John Hopkins -
2007 Rider Profile
The Facts;
Place of Birth: Ramona, California
Date of Birth: May 22 1983
Nationality: Anglo-American
Home Town: Ramona in California, USA and Leicestershire in England
Marital Status: Single
Eyes: Hazel
Car: BMW M3 Motorcycle: Suzuki RM-Z450, Suzuki GSV-R
Favourite Food: Spaghetti Carbonara
Favourite Drink: Redbull
Favourite Film: The Anchorman
Favourite Band: Kottonmouth Kings
Favourite Circuit: Jerez Hobbies: Cycling, Snowboarding, Training, Motocross
Ideal Holiday: At home
First Race: 1986,
Motocross Career Highlights;
2004: MotoGP World Championship - 16th . Four top 10 finishes. Qualified 2nd at Motegi Japan.
2003: MotoGP World Championship - 17th .Best result 7th Spain.
2002: MotoGP debut - 15th.
2001: US Formula Xtreme Champion.
1999: Full Road Racing debut - 250cc Cup Champion.
1986: Tarmac debut. First race win minibikes.
From his earliest road-racing days, John Hopkins was earmarked as a kid with a big future. In 2003, his first year with the Suzuki team, he took another step forward in a promising career.
Although, as with his teammate, good results were hard to find in a difficult race-development year, John earned the undying loyalty of his pit crew. With Hopper in the saddle, no matter what the circumstances, they knew he would always give his utmost.
Joining Suzuki in 2003 was like coming home. His meteoric career in US road-racing had been on big-capacity Suzuki four-strokes; now he was back on the fastest of them all. His best result of the year - another seventh - was also the team's best of the season.
Still aged 20 at the first race of the 2004 season, Hopkins has amassed two years of varied GP experience. His first season was on a 500cc two-stroke and Dunlop Tires … learning the tracks at the same time as fighting the more powerful new four-strokes. He made a big impression, scoring not only consistently but well, with a best of seventh place.
For his second year with Suzuki and his third in the top class, John has his sights set on the highest prize. "I always dreamed of winning the World Championship. That's my goal"
Hopkins believes you keep on learning, "right up until the last race of your career." But he has already crammed an intensive road-racing education into the last five years, building on a lifetime of motorcycling experience.
Born in Ramona in southern California, John counts himself as more than just part British and races with a Union Jack flag on his helmet and his motorcycle's fairing. His parents were both from Acton in West London, emigrating shortly before he was born. He still has many family connections in England.
His father was a keen motorcyclist and former Isle of Man TT road-racer. When John was barely walking, he was taking rides on the tank of his father's machines. He grew up riding dirt bikes in the desert every weekend, and first raced at the age of five, in a motocross event.
When John was only 12, he was a seasoned dirt-track racer, and Hopkins Senior had also given him a first taste of road-racing. Then his father passed away, and it seemed that side of John's life was over. But his fascination with the sport was not to be denied, and he went back to road-racing … only to be thwarted by a string of mechanical problems.
That might have been the end of road-racing, for in frustration he had switched back to his original discipline, motocross. Then US Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team owner John Ulrich (who discovered 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz for Suzuki) invited him to test a Suzuki GSX-R600 racer. Hopkins's promise was immediately obvious, and he was signed up for the 1999 season.
From that point he was on an express train to the top. He won the Aprilia RS250 Cup in 1999 as well as progressing from 600cc four-strokes to 750cc and then 1000cc, giving the physically small teenager a valuable lesson for his future on powerful 990cc MotoGP machines. He learned it well, winning the AMA Formula Xtreme title on the big Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 2001.
Hopkins manager, Douglas Gonda arranged for to join the Red Bull Yamaha GP team for 2002, racing a two-stroke in a new environment, against the faster new MotoGP prototype four-strokes. He not only consistently finished in the points - but also demonstrated the powerful determination that has become a trademark.
For 2003 the departure of Red Bull as a sponsor in MotoGP resulted in Hopkins looking for and finding a new team. Gonda went to work and negotiated a deal for Hopkins to join the factory Suzuki squad. Hopkins matched his best result while also making a huge contribution to development of the radical new GSV-R. Sadly, when the technical solutions he helped to find made it to the track for pre-season tests, Hopkins was recovering from a double ankle fracture sustained in a Supercross race in California. "
"Suzuki have done a lot to the bike, and I know there's more coming; and I already work well with my crew. They've all given me my chance, and I'm really thankful. I'll be in there fighting," he said.
Although, as with his teammate, good results were hard to find in a difficult race-development year, John earned the undying loyalty of his pit crew. With Hopper in the saddle, no matter what the circumstances, they knew he would always give his utmost.
Joining Suzuki in 2003 was like coming home. His meteoric career in US road-racing had been on big-capacity Suzuki four-strokes; now he was back on the fastest of them all. His best result of the year - another seventh - was also the team's best of the season.
Still aged 20 at the first race of the 2004 season, Hopkins has amassed two years of varied GP experience. His first season was on a 500cc two-stroke and Dunlop Tires … learning the tracks at the same time as fighting the more powerful new four-strokes. He made a big impression, scoring not only consistently but well, with a best of seventh place.
For his second year with Suzuki and his third in the top class, John has his sights set on the highest prize. "I always dreamed of winning the World Championship. That's my goal"
Hopkins believes you keep on learning, "right up until the last race of your career." But he has already crammed an intensive road-racing education into the last five years, building on a lifetime of motorcycling experience.
Born in Ramona in southern California, John counts himself as more than just part British and races with a Union Jack flag on his helmet and his motorcycle's fairing. His parents were both from Acton in West London, emigrating shortly before he was born. He still has many family connections in England.
His father was a keen motorcyclist and former Isle of Man TT road-racer. When John was barely walking, he was taking rides on the tank of his father's machines. He grew up riding dirt bikes in the desert every weekend, and first raced at the age of five, in a motocross event.
When John was only 12, he was a seasoned dirt-track racer, and Hopkins Senior had also given him a first taste of road-racing. Then his father passed away, and it seemed that side of John's life was over. But his fascination with the sport was not to be denied, and he went back to road-racing … only to be thwarted by a string of mechanical problems.
That might have been the end of road-racing, for in frustration he had switched back to his original discipline, motocross. Then US Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team owner John Ulrich (who discovered 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz for Suzuki) invited him to test a Suzuki GSX-R600 racer. Hopkins's promise was immediately obvious, and he was signed up for the 1999 season.
From that point he was on an express train to the top. He won the Aprilia RS250 Cup in 1999 as well as progressing from 600cc four-strokes to 750cc and then 1000cc, giving the physically small teenager a valuable lesson for his future on powerful 990cc MotoGP machines. He learned it well, winning the AMA Formula Xtreme title on the big Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 2001.
Hopkins manager, Douglas Gonda arranged for to join the Red Bull Yamaha GP team for 2002, racing a two-stroke in a new environment, against the faster new MotoGP prototype four-strokes. He not only consistently finished in the points - but also demonstrated the powerful determination that has become a trademark.
For 2003 the departure of Red Bull as a sponsor in MotoGP resulted in Hopkins looking for and finding a new team. Gonda went to work and negotiated a deal for Hopkins to join the factory Suzuki squad. Hopkins matched his best result while also making a huge contribution to development of the radical new GSV-R. Sadly, when the technical solutions he helped to find made it to the track for pre-season tests, Hopkins was recovering from a double ankle fracture sustained in a Supercross race in California. "
"Suzuki have done a lot to the bike, and I know there's more coming; and I already work well with my crew. They've all given me my chance, and I'm really thankful. I'll be in there fighting," he said.
1 comment:
This is great info to know.
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