John Hopkins is hoping this year's World Superbike Championship round at
Silverstone will signal a turnaround in his fortunes, a year on from his headline-grabbing wild-card performance around the Northamptonshire circuit.
Joining the
WSBK field for a one-off wild-card outing aboard the Crescent Suzuki he had been campaigning in the British Superbike Championship, Hopkins stunned by claiming pole position. Though he wasn't able to convert that into podiums come race day, the performance did set in motion his and Crescent Racing's decision to step up to the series full-time in 2012.
However, the move hasn't been seamless, with Hopkins himself struggling with intermittent injuries that have so far consigned him to 14 points and 21st in the standings during the first-half of the season.
Nonetheless, the American is pleased to be returning to familiar ground at
Silverstone and is aiming as high as putting in a repeat performance this year.
“To repeat last year's pole position is not going to be easy, but there's no reason why it cannot be done - as long as I have a good Superpole,” he said.
“The competition is very tough, but as long as I get on the front two rows of the grid, I'll be happy - though another pole would be great! I like the track and hope
Silverstone will be where I turn around my season and start posting good results again.”