On May 2, 2011, John Hopkins became the first American to win a British Superbike Series race, doing so at Oulton Park. A prominent World Superbike and MotoGP motorcycle racer that cut his teeth racing dirt bikes in southern California as a kid, John Hopkins, or “Hopper” ask he’s known in the race ranks, is one of the sport’s more colorful characters. Hopkins began his pro road racing career in 1999, then recorded his first wins the following season in the AMA 750 SuperSport class (Daytona, Georgia and Laguna Seca). In 2001 Hopkins moved up to the AMA’s new Formula Xtreme class and won two events there (Georgia and Loudon, N.H.). His successes in America didn’t go unnoticed overseas, where motorcycle road racing is far more popular, and Hopkins would ink his first MotoGP deal in 2002 – placing 15th overall in his rookie MotoGP season with the WCM/Yamaha team. Gaining experience and building confidence, Hopkins’ MotoGP career moved from Yamahas to Suzukis and he worked with that company’s factory program for the next several years, culminating with his best season on the world’s premier road racing stage in 2007. That year, with the Rizla/Suzuki team, Hopkins nailed four podiums (China, Czech Republic, San Marino & Valencia) and wound up placing a career-best 4th overall in MotoGP. In 2008 Hopkins moved to the Monster Energy/Kawasaki MotoGP team, but was injured in a wreck at Assen (Netherlands) Dutch TT and never quite recovered. With Monster Energy exiting team sponsorship in MotoGP, Hopkins took a ride with the Stiggy Racing Honda team on the World Superbike Championship circuit for 2009, and still runs the M-claw logo on his helmet. For 2011 Hopkins is racing on the British Superbike Series for the Crescent Suzuki team.

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