A twelfth placed finish wasn't what
John Hopkins had been hoping for on his Kawasaki debut, but given that he rode through 'excruciating' pain from his recent groin injury - and battled severe front tyre problems - it was a mighty effort.
Hopkins started the night on great form, finishing fourth overall in the warm up, but wasn't able to replicate that form in the race, which he started in tenth position - reached a high of ninth, then slipped back to twelfth in the closing stages.
"The first half of the race felt good, and I was pretty comfortable running inside the top ten," said John. "But then, at about half race distance, the performance of the front tyre went off, and it started sliding in the turns. I had no option but to hold the bike up on my knee, but that put a lot of pressure on my injury. The pain built up very quickly, and by two-thirds distance it was excruciating.
"If it had just been pain then I could have ridden through it, but in the end I simply ran out of strength in the injured muscle, and I just couldn't maintain my lap times. It was hard to make it all the way to the end of the race, but although I'm disappointed not to have finished higher, at least I know that the injury wouldn't have been a limiting factor if it hadn't been for the tyre problem. This gives me some confidence going into the next race at
Jerez," he added.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone lifted off a bike in so much pain at the end of a race," said Kawasaki competition manager Michael Bartholemy. "He's one hard rider."
Hopkins's team-mate,
Anthony West, had an even worse race, crossing the line in 16th position after a confidence sapping weekend.
"What can I say? Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed with my result, because I'm not here to finish at the back of the field," declared the Australian. "I was suffering with the same problems I had in practice and qualifying and I still didn't feel totally comfortable on the bike.
