MOTOGP » Hopkins wants podium on 100th start

All excuses.
Hopper has never been that good, mid-pack runner at best.
Smart though - he took the big Kawasaki cheque this year. Might be the last. Hopefully.

Hpkins hung around at Suzuki way too long, it would have been better for his career to make a change sooner.
It is questionable if that would have made him a race winner but he should have tried IMHO.

IMO it's a bit harsh judging Hopper as an underachiever when from 2002-2006 if you weren't Rossi or didn't ride an RCV (with the odd exception of Ducati) then you basically had FA chance. Last year was the first time he had a decent bike and he came 4th in the WC beating established riders like Capirossi, Malandri and Hayden. I would like to see what he could do on a factory Honda or Yamaha - my guess is he would be right up there at the sharp end at every race.

He showed loyalty to Suzuki. Yes CV has a win on the 4 stroke zuke, but look at where they finished. John was usually ahead of him and only finished behind his team mate at the end of the year once (he also tied KRJR in 2005 I think). It is the 3rd race of the year and if you have listened to what he said, RDP had a completely different riding style and Kawasaki are constantly trying to get it set up to make John comfortable on it. He didn't come up through the ranks or with a big sponsor, he earned his shot and Kawasaki must have seen something they like to offer him a big paycheck. Michael Bartholemy sounds very happy with him and always has positive things to say. GO JOHN GO!!!

CASUAL OBS are you reading these postings, o'dear some folk seem to agree with the ZX chap, its called OPINION... ..P.S. Nice one Zoom.

Hey Negative ZXSteve, how you doing dude? I see you've brought one of your negative chums "Caseys Bucked Teeth" along. Name says it all really doesn't it. Don't you just love people who only post on here to slag off riders they don't like, they never have anything positive to contribute to the thread, just constant put-downs. Your lives must be a real barrel of laughs...

Negative Steve are you blind or unable to interpret the icons? The thumbs down means people disagree with your comments dear boy! Which I'm afraid means that no one agrees with you!

Rossi, Stoner, Capirossi, Pedrosa, Melandri, Hayden Elias, Vermuelen and Lorenzo already tasted the feel of winning in MotoGP premier class. They all knows, to win the race it is more than hope alone. They got to feel it through their veins and go for it all the way until they crossed the finish line. It is doesn't matter what bike they ride. When the mode of winning is coming, the bike will felt better than usual.

Hopper and CE was almost there quite a few times. They simply didn't wrap it up nicely. I think, at Shanghai, Hopper need to beat guys like Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa first before thinking of winning. Things can get worse if Capirossi give Suzuki a dry win, instead.

Casual Obs, hi ya, how are those lovely long legs and great a-r-s-e of yours, I think your bored and have been pressing icons just for the hell of it