Former MotoGP star John Hopkins took his best result of the year for Tommy Hill’s ePayMe Yamaha squad in Scotland, bagging fourth place in race one before a crash in the wet second session saw him sustain a shoulder injury.
Hopkins was dicing with the leading pack and had enjoyed a spell at the front of the field despite tangling with Michael Laverty. The American rider narrowly missed out on the team’s first podium finish but was aiming for an even stronger performance in race two.
It wasn’t to be, however. Hopkins was battling in the freight train of riders for a top-six when he was spat off his R1 and that ended his hopes of another points haul. The Californian sustained a shoulder injury and is visiting specialists this week to ensure a rapid return to fitness.
“The first race was great for us; the ePayMe Yamaha was working really good and we were then just trying to improve a little bit of the mid-range power as we were just losing a little bit of punch coming out of the corners.
“The bike felt great all race-long and I had been monitoring the gaps between us and I was trying to save my tyre until the end of the race to try and make a move on the brakes, but I just ran out of time. I did go for it and I got alongside Mossey coming out of the fast left-hander, but he was too defensive and there was no room for me to get through.
“We wanted to build on that for race two but unfortunately I crashed. I will be seeing some doctors this week to see what we can work on with it so that I am back to full fitness as soon as we possibly can.”
Get more on the Knockhill BSB round in this week’s BSN app, available free here