Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins had a superb start to the MCE British Superbike weekend as he topped the free practice and qualifying sessions at Donington Park, but ‘stupid mistakes’ cost him potentially his first race win of the year.

The American ended up crashing out at the Melbourne Loop, which left him starting on the seventh row for race two. Hopkins fought back from 19th place at the end of lap one to finish just inside the top ten in ninth, meaning he failed to get that race win he craved.

“I lost a couple of places early on in race one and was unsettled; then I made some silly mistakes and lost more positions. After that I struggled to get the rhythm going and the pace car came out,” said Hopkins.

“I got my head down and got things going again, but I made a stupid mistake going into the Melbourne Loop, lost the front and that ruined our day – as we had to start from the back of grid in race two.

“I did everything I could but burned my tyre up in the first half of the race, which meant I was just skating around in last five laps. This whole last part of the season takes us to tracks I like, so we’re still on the hunt for that first podium, starting at Assen.”