Despite every bit of good sense that you can throw at the story, rumours persist, oddly enough mainly in the British press, that John Hopkins will be testing for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGp team next week at Qatar.
Here’s the latest from crash.net
In my opinion, this is one of the silliest moves that the off-season has so far produced. After leaving MotoGp when the Kawasaki team folded, Hopkins went back to the States where he continued to burn bridges with various AMA teams (one team is still reported to be suing Hopper for breach of contract) and to trade off his (somewhat dubious) MotoGp record in order to get rides.
And now he’s reported to be going back to Suzuki, of all teams! This is the team that Hopper left in disgust at the end of 2007 after treating us all to the edifying spectacle of him kicking his bike on international TV.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tob-quWJ448[/youtube]
However, it is Hopkins’s off-track antics that make this suggestion so inexplicable. After all, it was Hopkins who, allegedly, turned up to practice at Misano in 2008, hungover and still drunk, who verbally abused his wife in front of astonished and embarrassed team members and who then proceeded to give a less-than-stellar performance on the bike.
If Rizla want a replacement for Bautista should he be injured at any stage during the year, I suggest that there are any number of candidates who would fit the bill better. And I wish Crescent Suzuki luck in the BSB season. I hope they’re not pinning all the team’s hopes on the questionable American.
gearsau says
Phil
You must admit though, there are any number of ex Suzuki riders who were probably wishing they could have done the same thing.
Maybe not on international TV though 🙂
Phil Hall says
No argument there, Peter. Signing for Suzuki has been the kiss of death for most riders in the last decade or so.