had some decent results there in the past, and got on the podium in the 2007 MotoGP race. It is a circuit I enjoy well, and the audience is always great. People really take a liking towards the World Superbike series, and I expect the atmosphere to be similar to the one we received at the MotoGP races”, he said. “It is going to be an exciting race and hopefully I can be out there from the start. Right now, I am not going to make any promises of running at the front of the field. I am just taking it step-by-step and focus on getting a good feeling with the bike again and set the best possible results for the team and myself." In the remaining seven rounds and 14 races of the championship there are another 350 points to divide, before the new World Superbike champion will be crowned. Ben Spies Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1'37.102) "It was a good first day for us, the second session we opted to run race set up and we never put any new tyres on. A race is 22 laps around here, on the 22nd lap today we were half a second off the fastest lap done here. I'm pleased with that and we ran our whole race simulation in the 37's. I'm ecstatic about the bike and tomorrow if it stays dry we know we've got a good package. We know if we put sticky tyres on it's definitely going to go fast. If it rains, I guess we get some good rain time and go play in the rain. It's still tough for us coming and learning these new tracks so I'm glad we picked it up as quickly as we did. There is still some more settings to find to be more comfortable but the speed is there. If it is wet then I hope we'll be up there too, I don't have as much time on this bike in the wet but I like riding in the rain." Tom Sykes Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (19th, 1'37.992) "I think today we've made big improvements, this morning we lost a bit of track time with a couple of things but this afternoon we went from a high 39 to a 37.9 so we've found two seconds. I'm only eight or nine tenths of the front guys which is not a lot and considering it's my first time here it's not bad. We can still make improvements over the weekend and hopefully we'll make it work and see what tomorrow brings." yamaha-racing.com

WSBK : Haga dominates at Valencia

from: http://www.moto-live.com

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) dominated both races in round 3 of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.

In front of 65,000 spectators the Japanese rider notched up wins number 35 and 36 in his ten-year long World Superbike career to lead the table with 135 points.

Team-mate Michel Fabrizio also had a positive weekend, the young Italian taking second and third while the remaining podium places went to Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) in race 1 and rookie Texan Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) in the second encounter.

Race 1

Haga led virtually from lights to flag after moving past early leader Neukirchner at the start of lap 3, the championship leader adding a chunk of points to his advantage over Spies, who then crashed out while fighting with the German. Fabrizio took the second slot to give the factory Ducati team a 1-2 finish. Front-row man Regis Laconi (Ducati DFX) finished just one place away from the podium, while Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing) was the first Honda rider to the flag ahead of Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare).

Yamaha's race was saved with the positive form of Tom Sykes in seventh ahead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), who recovered well from a lowly grid position. Broc Parkes finished an encouraging tenth for Kawasaki, with Superbike rookie John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) one place behind. Riders who crashed out included Troy Corser (BMW), who was running fourth in the early laps, and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who remounted but retired.

Noriyuki Haga: “Not so bad! Anyway I had a good feeling this weekend, bike and the team have both been working well. At the start it was good but I had already decided I would go into the lead in the early laps. Finally I kept my own race. Of course I want to win both races today but it's not so easy. I now have a very good feeling with this bike, it is so easy to ride, that's why I was able to push, also I did very consistent laps with this tyre.”

Michel Fabrizio: “For me Valencia is very difficult but this result is fantastic. I grew a beard to bring me good luck, and it worked so maybe I will keep it now! It's a great result for the team, we have worked very well from Friday after the first disappointing couple of races.”

Max Neukirchner: “Even for us it was really hard. We were always in the top 10 this weekend but didn't find perfect set-up. But during the practices we changed some things and in the end we found a very good way and I am so happy to finish on the podium. I was in second place for so long, but even with this result I'm so glad for my team and our new sponsor.”

Race 2

Haga dominated the second race in a similar fashion, this time taking the lead on lap 5. He then pulled out to win by over five seconds, taking a new lap record in 1 minute 34.618 seconds in the process. Spies managed to prevent a second Ducati 1-2 of the day with the runner-up slot but never managed to challenge Haga for the win. Third went to Fabrizio, who again had to hold off Laconi throughout the 23 laps for the final podium slot.

Haslam scored another fifth place, again the best Honda rider to the flag, ahead of Checa and Neukirchner, who faded away with tyre problems after starting off well. Biaggi came home in eighth place again, after prevailing in a five-way battle with Ryuichi Kiyonari (Ten Kate Honda), Sykes, Shane Byrne (Ducati Sterilgarda) and Hopkins. The final point went to Corser, while Parkes failed to get into the top 15.

Noriyuki Haga: “We did a great job this weekend. I think one of the reasons is that after Qatar I did some ‘age training! But anyway today 50 points is a great advantage over Ben and I'm very happy with this double win.”

Ben Spies: “I was trying as hard as we could in the first couple of laps, but had a couple of problems and didn't quite get rolling. By the time we got into second, I would have needed to be right on the back of Nori to stay with him because he was riding at a really good pace. I just didn't quite have those 3 or 4 tenths today so I will come back at Assen and try to step it up.”

Michel Fabrizio: “I didn't expect these results here at Valencia, at the most a top 5 position, because it's a difficult track for me. I'm really happy, the team gave me a lot of confidence. It was a really tough battle with Laconi, who was right behind me throughout the race. He brakes really late, I'm amazed he never managed to pass me!”

from: http://eurosport.yahoo.com

Full World Superbike Championship rider standings (After 3 rounds of 14 - Previous position in brackets)

1. (1) Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox 135 points

2. (2) Ben Spies Yamaha WSB 95

3. (3) Max Neukirchner Suzuki Alstare Brux 65

4. (11) Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox 60

5. (5) Leon Haslam Stiggy Honda 58

6. (7) Regis Laconi DFX Ducati 56

7. (4) Max Biaggi Aprilia 54

8. (6) Tom Sykes Yamaha WSB 47

9. (10) Yukio Kagayama Suzuki Alstare Brux 35

10. (8) Jonathan Rea Ten Kate Honda 33

11. (13) Ryuichi Kiyonari Ten Kate Honda 32

12. (14) Carlos Checa Ten Kate Honda 31

13. (9) Shinya Nakano Aprilia 27

14. (16) Shane Byrne Sterilgarda Ducati 26

15. (12) Troy Corser BMW Alpha 23

16. (15) Jakub Smrz Guandalini Ducati 18

17. (17) Ruben Xaus BMW Alpha 17

18. (-) Roberto Rolfo Stiggy Honda 9

19. (20) Broc Parkes Kawasaki WSB 8

20. (18) Tommy Hill Althea Honda 6

21. (19) Roberto Rolfo Stiggy Honda 3

22. (-) Makoto Tamada Kawasaki WSB 2

Full World Superbike Championship rider standings (After 3 rounds of 14 - Previous position in brackets)

1. (1) Ducati 135 points

2. (2) Yamaha 110

3. (3) Honda 73

4. (5) Suzuki 65

5. (4) Aprilia 57

6. (6) BMW 31

7. (7) Kawasaki 8

Fri+Sat news from WSBK- Round 3 - Valencia

Ben Spies took anther pole, after a slow start for the weekend he found his pas on Saturday where he took his 3rd pole out of 3 rounds.
As I predicted the other day, laconi is improving every round and today he proved me right by qualifying second. So well done Laconi.
Shinya Nakano had a bad crash this morning, broke his left collarbone in Saturday morning’s second qualifying session. Hope he gets well soon.
Haga is needs to win at least one of the races tomorrow, British Eurosport presenter Tony Carter believes this weekend's WSB outing is a crucial one for Noriyuki Haga and the Xerox Ducati campaign for 2009.
More details bellow:

Spies (Yamaha) powers to Superpole hat-trick at Valencia

Saturday, 04 April 2009 17:36 from: worldsbk.com

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) powered to his third Superpole position in three races at the Valencia track, the 24 year-old Texan once again proving to be the master of the new format. Spies, who had to switch to his second R1 machine in Superpole 2 after his first one developed a technical fault, set a record-breaking time of 1 minute 33.270 seconds, over half-a-second quicker than Neukirchner's best mark from last year. Flanking Spies on the front row will be a trio of Ducati 1098 machines, headed by the surprising Regis Laconi, who won on this track back in 1999 with a Yamaha 500. The two factory Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio are in third and fourth place respectively.

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): "I was a bit worried about having to change bikes, we had an OK second Superpole but coming in we had a problem with the bike and had to revert back to the other one. It had a bit of a different set-up and I didn't get to try it in the morning practice, but luckily the change worked out well."

Regis Laconi (Ducati DFX): "I'm very happy because the bike is working really good on this track and we are ready. I won my first race in GP ten years ago and it's just a pleasure to be up here one more time. A big thanks to DFX and Ducati for giving me a great bike. I have had a couple of difficult years but I am happy now that I am back on a Ducati"

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): "I'm very happy for the front row. In the weekend I find a good solution for the race and I've already decided for the tyre. And I am feeling confident, so tomorrow I will try to do my best and win twice and that is my target"

Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox): "I've come from two races where I haven't had very good results, but we found our way already on the Friday and I'm hoping for two good results tomorrow. We made a change on the bike and the feeling is much better now, similar to what it was like in pre-season testing."

The second row sees a double pairing, with Suzuki ahead of Honda. Yukio Kagayama took fifth from Max Neukirchner, while Jonathan Rea was seventh ahead of Carlos Checa. The Spanish rider just managed to avoid being eliminated in Superpole 2, setting his best time despite a fall. Broc Parkes again put in a positive performance for Kawasaki, setting 13th quickest time on his ZX-10R machine, just ahead of the BMW of Troy Corser, who had been expecting to go better in Superpole after a positive qualifying session. Once again the first knock-out phase saw some illustrious victims with Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) and Max Biaggi (Aprilia), one of the quickest riders throughout the day, not making the cut. The other Aprilia rider Shinya Nakano missed the Superpole after breaking his left collarbone in a crash in the morning. He was operated on today with the aim of being ready for the next round at Assen.

Times: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'33.270; 2. Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.955; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'34.082; 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'34.259; 5. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.755; 6. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.903; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.056; 8. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.346 9. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.536; 10. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.655; 11. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'34.684; 12. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'34.742; 13. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.823; 14. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'34.863; 15. Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'35.082; 16. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.251; 17. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.203; 18. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.204; 19) Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'35.806; 20. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.416

FYI- Motogp rider casey Stoner pole time in Valencia in 2008 was 1'31.502 and Marco melendis qualifying time (last on the grid) was 1'34.174 (that means he would have finished 5th in WSBK.

Nakano hurt at Valencia.

Sat 04 Apr, 06:00 PM from http://eurosport.yahoo.com/

Shinya Nakano will take no further part in the Valencia World Superbike weekend after breaking his left collarbone in Saturday morning’s second qualifying session.

The WSBK rookie, ninth in the championship with a best finish of fourth in the opening two rounds, was thrown from his Aprilia RSV4 after a mechanical failure.

The former MotoGP rider, eleventh in Friday’s first qualifying, underwent surgery afterwards and now faces a race against time to be fit for round four of the 2009 championship, at Assen on April 24-26.

Team-mate Max Biaggi will thus be the lone Aprilia rider in Sunday’s Valencia WSBK races. The Roman, fastest in Friday qualifying and Saturday free practice, was caught out in Superpole and will start just 18th.

Carter: Crucial weekend for Haga

Eurosport - Sat, 04 Apr 15:39:00 2009 from: http://eurosport.yahoo.com

British Eurosport presenter Tony Carter believes this weekend's WSB outing is a crucial one for Noriyuki Haga and the Xerox Ducati campaign for 2009.

Actually, scrub that - it's the most significant weekend for Haga for this year.

I'll explain. If Haga doesn't take the top spot in Valencia this weekend, at a circuit where he's constantly been a podium finisher, and multiple winner, over the years then he will struggle to dominate Ben Spies and the Yamaha anywhere else.

If Spies gets out on Sunday afternoon and finds his way to the top of the podium then it's hard to see how he will be stopped. He's not raced at Valencia before, he's still getting to grips with the Yamaha and he's undoubtedly going to get bumped and barged around Valencia's tough turns.

All things that could and should slow him down, or at the very least allow the other riders out there to close the gap up to the flying American on the growling Yam.

It's more about the mental game this weekend. If Spies wins another race then he's taken four from five, and five from six if he does the double.

There will be many in the paddock who will rue that if he hadn't been forced to take a close-up inspection of the gravel trap in race one in Phillip Island then Spies would, right now, be most likely sitting on four race wins from four races.

So for this weekend Haga has it all to do. He knows the bike, he clearly gets on well with it too. He knows the track and knows how to get a fast lap and a good result there. He is as aggressive as any of them on track and will, without hesitation, be more than up for the job in hand when Sunday's races come round.

But this will be a telling raceday. In previous years people have levelled the criticism at Haga that he only comes good towards the second half of the season. Well that might be true, but he's leading the championship going into Valencia so by anyone's standards he's had a strong start to his 2009 campaign.

But given how Spies performed in Qatar a couple of weeks ago, and the fact that he seems so very strong right now, I wouldn't bet on him getting out there and just wiping the floor with people again.

I can't tell you how much I don't want that to happen. With all the respect in the world for Spies and his Yamaha crew I am so very keen to see someone who is not either Haga or Spies taking the win and we will have to see how it plays out. The beauty of Valencia is that, as we have seen over the years, it can throw up the odd curveball.

Haga will want to leave the track on Sunday evening leading the world, yet Spies must be convinced that he can get the upper hand this weekend.

But don't discount the other front men. Strange things have happened at the Spanish track and we all know how well a certain Carlos Checa goes when he's got a home crowd to play in front of.

Providing he doesn't skittle another rider off on the last corner of the last lap again...

Oh and we have a certain Mr Hopkins joining us too. Keen to prove a point or two, the Stiggy Honda man is.

Tony Carter / Eurosport

Get to know the grid: WSBK- John Hopkins #121

John Hopkins #121

Personal opinion: not a bad rider, but not as good as his ego, was a protégée racer when he was young, many thought he has amazing potanciel, but so far we haven’t really seen it on the track, maybe the move down to WSBK will be good for him, but he will find it hard to be a real contender for the championship, because of the races he missed already and also I am not sure he will be able to be faster the Ben “elbows” spies and Haga. But for some reason he does seam to have a lot of fans in the stats- any way- I hope he has a better year then the last few…

Trading Places:

John Hopkins

vs. Vitantonio Liuzzi

john hopkins highside

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Hopkins
Nationality	American
Date of birth	May 22, 1983 (1983-05-22) (age 25)
Place of birth	Ramona, California
Website	hopperracing.com
SBK Record
Current team	Stiggy Racing Honda
Bike number	21
World Championships	0
Race starts
Race Wins	0
Podium finishes
Pole positions
Fastest laps

John "Hopper" Hopkins(pronounced /ˈdʒɒn ˈhɒpkɪnz/) (born May 22, 1983) is an American motorcycle racer in Superbike World Championship as well as previously in motoGP. He first raced in MotoGP in 2002 for the Red Bull Yamaha WCM team on a two-stroke 500 cc bike, and joined the factory Suzuki squad a year later, for a five-year spell. He raced for the Kawasaki MotoGP team in 2008, but they dropped him for 2009 due to the global economic crisis and the company's uncompetitive showings.

He was born in Ramona, California to English parents. His race number is 21.

Biography

MotoGP career

2002

The 2002 season saw Hopkins join the WCM RedBull Yamaha team alongside multiple race winner Garry McCoy. The team was using Yamaha YZR500 motorcycles on lease from Yamaha. Overall the YZR500 was considered to be uncompetitive that year, due to a change in the regulations allowing 990 cc four-stroke motorcycles to race against 500 cc two-stroke motorcycles. Although the two-strokes held (on average) a 10 kg weight advantage over the four-strokes, they had between 30 and 50 less hp depending on the engine configuration used for the racetrack. Hopkins finished the season ranked 15th, with 58 points, which put him 25 points clear of his teammate McCoy.

2003

In 2003 Hopkins joined the Suzuki factory racing team. This year he would ride a 990 cc V4 four-stroke. In 2003 John was teamed with 2000 500cc world champion Kenny Roberts, Jr.. Although he was racing a four-stroke this year, the results didn't seem to come as one would have expected. There are many theories for this, including the Suzuki's lack of power and its tendency to wear out tires faster than other bikes. This year also saw Hopkins involved in a turn 1 crash at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, he was accused of causing this crash, and was suspended for one race. This suspension resulted in a DNS (did not start) at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Also noteworthy for the 2003 season was the crash in Italy where Kenny Roberts, Jr.'s GSV-R Suzuki suffered an engine management failure and the bike launched into Hopkins, putting both GSV-R's out of the race. At the end of the season, Hopkins finished in 17th place with 29 points. This finish put him 2 places and 7 points ahead of his teammate Kenny Roberts, Jr.

2004

The technology and technical advancement of the GSV-R was further developed in 2004. Most of the refinements took place in the engine management package, making the bike easier to ride. Towards the end of the year, the GSV-R was showing clear improvements, allowing Hopkins to move up the standings. Unfortunately it also saw several mechanical failures, which effectively undid the hard work to develop the motorcycle. Having qualified on the front row at Motegi, he was eliminated in a first-corner crash. Of note is that John was crashed into by Loris Capirossi, one of the same riders he himself had hit at the very same turn 1 at Motegi in 2003. Overall he finished 16th.

2005

John continued with Suzuki in 2005, as the team showed promising signs after the arrival of Paul Denning as team boss following Denning's success with Suzuki's British Superbike team. John briefly lead at Donington, but his best result was a 5th place at Motegi, and he was 14th overall. Qualifying results were often better than race results, largely due to Bridgestone tyres being better suited to short runs.

2006

Remains at Suzuki, now backed by Rizla, where he is joined by new team-mate Chris Vermeulen. Enjoys his best season yet. Hopkins finished the 2006 season in 10th place overall with 116 points. Hopkins has had one pole position this season, at Assen. His best finishes were in China and in Catalunya, where he finished fourth.

2007

Continuing with Rizla Suzuki, Hopkins set near-lap-record times aboard the new 800 cc motorcycle, and was labeled the dark horse by Colin Edwards. On 15 February 2007 he fractured his wrist after falling while testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain, but returned for the start of the season.

Hopkins completed his long-overdue first MotoGP podium finish at the Shanghai circuit in China, finishing in 3rd place - 3.6 seconds behind Valentino Rossi but 7.6 seconds ahead of 2006 event winner Dani Pedrosa. He finished as 4th overall in the 2007 season, two places ahead of Vermeulen and one behind Rossi.

2008

For 2008 he joins Kawasaki Racing Team. Explaining the decision, Rizla Suzuki boss Paul Denning suggested that "There are reasons for that other than performance". He crashed heavily at Assen, fracturing his ankle.

Prior to 2009 season, Kawasaki made the decision to halt Motogp racing activities because of the global economic crisis, meaning that John Hopkins will not have a ride for the 2009 season.

2009

After the Kawasaki pulling out of motoGP, Hopkins secured a ride on SBK's team Stiggy Racing Honda.