John Hopkins Ready For Jerez

Rizla Suzuki choose John Hopkins to replace Alvaro Bautista on next round MotoGP at Jerez. John Hopkins will make a return to MotoGP racing and reunited with the Rizla Suzuki team. John Hopkins was on the 4th place on 2007 MotoGP standings.

“I was shocked by what happened to Álvaro, especially after such good winter testing, and I really wish him a speedy and full recovery - I wanted the opportunity to get back on a MotoGP bike, but not under these circumstances,” explained Hopkins, who rode the GSV-R during the Qatar Test, but only for some commercial filming.

“I’m under no illusions that this will be tough weekend for me, as I’ve not been on a GP machine for a couple of years or ridden the new control tyres – except for the filming I did in Qatar a couple of weeks ago – so I realise this will be a step up from what I have been riding recently. The bikes have moved on in the last three years, but when I rode the GSV-R at Losail it seemed so familiar and I immediately had a good feeling, but that was at filming pace, so it’s going to be a lot different at race pace!”

Hopkins continued: “I know the Jerez track well, so it’s not like I need to learn a new circuit and I also know the team well so that that will help a lot. I will certainly be trying as hard as I can to get a good result and make sure that I don’t disappoint anybody – myself included. I want to say a big thank you to Suzuki and Rizla for giving me this opportunity and I intend to pay back their faith with a good performance on my return to MotoGP.”

So the rider John Hopkins Suzuki Reserves

Team Rizla Suzuki MotoGP riders John Hopkinscalls former backup in the race to become the 2011 season . Drivers from the United States is also expected to follow the last test in Qatar, next month.

This season, Rizla Suzuki is only one racer will wear the Alvaro Bautista. However, Suzuki's team realized if the Spaniard was absent, they are certainly in desperate need of drivers qualified as a coating.

Melandri Mulai Lapang Dada

Marco Melandri rupanya mulai lapang dada. Jika Kawasaki belum menemukan tim yang bisa menggantikan posisi mereka, maka Melandri mengaku siap "pensiun" balapan pada tahun ini.

Kawasaki memang telah membuat keputusan mengejutkan pada bulan ini. Pabrikan asal Jepang itu mengatakan terpaksa meninggalkan arena MotoGP musim 2009 karena masalah krisis ekonomi dunia.

Pada saat ini, Dorna selaku sponsor utama MotoGP, memang tengah berusaha mencari tim pengganti buat Kawasaki. Tapi, Melandri sadar kalau kemungkinan dirinya absen di balapan MotoGP musim 2009 terbuka lebar.

"Memang tidak akan menyenangkan. Tapi, untuk berhenti selama setahun balapan di MotoGP 2009 bukan masalah besar buat saya," ungkap Melandri sebagaimana dikutip autosport, Rabu (21/1/2009).

"Saya memang tengah menanti. Saya berharap nasib itu segera diperjelas. Sebab, saya lebih baik tahu tidak balapan, daripada menanti sesuatu yang tidak jelas," cetus pembalap asal Italia itu.

Melandri bergabung dengan Kawasaki dari Ducati pada akhir musim lalu. Rencana awalnya, mantan pembalap 250cc itu akan berpasangan dengan pembalap asal Amerika John Hopkins.

Rossi Dapat Sponsor Tambahan

Juara dunia MotoGP Valentino Rossi mendapat sponsor tambahan. Monster Energy sepakat mendukung kiprah The Doctor dengan menandatangani kerjasama dua tahun bernilai USD 3.3 juta.

Kesepakatan kerjasama dapat meningkat hingga USD 660.000, jika Rossi sukses mempertahankan mahkota juaranya.

Seperti dikutip, Sportbusiness Selasa (20/1/2009), asesoris Monster-Rossi juga sudah dirilis. Topi dan helm berdesain logo "M" mulai menghujani pasaran.

Keuntungan Rossi adalah duka bagi rider asal AS John Hopkins. Pasalnya, Monster mengalihkan dukungannya dari Hopkins kepada Rossi, karena timnya Kawasaki mengundurkan diri dari kejuaraan MotoGP.

Hingga saat ini Hopkins masih mencari tunggangan untuk dapat berkompetisi. Meski begitu, pengumuman resmi kesepakatan baru antara Rossi dengan Monster baru akan dirilis pekan ini.