WSBK » Whitham: John Hopkins can run at the front

Captain obvious strikes again!

i appreciate your knowledge and judgement on such matters and i also enjoy your (humourous quips) and straight talking ,Jamie but, as we say in Ulster ?? your off your trolly on this one mate he wont get close ?? Love the commentry lads ,keep it up .

I'm gonna disagree with the first 2 comments and think Whitham is absolutely spot on.

BUT if hopper is on a bike which can be at the front it may get his head straight and start winning.

Time will tell, roll on the weekend

Come on Jamie...

Hopper may have 'been accused of not having the aggression and the commitment' but surely not by anyone you'd bother listening to.

Its too much of both, with a small twist of frustration, that led to him chucking up the track so many times.

Nah. If anything does hold him back (provided funding holds out) it'll be lack of track knowledge more than owt.

That's right Jamie, pile the pressure on the (Angelo)American so he'll do a Kamakazi like he did at Leguna taking out Nicky on lap 1. Way to go.

By running hot and cold he means over riding POS bikes to get the most out of it. Go back and look how many times his team mate has finished higher up in the championship. Here is a hint, he and KRJR were tied one season but every other season he has been the top finisher in the team. He has plenty of hunger and learns new tracks fast.

Hopper coming to WSBK is more news because he finally found a ride, and not because of the impact he will have on the series. He is a mediocre rider at best. He "can" be a front runner but he won't. There are so many better riders in the Series then Hopper, with Haga, Spies, Biaggi, Neukirchner, the list goes on. He will get a podium, but wont be much of a player, sorry. I have been watching him his entire time in MotoGP and he is one of the better mediocre riders, which isn't saying much. Then again to be mediocre in MotoGP means you are better then allot of other riders in the world.

come on .../

if haslam can run near the front so can hopper id love to see him get a win too in his frist race !

Rick,
Gotta call you to the mat on that one. I don't think you're totally wrong, it just feels as though you paid no respect to the machines he rode while in GP. The year the Suzuki was getting good he took three podiums and finished fouth in the title chase. Not bad really - definitely better than mediocre. I have to wonder how the curve of his GP career would've gone had he been Rossi's junior teammate, on the Honda or the Yamaha. It means nothing now really, but would we be bashing Rossi if he had been on Suzuki's and didn't have JB as his chief? He's always been on the lesser machines and he still is. Hope he does well either way.

Hopkins knows Valencia as well as many of the other tracks that WSBK will race at, so there should be no arguments about track knowledge. Coming into a new team will take an adjustment period, I will be curious to see how he does coming down from the glitz of MotoGP to WSBK. All the other teams are up to speed with four races under their belts. He has to learn new bike, new team, new tires...I don't see a top 5 in his future this weekend. Top 10 in a field of this depth should be considered a success.